September 9 & 10 Bundaberg

Yesterday I got sick of fiddling with the computer - every other time I went to start it up it would freeze or applications would stop responding – so I put it in for repairs. It turned out the problem was the antivirus software and each time something was plugged into a USB port the antivirus software decided it wanted 100% of the computer’s power and to hell with everything else. The cost of repairs was $75 which I didn’t consider too bad. He also installed some freeware antivirus stuff so hopefully that will be the end of all the issues. As a result there was no Blog updated yesterday and I now have a bit of catching up to do. Yesterday morning we went out to visit Renee’s Aunty Elaine and Uncle Bill who live in north Bundaberg. It was a pleasant visit and finished up with morning tea. They suggested we make a visit to the Hummock Lookout. It’s only 96 m high but does give a good view over Bundaberg to the west and the coastal villages to the east. It’s apparently the remnant of an extinct volcano. We were impressed with the land use pattern – lots of sugar cane but also lots of vegetable crops. Horticulture is very big in this area – from that point of view it would be a nice area to live in. Lots of fresh farm vegetables from roadside stalls. According to Elaine and Bill there’s a very good farmer’s market but we won’t be here for that. This is the only lookout over Bundaberg because all the surrounding countryside is pretty flat. From here we went to Bargara (pronounced B-gah-ra), one of the coastal villages. On the way we stopped at Bargara Berries for lunch – pancakes with strawberries, whipped cream and ice cream. Beautiful! We also bought a 1 kg container of 1st quality strawberries for $10. Sorry we can’t bring any home but they were the biggest and most delicious we’ve ever eaten. Bargara is not really the place to surf as the beach consists largely of rocks and boulders from The Hummock. It’s still a nice place however with lots of expensive looking apartment buildings. Today we began with a visit to Baldwin’s Swamp wetland – an extensive wetland area more or less in the centre of Bundaberg. It was exceptional and we found lots of water birds as well as getting some good exercise. Excellent picnic/BBQ and play facilities surrounded the park. We came across a school group on an excursion and that took my memory back a few years. No more, thank you! The Botanic Gardens were on the itinerary after lunch and we felt they were a very poor show, in comparison to Baldwin’s Swamp and the Botanic Gardens we had seen in Townsville and Rockhampton. Petrol here was the same price as Rockhampton – 149.9 minus the 4c from Woolies. Yet the price of oil has dropped $40 a barrel – figure that out! Off to Hervey Bay tomorrow for three nights – then Toowoomba (1 night), Inverell (3 nights), Singleton or Maitland (1 night) and then home on 19th. That’s the plan at the moment.