One of the girls in my dorm at Agnes Water had warned me about Bundaberg, and specifically about the hostel she stayed in. But I thought I’d be fine because I’d read about a hostel called ‘Cellblock’ which was in an old prison. She was sad she hadn’t thought of that. I thought it would be quite cool.
But in reality it was a good kilometre from the bus stop, and absolutely choc-full of farm working backpackers. They were nice people, very nice, but their demeanour was different to your average backpacker. Many of them were quite jaded because of a lack of work, and at night they all put sheets across their dorm beds for privacy. I’d never seen that done before!
My only reason for coming to Bundaberg was for the rum. I felt like the only tourist in a town that’s absolutely NOT touristy. There’s not a map in sight, and no adverts for the distillery. I asked a lady where the CBD was and she indicated that I was kind of in it! WHAT?! A café, a McDonalds and a couple of hairdressers. This is the biggest town for miles…this can’t be it!
I walked to the bus station which had absolutely nobody in it. But there was a map in there, which told me I’d have to walk for about 45 minutes to get to the distillery. Time was ticking on, so I just went.
It was a hot walk through industrial estates and past the flood-damaged cricket ground. I also passed a river with some carpet in a tree, which the floods must have put there. I finally reached the distillery.
But in reality it was a good kilometre from the bus stop, and absolutely choc-full of farm working backpackers. They were nice people, very nice, but their demeanour was different to your average backpacker. Many of them were quite jaded because of a lack of work, and at night they all put sheets across their dorm beds for privacy. I’d never seen that done before!
My only reason for coming to Bundaberg was for the rum. I felt like the only tourist in a town that’s absolutely NOT touristy. There’s not a map in sight, and no adverts for the distillery. I asked a lady where the CBD was and she indicated that I was kind of in it! WHAT?! A café, a McDonalds and a couple of hairdressers. This is the biggest town for miles…this can’t be it!
I walked to the bus station which had absolutely nobody in it. But there was a map in there, which told me I’d have to walk for about 45 minutes to get to the distillery. Time was ticking on, so I just went.
It was a hot walk through industrial estates and past the flood-damaged cricket ground. I also passed a river with some carpet in a tree, which the floods must have put there. I finally reached the distillery.
The tour took you to see the raw molasses, the cleaning and fermenting process, the massive casks they age the stuff in and then bottling. But it was clear where we all wanted to end up. The good old tasting session! I had a go at a rum which is worth $90 a bottle. And for my second taste I had the spiced rum, but I did have to dilute it with a little mixer. The tour was full of big burley men. One of them was there, from Sydney, to work on flood damage. I spoke mostly to a German/Austrian couple who let me share some of their samples because they were driving! There’s a tip – always befriend a driver on any distillery tour!
So nicely relaxed for my walk back I decided I was going to challenge myself to stay out as long as possible because the dorm room basically smelt like it had no air in it. After a good walk round town where I discovered something that was a bit more town centreish, a tree full of noisy parrots and some pizza to eat, I found a licensed café with wifi and started this blog! And then amazingly I slept like a log!
So nicely relaxed for my walk back I decided I was going to challenge myself to stay out as long as possible because the dorm room basically smelt like it had no air in it. After a good walk round town where I discovered something that was a bit more town centreish, a tree full of noisy parrots and some pizza to eat, I found a licensed café with wifi and started this blog! And then amazingly I slept like a log!
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