Around the World

Alan, Donna and I drove 3 hours north to Maryborough. During the drive, we stopped for a cold one at Ettamogah Pub. We visited with Alan's mother, Mable Bretzke, in Maryborough. And we spent the night at her place in Fairhaven, a retirement village.

Maryborough, with a population of 26,000 is the dominant commercial centre for the surrounding local government areas of Woocoo; Tiaro and West Hervey Bay.

Settled in 1847 and proclaimed a City in 1905, Maryborough was the port for wool, timber and sugar industries and the supply centre for the Gympie goldfields. Some 22,000 migrants entered Australia directly from Europe by sailing ship through the Port of Maryborough from 1859.

Maryborough has a significant historical precinct and became a City of regional influence. With golden memories of the past, a bright future, modern facilities, 19th century charm and friendly people, Maryborough is a great place to live, raise a family, establish a business or retire.

We visited with relatives in Maryborough and then drove to Bundaberg for a rodeo. We visited a rum distillery and cooper shop in Bundaberg before we met the others at the rodeo.

Bundaberg Rum is Australia's most famous spirit. The Bundaberg Rum Visitor Centre is a historic Queenslander that holds a shop with extensive merchandise, a taste testing bar and a life like museum display. The first barrel of Bundaberg rum rolled out of the production line in 1888.

There were bull riding contests. One guy was taken away in an ambulance after getting stepped on by a horse. It was very sunny and windy that day. Our cousin, Mark, did really well and got a 1st place award. That evening we stopped at a country kitchen for dinner. We celebrated my birthday with a nice meal and wine.

That morning, we had tea with Beris and visited with her son's Elton and Clinton. We packed up for out trip back to Brisbane and stopped at the cemetary on the way out of town and saw Roy Bretzke's grave, Alan's father. During the trip back we stopped at Noosa Heads for lunch and saw some surfers. We went for a walk on the beach.

Noosa Heads is known for its beautiful beaches and nearby rocky headlands covered in lush forest. The Noosa river forms one boundary of the town, the headlands of the Noosa National Park another. Its main beach and its small bays around the headland are common surfing locations which are known on world surfing circuits. Hastings Street is the heart of the town and is Queensland's best known avenue with its tempting boutiques, restaurants, pavement bistros and beachfront north facing apartments.

Noosa National Park is the most visited national park in Queensland and you can swim, surf and hike there all year round. There are miles of well kept trails along the coast and through the bush and you can stop off at one of the many sandy and secluded beaches or keep walking until you get to Alexandria Bay, Noosa's nudist beach - every year they hold the Nude Olympics there with every frivolous sport except leap-frog.

When we got back to Alan's place we had dinner and then took Donna to the bus station for her trip to Sydney.

Went to the Brisbane natural history museum. In a large hallway leading to the entrance, there were life-size whales suspended above with the sounds of the whales broadcast on speakers. There was a solar power car on display along with many other interesting exhibits.