Year 2 – 19 March 2025 – Bundaberg (“Bundy”)
If anyone reading this and is free from late June to mid July 2025 to come to Australia then do contact me as I am short of crew during this period at present.
We woke to a brighter day but it was still grey but at least it was not raining. We had an early breakfast of banana pancakes and got underway at 07.30am heading for Bundaberg some 50nm North. We had to motor initially through more channels and between sandbanks and a channel which led us into Hervey Bay. Once we were clear of the sandbanks we decided to sail as there was a good breeze.
Due to the wind direction, we ended up just using the genoa and we were more or less sailing toward the entrance to Bundaberg Harbour almost dead downwind. This route led us across Hervey Bay which is huge and as we continued Fraser Island receded into the background and then was gone. There was a little swell and we rolled a little bit with just the genoa but we made good progress toward Bundaberg.
Hervey Bay is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. It is located on the bay of the same name open to the Coral Sea between the Queensland mainland and nearby K'gari (also known as Fraser Island). The local economy relies on tourism which is based primarily around whale watching as it is an important bay for Humpback Whales which migrate through the bay on the way to the Great Barrier Reef later in the year. In October 2019, Hervey Bay was named the First Whale Heritage Site in the world by the World Cetacean Alliance, for its commitment to and practices of sustainable whale and dolphin watching.
During World War II, the region operated a training school for the Z Special Unit special forces. Hervey Bay boomed from the 1980s on and was proclaimed a city in 1984. The first recorded European sighting of Hervey Bay was made by James Cook while carrying out his running survey of the east coast of Australia, on 22 May 1770. By noon Cook's ship was in a position a little over half-way across the opening of Hervey Bay heading for Bundaberg. When Cook first discovered Hervey Bay, he did not realise that Fraser Island was separated from mainland Australia; Cook did not travel far enough south due to the shallow depths of the waters in the Bay. Cook named the bay "Hervey's Bay" after Augustus John Hervey (1724–1779), later Third Earl of Bristol, a naval officer who became a Lord of the Admiralty the year Endeavour returned.
Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Wide Bay, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Popular nicknames for Bundaberg include "Bundy", "Rum City" (as it has its own Rum Distillery), and "The 'Berg". Large sugarcane plantations were established throughout the 1880s, with industries of sugar mills, refineries, and rum distilleries that delivered prosperity to Bundaberg. Major floods in 1942 and 1954 damaged the river, ending Bundaberg's role as a river port and led to a new port at the mouth of the Burnett river. In the post-war era, Bundaberg continued to grow with its wealth tied to its sugar industry. The economy of Bundaberg is based primarily on agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism. Bundaberg has a rich history and culture, along with its humid subtropical climate it is known for its weeping fig trees, dry stone walls, and historic plantations, including the Fairymead Plantation and the Sunnyside Sugar Plantation. The city's culinary culture is highlighted by its annual 'Banquet on the Bridge', and an iconic rum and gin culture with Bundaberg Rum originating in the city. There is also a beach nearby where the largest population of marine turtles, mostly loggerheads arrive to lay their eggs each summer between mid-October and January.
We sailed on and Trevor had been fishing and the rod ratchet went and when he pulled it in we had caught a good Wahoo. The picture of the day is Trevor filleting the fish. After lunch and a few hours of sailing we approached the channel to the river and Burnett Heads as Bundaberg is some way down the river. We entered the river and decided to anchor off the marina as we could go ashore there and it would be good place for new crew to come to. As we anchored it started to rain. This was a shame but at least we did not have rain for our sail.
We tidied up and prepared for new crew coming tomorrow and to be able to go ashore and explore Bundaberg, to provision and of course to try the Bundaberg Rum!!
Trevor caught a wonderful Wahoo and cooked it. It was delicious and he had marinated it in lemon, garlic and thyme. We had it with broccoli and potatoes. A fine meal washed down with some Sauvignon Blanc. A great end to the week since we left Brisbane.
Need/Opportunity Year Two
I am in need of more crew from late June to Mid-July so if of interest do email me at hine.nick9@gmail.com
In year two I will be going from New Zealand to Sydney and hen up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com