Mt Larcom to Bundaberg

Next morning we did a quick walk upon waking to see how the sunrise and Mt Larcom lined up. Here’s the result.

Obviously I was up a bit late but we only had 215 kms to drive to our next stopping point. Once breakfast we over we packed up and headed off. Unlike the previous day it was a blue sky.

At Miriam Vale we turned off the Bruce Highway and headed east.

After about 50kms we came to a T intersection. Left was to the Town of Seventeen Seventy which we had stayed at back in 2019 but right was towards our destination, Bundaberg.

After a while we came to yet another section of roadworks. However we discovered the speed reduction was due to a heavily flooded creek, the Baffle Creek. Just as well we hadn’t been there the last few days as it looked like the road had been cut off.

Bundaberg

We continued on and about fifty minutes later we were on the approach to Bundaberg. There was lots of lateral water surrounding orchard trees here too.

As we had changed our plans due to the rain we had struggled to find a spot at any of the caravan parks but did manage one at Bundaberg East Cabin and Tourist Park. After crossing this very narrow bridge across the Burnett River we made our way there. (Happy not to meet a truck coming the other way as we crossed it!)

We checked in and drove slowly around to our site, mud everywhere. Just as well we had booked a site with a concrete slab. The other bonus was every site had its own ensuite. (After a couple of rainy days Karen was keen to do her exercises. Mel is looking on with interest.)

We set up and ate a late lunch. As we would be staying a few nights we drove down to the Tourist Information Centre, which was right next to one of Bundaberg’s famous exports, the Bundaberg Rum Factory.

With a few brochures of things to do in our hands we drove down to the part of the town bordering the Burnett River. This was one of the recommended places to go a for a walk, ideal when we had Mel with us. The river was certainly up but not as high up as the trail.

We walked all the way up river from the carpark to the bridge we had crossed with the caravan behind us earlier in the day.

On our way back we followed the street. Here’s an interesting piece of sculpture we saw. Pretty sure it’s a crustacean of some sort but could be wrong.

Distance travelled – 222 kms

Bargara

Next morning we drove out to the coast. It was only about ten kilometres to the smaller town of Bargara. The caravan park here was very popular. I had tried to make a booking earlier in the year and it had been booked out. Anyway it was good to take a look at the caravan park and the area in general for another time. Plus it had a lovely trail on which we could take Mel for a walk.

Here are a few photos of the beach we passed as we walked.

We did find a designated area for dogs to be off leash which was good.

This gave Karen a chance to train up Mel a bit. Even at two years of age she still doesn’t ‘come’ when called, well that is unless there’s a treat involved. Not surprisingly another little dog in the leash free zone thought it would see if it could get a treat too.

Time was getting on and we had a lunch booking about sixty kilometres in the other direction so back we drove.

Mollydookers Cafe/Bar, Apple Tree Creek

Now we had driven past this cafe a number of times over the years we have been to Queensland and every time it was closed. Reason being we were always there on a Monday. So this time we made sure we could visit so booked a Sunday lunch. The art work on the side of the cafe is quite catchy and given Karen is a mollydooker, (lefthander), I made sure I took a photo of her there on our arrival.

The owners are an Aussie/Canadian couple, hence the moose and kangaroo. Sadly the cafe is not dog friendly but they gave us a table next to the fence so we left Mel on the other side where she could almost be with us.

We ordered. Karen had a cup of tea and I had a suitably named beer while our meals were being prepared. Loved the engraving on the beer glass.

Karen ate a hot roast vegetable plate

and I had a variation on a Canadian favourite, pulled pork on poutine with an apple coleslaw on top. For those who haven’t been to Canada, poutine is a concoction of French fries, gravy and cheese curds.

Well sated we drove back to Bundaberg and took a short walk to work off our big meals.

Distance driven – 132kms