We tied up to the custom jetty by 1630 hrs on the 5th Oct 2011, 36000 miles since we left Melbourne.
Customs were lightening quick, nice friendly Aussies.
While Joel from quarantine (AQUIS) was just as personable, this took longer as there was much more to check. Still 1 hr later we were downing a celebratory beer under a gum tree while rolling in kangaroo dung. It was good to be home.
Squash the Chinese whispers.
The pacific is awash with a virulent plague of rumours about officials and regulations in Australia.
Yachties, relax. Most of these rumours are simply false.
For instance AQUIS leant down and peered at our antifoul. It was obviously in good nick. End of story. No underwater cameras; no core samples taken; no forced hard standings for inspections. Those rumours (that we had heard many times) were hogwash.
A big thank you to the Port to Port people.
What a splendid welcoming bunch of volunteers.
This is Fred, who is the voice of the daily skeds.
Leslie is the head honcho in the Bundy Yacht Club and a more community minded spirit you will never meet. She is one of the real dynamos in the club, working tirelessly for the yachting community.
She knows the ropes when it comes to quarantine matters as she worked for them for many years in Bundy.
Leslie cleared us back in to Oz in 2003 after an earlier Pacific loop.
A fleet of like minded yachties work with Lesley to welcome rally sailors.
We have become good mates with Ann and Marina.
Now, we are not really rally people, liking to make our own decisions as when to leave port, and not needing our hand held.
This rally is different. There is a window of many weeks for leaving or arriving.
This is a rally based around welcome and partying, plus it is an economic no brainer.
If you join the rally your $300 AQUIS fee is refunded, courtesy of the accumulated funds of the Bundaberg Yacht Club. This bonanza can't last.
Bundy is beaut
71000 people live in Bundaberg. It boasts an amazing array of light industry and a plethora of shops. It is so nice to be able to get just about anything we want- sour dough bread, turkey thighs, pates, affordable quality wines.
Bundy has changed in the 8 yrs since our last visit. It used to be an anglosaxon enclave with not a stem of boc choy to be had.. Now a number of Asian people work here, and those wonderful Asian greens and supplies are readily available.
Rental cars are on hand at the marina for $40 a day. We are sharing a car with our yachtie friends on Marionette IV.
Two young Spaniards, Julia and Ivan, are tied up next to us. First thing they did was to head into the neighbouring paddocks at dusk, and to their delight spied a few kangaroos. They were tickled pink. There is a resident family of roos that feed not far from the marina- camera fodder for foreign arrivals.
Birds of Bundy
Southern Queensland has over 450 species of birds. The range of species around Bundy is gob smacking.
Australia only has 1 species of bee eater. It is readily seen here as you walk from the marina to the nearby Lighthouse hotel to wet the lips. It is the beautiful teal and bronze coloured rainbow bee eater.
It digs it's nest horizontally far back into the sand. You can spot them near the entrance to the Burnet Heads Volunteer Marine Rescue Base.
The melodic calls of the butcher bird are flung with operatic strength from the trees surrounding the tafe marine college.
All the locals are sporting long cable ties on top of their bike helmets to deter the swooping magpies - it is nesting season.
White breasted sea eagles are working the river.
Hundreds of noisy rainbow lorikeets dash from tree to tree.
There are so many species of honey eaters, we are downright confused.
Don't miss a trip to the Bundaberg Botanical gardens. There must be at least 40 species present.
List of Birds we spotted
Magpie lark
Rainbow lorikeet
Australian white (sacred) ibis
Straw necked ibis
Willy wagtail
House sparrow
Rainbow bee eater
White breasted sea eagle
Magpie
Noisy miner
Grey butcher bird
Galah
Welcome swallow
Silver gull
Muscovy duck
Darter
Great egret
Little egret
Cattle egret
White faced heron
Purple swamp hen
Figbird
Little Friar Bird
Black faced cuckoo shrike
Eurasian coot
Dusky moorhen
Plumed whistling duck
Maned wood duck
Pacific duck
Bush lark
Royal spoonbill
Pied oyster catcher
Grey fantail
Spotted turtle dove
Dollarbird
Black swan
Australian pipit
Australian hobby
Cicada bird male
Double barred finch
Brown honeyeater
Little (brush) wattlebird
Pied cormorant
Little pied cormorant
Little black cormorant
Crested tern
Whiskered tern
Info for yachties.
While wifi is available it is problematic.
We bought a Telstra USB stick in Bundy for $100 with 3 gig of data included.
It costs $150 for a 10 gig top up or a yr, whichever comes first. Of course you can buy smaller top ups for shorter stays.$15 a gig is top value.
Telstra has the best coverage outside of capitol cities by far.
The reception is excellent, even non¬-buffering TV via the stick.
Top quality work
The trades people at Bundaberg Port Marina are a find.
Gary, the mechanic; Ray, the shipwright; Paul for your yacht electrics; and Rolph for your fridges, are excellent tradespeople and decent human beings.
We are leaving Jacana on the hard for a mighty long list of work to be attended to in our absence in Melbourne.
After eight and a half years round the world it is time for new rigging, to replace the ever reliable 26 yr old bukh engine with a new one; for a new set of instruments etc etc.
The marina's facilities and people are also friendly and professional - a huge change from the arrogance exhibited at Shelter Bay in Colon