Blimey it's Bundaberg!

After finishing with customs and quarantine, we were finally in Australia officially.

We staggered down the marina pier into the office of Bundaberg Port Marina.  Australians are such a nice bunch.  The office manager greeted us with a big smile and lots of humour.  He let us stay on the quarantine pier overnight (they weren't expecting anyone), so that we could sit back and relax after our long sail.

As a celebration for arriving, we had breakfast at the cafe at the marina.  Eggs benedict for me, and a big breakfast for Gary - fabulous!  

Toodles was still packed to the brim with cans of tomatoes, beans and rice.  We decided to rent a car and donate all the extras to the Salvation Army.  I swear Toodles floated inches higher after we emptied her of cans.

What to do in Bundaberg with a rental car?  Go to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery of course!

Yes, we may have been to a fair few distilleries before, but we thought another one couldn't hurt.  This tour had to be the best we had been on.  We started in the museum, to see the history of Bundaberg Rum, including seeing the Bundaberg Rum Polar Bear.

The museum also had sniff samples of the rum at different stages.  I made myself dizzy sniffing a bit too much rum!

We were met in the video room, which showed all the ads for Bundaberg Rum, by our tour guide.  We were stripped of our camera and watches, and anything else that might cause a spark.  This was new to us.  Apparently the rum fumes are highly flammable!  That hadn't worried the Carribean rum distilleries.  Perhaps we were lucky not to have been blown sky high after taking pictures of the 160 proof rum in Grenada.

The tour was great.  We got a much better description of what was happening and what they are doing, as well as a few taste tests along the way.  

The final stop was the bar for a few more taste tests.  Gary was driving so I had to drink his free samples for him.  Suffice to say, I left Bundaberg Distillery feeling pretty good.

On our way back to the marina we spotted a Kangaroo (referred to just as a "Roo" by the locals).  We took a photo as proof and confirmation that yes, we were definitely in Australia.