Viva Bris-Vegas

(karen)
As anyone who has ever been to Australia can tell you, Aussies are mighty proud of their local spirit, Bundaberg Rum. I'm no fan of rum but I couldn't resist going on the ever popular Bundaberg Rum Distillery tour, especially since the neighboring sugar refineries were going full throttle but weren't offering tours until a week after we left. Let me tell you, after also being denied a tour of the milk factory I was ready to rain down fire if the Rum plant was closed. Lucky for the good people of Bundaberg it wasn't.


This was a great way to spend an afternoon after too many days of hiking around in the wilderness. Rum is made from fermented molasses, the byproduct from refining sugar. I loved the huge sunken vat of molasses that was as wide as a basketball court and 15 feet deep. I'm sure you can imagine the smell. We then got to see the fermentation tanks, the distilling area, and the large white oak barrels that are used to age the rum for three years before being bottled. At the end of the tour everyone got two drinks to try at the Bundy Bar. We tasted a little but gave our leftover drink coupons to a group of very excited backpackers.

Our next stop down the coast was to famous Fraser Island, however due to a combination of poor planning and bad luck we were unable to explore the island like it deserved. It has miles of gorgeous beaches on the eastern coast, a historic shipwreck stranded in the surf, and some amazing crystal clear lakes. Most people explore this sand island on multi-day 4WD tours but we had only our feet and one afternoon so our options were limited. The best I can offer you is a haunted face I found in some driftwood on the beach.


Finally we arrived in Brisbane, our last stop on the great Australian tour. I wish we could have had more energy to see the sights of this beautiful city but Steve and I were starting to get mentally drained from all the traveling. It was so refreshing to be able to reunite with some folks we've met previously on our holiday, including Tam from our Hiking New Zealand trip and Doug and Denise whom we got to know on the Milford Track. Just for fun we did take a day trip down to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Cost. This is an area sometimes referred to as Bris-Vegas and it seems to be more loved by visitors than it is by the locals. Yes it's a bit tacky, yes it's overrun with high-rise hotels, but the sun was shining and the water was clean and it felt wonderful to stroll on the squeaky sands.



Steve surprised me with a trip to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where for a fee I got to cuddle my very own drugged out koala! He was very sweet and sleepy, and after hearing other people's stories I'm very glad he didn't pee on me.


We planned on going into town for a fancy dinner to celebrate our last night in Australia, but changed our minds and decided a home cooked meal with Tam would be a better way to cap off the trip. It was a delicious dinner of wilted spinach with a butter-walnut sauce, roasted pumpkin soup, fresh pasta, pan seared salmon, and crepes in a caramel apple sauce for dessert. The only mishap was a broken blender base that came detached and sent pumpkin soup all over the kitchen. Ah, too much fun.

Stay tuned for our next post about one of the most perfect places on this green earth, Fiji!