Chew, Suck and Spit!!!

Bundaberg is an interesting place - noted for a few things we all know (other than Dr Patel!!):

• Bundaberg sugar
• Bundaberg Rum ... and "Drop Bears"
• Bundaberg Ginger Beer
• Solo Aviator, Bert Hinkler

We decided on Bundaberg as a destination to catch up with Des and Athalie Randell, who Jon used to work for in Keith. They now live on a sugar cane farm, a few kms out of 'Bundy', as it is affectionately known by the locals.

The kids laughed, because we went to visit at 10.30am for morning tea, and left at 6.00pm!! (This was good becasue it meant we got to catch up with Athalie after she arrived home from work). It was also good to catch up with Emma, their daughter, and her two children. She was about Lily's age when they left Keith.

Des preparing us a sample of sugar cane.

 















During this time we had a great education into the farming of sugar, as Des showed us around his 120 acres of sugar cane farm. And  we learnt the correct way to experience sugar at it's best - chew, suck and spit! (The cane, that  is! There is some family 'debate' as to whether sugar is C6H12O6 (chemical formula), or C12H22O11. So let us know what you think.  Jon was able to have a great 'mag' with Des about farming stuff - tractors, spraying, reaping, watering, planting etc.

• Did you know... sugar cane is planted as little bits of cane!
• Did you know... a stand of sugar cane lasts for 4 years, before needing replanting.
• Did you know... a crop of sugar cane is watered, using 5 megalitres of water (lucerne uses about 12!)
• Did you know... the cane is harvested in 3 or 4 "go's", in a rotation with other cane growers, so that everyone gets a 'bite of the cherry' as far as quality and markets go, as they vary through the season (June to Nov)

 




Jed and Lily practicing the fine art of "Chew, suck and spit"!







We tossed up between visiting the Rum & Ginger Beer factories. Both have an interactive kind of display that instructs on the finer points of producing their products. However, the Ginger Beer factory doesn't do an actual factory tour, but the 16 samples are able to be tasted by under 18's, so we decided on this option. On conclusion of the tasting we decided to purchase "6 of the best", each of us selecting a favourite, then a couple of others. Ginger beer, Lemon lime & bitters, Guava & Pink Grapefruit were the favourites. All drinks being naturally brewed! Evidently, makes it better!?

The "Barrel" Ginger Beer visitors centre.

In case you've forgotten what it looks like!

Bert Hinkler is a "famous son" of Bundaberg! He grew up in Bundaberg and spent hours inventing things and wanting to fly like the ibis, that he used to sit and study. His first flying designs were based on these birds. He tested his first designed and built aircraft on the Mon Repos beach, after towing it 12 or so miles to do so. All the effort was worthwhile, as he was able to fly, just like a bird! In 1928 he became famous for being the first person to fly solo from England to Australia. It took him 151/2 days, and broke several other aviation records.
He served with distinction during World War 1 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
In 1919 he joined A.V.Roe & Co. in Southampton and from 1921 -1926 was Chief Test Pilot. Between 1920-1931 he created many aviation records. In 1932, while undertaking another world record breaking flight to Australia, he died when he crashed into the Alps in Italy, at the age of 43.

The "Avro Avian" plane, that Bert did a lot of his flying in

Bert Hinkler's first 'glider style' aeroplane

 

                                                                                    

Bert's English house, called 'Mon Repos', was dismantled and
brought to Australia where it was painstakingly rebuilt, in the
site if the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens.

Bundy Botanic Gardens

There were lots of turtles, ducks and even eels (you can see one if you look carefully in the duck picture), in the ponds at the Botanic Gardens.

The day we left Bundaberg was an interesting one for a couple of reasons:

• ute wouldn't start! Required a jump start and a new battery
• Jon trying to renew his driver's licence, as the notice had come through recently in the mail. Only to be told he'd need to attend an SA licencing service centre, as his photo wasn't on file!! That's handy when you're in Qld! His only alternative is to transfer to a Qld Licence, and we have yet to work out with how they deal with a residential address that isn't in the state, as we were in the queue at one of their centres, after tracking all over Bundaberg, and the power went out!! At that point, we decided to 'give it a miss' and get on the road. This will be a job for the next big QLD town we encounter!

The Moral of the story is: be prepared! (If you know your licence is going to run out, renew it before you leave home!