December Story 16: 21/12/2020 Brissy (Brisbane) to Bundy (Bundaberg)

The first part of the drive went well. We stopped off for breakfast and wanted to go to the Ginger Factory but it was way too early in the morning. The historical centre of Buderim had no mention or acknowledgement of Aboriginal history (I had expected a plaque or something out the front), which is so funny, and it was closed. Kaiya and Kirra didn’t mind too much, begrudgingly indulged me in a couple of photos and we were back on the road. They loved the snacks, activities, travel blankets, and the uninterrupted screen time. It was the closest thing to being in a plane for them so it brought back lots of good memories for them.

Bundaberg was great, the Botanical Gardens were great. The playground there was fantastic and whist there was a very limited menus at the café the activity sheets for kids for the school holidays rocked! The playground had a great sand tipping set-up and it was pretty good fun figuring out the most effective way to move the sand around. There were artists in the gardens and playground working on their drawings and water colours. Despite the heat there were people exercising, and grandparents looking after their grandchildren for the school holidays. The little town has actually grown since I saw it last. It also had some cafes serious about coffee and plant milks so that was really interesting. We also stopped into the Bundaberg Brewing Company, home of the famous Bundaberg Ginger Beer, where they brew all of their soft drinks. It was the first official tasting experience for the girls. The drinks were served in small amounts, and we learnt about the drink, and then we shared feedback. The girls have a bit of trouble with the sour and bitter tastes but they were very gracious and very excited. The girls were crazy keen to get to the motel for a swim in the pool. It was a cute motel, clean, very simple and super quaint. A really basic motel where you can drive your car right up to the door. It takes me back to my childhood and whilst holidays were rare, we would drive through the Northern Territory through to Queensland when I was little between Darwin and Rockhampton. It was the same kind of motel we would have stopped in so my Dad (the driver) could get some sleep.

Dinner was tricky, the girls were so crazy tired, so dinner at the burger place was tricky. The gelato place was a hit and so was the ability to charge the electric car at the shopping centre. So cool. The girls were great but would find the whole 8 hours in one day pretty hard to sit through so it was wonderful to have a stop along the way.