We arrive in Bundaberg at 9.30 am on Saturday 7th July.
We go straight to the 'I' site (information centre) where we meat Micheal, an ex-pat who is extremly talkative, but helpful!
He books us onto the campsite just across the road and gives us the info of what we should do whilst in Bundaberg.
Bubaberg is famous for 2 things; 1. Its rum. 2. It's ginger beer.
Now for those of you who know us well, rum is our favourite tipple! (Well, white rum, at least).
So after a quick look around the town with wide streets and more eateries than I care to mention, (it's no wonder the Ozzies are always exercising!), we make our way to the Bundaberg Rum factory. We go on the guided tour for $25 each, (the 2 taste tastings at the end, won us over!), our very enthusiastic young guide Ros, was very informative and new her rums well! Sugar cane is grown extensively in this area of Australia and that is what our rum is made from.
We saw it as molasses in a massive tank, which smelt of liquorice and got to taste it too. From here we saw the massive barrels in which it is stored for a couple of years, these barrels are what gives it its beautiful colour and taste. The barrels are still made by hand in the traditional way, locally, so the taste doesn't alter. American white oak is used to make the barrels and the only thing that holds these 4 metre high barrels together is the angle on the edge of the planks and the bands around the barrels. They each hold $6 million worth of rum too!
We also learned about the polar bear! Apparently, back in the day when the company was set up in 1888, the southerners weren't drinking the rum, as they thought it was only to be drank in hot sunny climes as long drink over ice with ginger beer, know locally as a dark and stormy! It's great, you should try it! So the polar bear was introduced and a catch phrase something along the lines of 'it will keep the winter chills' away was introduced.
Our taste test was interesting, especially the rum with chocolate and vanilla! Yum and the dark and stormy too.
On to Cairns!
