Bundaberg

Another weekend, another place to visit... With only two weekends left in Gladstone we thought we'd better at least make it to Bundaberg - 'Bundy' as it's known by the locals. Most famous for it's most fantastic ginger beer - we decided after drinking it in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia and the UK (= around the world) that we ought to see where it comes from...

The Bundy Barrel is the touristy thing to do to get tacky souveneirs about the soft drinks and learn a little about how it is made. Hmmm not really worth the two hour drive I have to say which was a little disappointing, but abbey did attempt to crack the safe (above left)holding the secret recipe which was slightly cute (especially after watching the italian job last weekend... if only we had a suped up mini!) We also had a look at Bargara beach which was nice and had a bit of a wander around the city as well as a pleasant lunch on a nice comfy sofa in a cafe. Not much to say really. Bundaberg is your average rural town. With the possible exception of its famous exports, the produce for which (Sugar Cane, Ginger, Mineral Water and Lemons) are all grown (or sourced) from the surrounding countryside, which is entirely pleasant to drive through, unless you have a screaming infant in the back seat. I'll say no more. Also managed to fill the car up at $1.48per litre as opposed to the $1.55 in Gladstone. (insert whinge about rising fuel prices...yadda yadda yadda) Sadly the saving was totally not worth the petrol to get there though!!! At least we can say we've been to Bundaberg now - (along with a myriad of other less famous places!) Somehow in my head that's meant to count for something, though i'm beginning to wonder if the only thing it counts for is an excessive amount spent on petrol visiting little hick towns!

Stopped off in 1770 on the way back home though, which was only a 60km detour, and well worth it for these stunning snaps of Mez and Abbey and the ever friendly seagulls! Have to say that 1770 is a pleasant wee spot - would be great for a chillout relaxing beach holiday, moreso if you had a boat to potter about in... mind you a lot of beach spots in this country (and many other countries mind you!) are better explored with a little boat to potter about in... might have to explore that option at some stage in the future!! Another lovely day sunday, and I managed to get Abbey's cart finished off and presented it to her this morning... she promptly sunk her teeth into the handle with its fresh paint so Mez went hunting for a piece of clear plastic to cover the handle with so that our daughter doesn't poison herself eating all the nice soft paint over the next week or so! Blocks are still a wee way off done as they're fiddly and annoying. Should really have just bought the blocks I think. Or maybe just not attempted to paint them! Such is life. I'm more than happy with the result! And Abbey has been thrilled too which is excellent, and was kinda the point of the whole exercise. We will just have to teach her how to reverse and turn corners now - either that or we will have to take her and the cart to a supermarket parking lot so that she can run in a straight line to her hearts content! Awesome to see her growing in confidence though on her feet now - she'll walk along beside Mez or I now just holding one hand, rather than two, and she no longer collapses in a heap and cries when we take away one hand! Bonus! Though the cart still has that effect when she hits a solid object and can't go any further - again those that have facebook can see it in video form! I think I'll give her a pass for Gross motor development 101 anyway!!