9 June 2011 - Finemore Holiday Park, Bundaberg

Our return to Childers this morning was worth the duplicated travel. We arrived there just after nine and the place was buzzing. Certainly it is situated right on the Bruce Highway, with all north and south bound traffic passing through the main street. We followed the caravan parking signs around the side street to a well appointed area, complete with dump point. This town is a CMCA Friendly Town, which is always good news for travellers such as ourselves. More towns about Australia are choosing to become part of this elite group, understanding that by attracting travellers in to their towns, encouraging them to stay for more than a fuel stop or a quick coffee and muffin, they can earn dollars that would otherwise be spent elsewhere.

We found the Information Centre slap bang in the middle of the busy street, situated on the ground floor of the Palace Backpacker Hotel. The whole town is heritage listed. The block of wooden buildings including this Hotel, all burned down in 1902, but was rebuilt soon after.

The Palace Backpacker Hotel

The backpackers’ hotel was again burnt down by an arsonist on 23 June 2000, an event that hit the international media. Among the fifteen who were killed in the fire were backpackers from Ireland, Korea, Japan, England and France. The other sixty nine guests escaped. The arsonist was caught and convicted just months later, showing no remorse, and is still locked up. The building was restored, saved by its heritage status and now houses the Information Centre, and an art gallery on the first floor together with a wonderful memorial to those who perished in the fire. Photos depicting the life of each of the victims have been captured in a glass many dimensional prism like “picture”, There is also a large painting featuring the fifteen posed in a relaxed setting as they paused from their work in the fields. Of course the reality is that while they all worked in agriculture (some in avocados, some with tomatoes, some in the sugar cane, some with melons, or whatever), they were unlikely to have all worked together or even have known each other. The painting suggests otherwise and is a celebration of the fun they were all having working and travelling and meeting fellows of a medley of cultures, prior to their tragic end. So rather than a morbid memorial, it is a celebration of youthful exuberance, and their lives up to that point.

The art featured in the gallery was by local amateur artist featuring a “show” theme. While it is evident that the artists have enjoyed creating and being part of this exhibition, we found more interest in the artistic memorial to the back packers in the other side of the room.

We called in to the Old Pharmacy, but did not enter the area behind the front counters to view the museum. Instead we engaged with the volunteer manning the site who had much to offer about Childers; transportation, agriculture, the floods, politics, carbon emissions, the taxing of the same, and also an overview of the pharmacists who worked from the premises.

Street-art

Wandering around the streets, we enjoyed seeing the mosaic art on the street and the statues strategically placed about. Childers has a very small population, and the money that has been ploughed into the visual upgrade of the town must surely be disproportionate to that population. But what a difference it makes to the tourist.

Tearing ourselves away from this charming place, we continued on our route to Bundaberg, there inside the hour. We pulled in to this caravan park, just metres from the CBD, beside the Burnett River, and ticking all the boxes.

Views of Bundaberg

Our laundry all had to be redone, because the bore water and the dilapidated washing machine at Maryborough just had not done the job; it was dirtier and smellier than it had been before. This time, with an extra dose of washing powder and functional machines, all items smelled sweet and clean as I hung them on the line here in this very nice park.

After lunch and after the washing was all dried and stowed, Chris and I set off to the Information Centre which is just across the road, and then up the main street and back along the river. It was cold and windy, and by the time we were on the home stretch just after four, the birds were squawking their bedtime ruckus and night was falling and promising rain.

Now it is long after dinner and long after the birds have bedded down, the rain has not come and we are relatively warm in our van, showered and dressed in winter clothes. The weather forecast for the next few days is not promising but we will just have to arrange our itinerary around the weather. Strange really because when I think of Bundaberg, I think of tropics, sea, and of course rum. We will visit the rum distillery, and hopefully see or experience some of the other.