Day 60 Bundaberg to Brisbane

There is a high possibility that the rain has abated for the time being, and we woke this morning to blue sky and sunshine...WOOHOOO!  We haven't completely escaped the wet though as we now wait for everything to dry around us...hopefully a few more days of sun will set things back to the natural order.

First stop today was the Bundaberg Barrel, home of Bundaberg Natural Brewing Works...Bundy Ginger Beer for all of you out there that need education.  The barrel has been set up as an interactive display on the history of natural brewing of ginger beer, and also as a historical account of the company from its beginnings to the current operation. It was a very hands on exhibit, and the kids had a ball smelling, assembling, pumping, and observing their way around the building.

We all got to taste test the 13 different flavours of soft drink that they currently produce, until we were sufficiently gassed up and belching loudly.  We thought it only fitting to grab a few bottles of drink ($8.00 per six pack) to carry with us on the road.  They also had some quite irresistible ginger Anzac biscuits which were slathered in dark chocolate coating which somehow made their way into our shopping cart.



The whole building is shaped like a big oak barrel, so I guess we can add the BIG Barrel to our list of big things that we have seen on the journey. 

From the barrel, it was a short hop back over to the Bundaberg Distillery for our tour today.  I went with some apprehension, and a complete loathing for Bundy Rum (Fight Juice), but it is one of the things that you just have to do...When in Rome...or Bundaberg.


The distillery has been operational since 1888, and has fallen victim to fire twice in its history.  Upon entering the distillery, we were greeted by the Bundy Bear in his glass case.  I have already shown the kids the video of the drop bears, so he is now known as the real, live, dead, drop bear. 

The kids are getting smarter though, so they asked the girl behind the counter if he was a real drop bear.  Bless her for confirming their worst fears.  I might add too that half way around the tour was a huge yellow sign with red lettering "BEWARE OF THE DROP BEARS"

We were shown around to the side of a plain brick building and were allowed to peek through a double door at the 12 White Oak Vats that hold 43,000 litres of rum each.  The smell coming out was quite delectable.  The wood is sourced from the USA and are coopered together on site in the traditional fashion without nail, or glue.  This was bond store #6, and each barrel has a retail value of $6 Million dollars.  Throughout the site they have 300 of these vats, which translates to 12.9 million litres of rum with a retail value of $180 Million. No wonder security is tight.

From the bond store, we walked across to the sugar mill and to the molasses storage facility which has the capacity to hold two Olympic swimming pools of molasses. There are 3 of these storage wells on site...that is a lot of molasses in anyone's book. 

The distilling room was next, and we caught a glimpse of bond store #2 which is in the process of being converted to small batch and speciality barrelled rum.  All that was left to see after that was the bottling plant which is highly automated, and we were finally able to make our way back for tastings at the Bundy Bar. 

Now I did say early on that I hate Bundy Rum, so finding something to taste was a bit of a trick.  Lisa tried the triple filtered clear rum with lime and soda...YUM!  This white rum was better than Bacardi, and more flavoursome than vodkas.  I tried the 1961 50th Anniversary rum.  The anniversary was for the bear on the label, and the rum is aged on oak for 1961 days or just over 5 years.  I thought it was pretty good which surprised me.

I then tried the Red Label which is filtered over Red Gum and is supposed to appeal to bourbon drinkers.  Bat wee is closer to the mark, Ewwww!  Lisa tried the Royal Rum Liqueur as her final tasting.  This is the smoothest liqueur of its type that I have ever tasted.  A blend of Chocolate, Coffee, Vanilla, Caramel and Rum.  So after buying three bottles of the liqueur and two bottles of the 1961, we left the distillery mildly shocked, but very pleased.

The rest of the day was a long drive from Bundaberg to Brisbane.  The highway was in much better repair though, and we made decent time.  On the way into Brisbane we passed the Ettamoogah Pub which is on the highway near Australia Zoo, so we may end up there for a meal.  The landscape is very reminiscent of Perth hills area or South West Highway down towards Boddington.  It feels very much like home which was comforting. 

The past three days we have driven 1300km and are looking forward to having a bit of a rest.  I think Lisa and I are both pretty shattered from the endless routine.  We must make a point of sitting on our veranda with a quiet afternoon drink and do some serious relaxing before theme parks next week.