Monthly Archives: July 2015

Humour, Queensland, Wildlife

Emerald

CapricornHighway1We have now begun to head west along the Capricorn Highway. As its name suggests, it quite closely follows the Tropic of Capricorn. After a short period, we had left the sugar cane behind and came on dry pasture land, much like you might find around Goulburn. However, every 40km or so there was another big coal train running towards the coast.

Soon we came on to Blackwater, which had a huge open cut mine just to the south of the highway. As we disagree with Tony Abbott that the future of Australia is coal, we kept going. Although our goal was Longreach, we decided not to drive 700 km in a day so stopped at Emerald in the Botanic Gardens, where we found 8 other caravans with exactly the same idea.

A map of the gardens. Oddly, no Japanese gardens!
A map of the gardens. Oddly, no Japanese gardens!

That evening I went for a walk with the dog and found the maze. Although it was very dark (no moon, just stars), the Meleluka Maze was quite easy to solve as I could see the scuff marks of the foot prints of the previous visitors in the soil. Assuming no-one got lost in the maze, and everyone makes a random choice at each corner, everyone must walk on the right path, but only a few will take the wrong path. So by following the most footmarks, I made the right turn every time. (My brother, Jean-Leo, would ask, “…but what is a crowd of Japanese tourists went into the maze, took a wrong turn and called for a helicopter to get them out?”)

After the maze I did the Celestial Garden, but that was just a set of concentric circles and no challenge at all to solve. I tried to find a wrong path and failed!

On the way back I met a large cane toad in the middle of the path. I shone my torch on it so the dog would avoid it. The dog was curious and stuck his nose against it. The toad just ducked a bit but showed no concern. Fortunately the dog moved on.

On the way back I met a chinese gentlemen with a long beard doing something to the trees with bread. The following morning I heard and found what he was up to.

ParrotsOfEmerald

Humour, Queensland, Wildlife

Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote

Yeppoon Roadrunner
Yeppoon Roadrunner?

We stayed in Yeppoon for a few days while pondering whether to head north or west. Eventually we chose west, and have revised our itinerary. Yeppoon in a beautiful spot just in the tropics, but otherwise quite reminiscent of the south coast of NSW. The bird life is quite different. We saw a lot of this bird around the bushes and in the camp site at night.

Dog covered in burrs
Dog covered in burrs

One night, on a dog walk, we came on a few quite suddenly. The dog chased one into the scrub and disappeared into a bush. I pulled him back and fortunately he had caught nothing. Upon returning to the caravan, I found the dog was covered with burrs.

A bucket of burrs, with much fur still attached
A bucket of burrs, with much fur still attached

Carmel and I spent the evening pulling and brushing them all out, with many yips and yelps from the dog. Moral of the story – if you chase after roadrunner, you come off second best!

Queensland

Bert Hinkler, Bundaberg’s most famous son

1 Comment

I had never heard of Bert Hinkler before. It seems he is the aviator who was born at Bundaberg and who was prolific at setting flying records. Bundaberg has created a very detailed, small museum about him and his achievements. They even brought his English house, Mon Repos, over and reassembled it here.

Bert Hinkler's house, Mon Repos is now at Bundaberg
Bert Hinkler’s house, Mon Repos is now at Bundaberg

I particularly loved the picture of his parent’s home in Bundaberg with his plane parked in the back yard.

Unfortunately I did not get long at this fascinating museum on early flight as the dog began complaining loudly outside.

Queensland

Japanese Gardens, Bundaberg

Dog says "More Japanese Gardens?"
Dog says “More Japanese Gardens?”

Like countless other towns in Australia, Bundaberg is famous for its Japanese Gardens. I am going to need to add a category to this blog called “Japanese Gardens” there are so many of them.

I think the dog was showing a bit of ennui as we walked around these. Fortunately, they were not too big – more of Bonsai Japanese Gardens!

A small Japanese Garden is a good Japanese Garden!
A small Japanese Garden is a good Japanese Garden!
A Chinese Pavilion by a creek
A Chinese Pavilion by a creek

These gardens are part of the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens, which also features Chinese Gardens. These were very small too, but made for a nice photo.

Entry to the Chinese Gardens in Bundaberg. I'll need to get Janet at work to translate
Entry to the Chinese Gardens in Bundaberg. I’ll need to get Janet at work to translate

The larger gardens feature a huge lake filled with ducks and turtles. On an island, the ducks look like a rockery.

A rockery of ducks at Bundaberg
A rockery of ducks at Bundaberg
Turtle checks out the tourists
Turtle checks out the tourists
Queensland

Bundaberg

From Bjelkie Petersen Dam, we came to Bundaberg. This is an industrial town and the caravan park indicated that – practical but bare. Then we found that the 2013 floods had scraped the trees and facilities from the park – it was quite lush before.

Full Moon over the Burnett River, Bundaberg
Full Moon over the Burnett River, Bundaberg

Bundaberg is famous for its sugar, and is surrounded by sugar plantations and cane train lines. So, of course, the first thing you must do when visiting this town is to see the Ginger Beer Factory.

Alex leans on the famous Ginger Beer Barrel of Bundaberg, with the delivery truck and factory in the background
Alex leans on the famous Ginger Beer Barrel of Bundaberg, with the delivery truck and factory in the background

You also should see the sugar mills – briefly. It’ll wean you off sugar!

A Sugar Mill running. It smells dusty, sweet and a bit toffee. Half way between pleasant and unpleasant
A Sugar Mill running. It smells dusty, sweet and a bit toffee. Half way between pleasant and unpleasant

One of the main waste products of sugar milling is molasses. This is sugar that does not crystallise. In 1880, there was so much molasses in Bundaberg, emergency measures were needed. The result was the Bundaberg Rum Factory,  also worth visit. It is a bit pricey at $25 per adult, with two tasting nips at the end of the tour, but interesting.

Alex heads off to see what becomes of molasses
Alex heads off to see what becomes of molasses

I have no photos of the inside of the distillery. This is not so much security as the need to avoid any sparking electronics near alcoholic vapours. In fact, they would not let us in the vat rooms for fear of static discharge from our clothes. There was talk of a naked tour. despite all this, the factory is surrounded by an electric fence to prevent unauthorised tours.

Carmel's and Alex's favourite
Carmel’s and Alex’s favourite

What was interesting is the difference between the distilled rum before and after being aged in a cask. Before, it is a clear liquid that smells like methylated spirits. After, it takes its colours and scent from the cask and the previous contents of the cask. So there are a range of different rums depending on the cask and the amount it is watered prior to bottling. We liked the Small Batch version, which was very like cognac. The Toffee and Banana blend was very nice with milk too.