Bert Hinkler

Friday, 7 September 2012

Thursday morning and the magpies were awake by 4.30 am – they weren’t the only ones! We were on the road by 8.00 am, read for the delays at the many road works we encountered between Rockhampton and Miriam Vale. (We left the Bruce Highway at Miriam Vale, so left the road works behind.) We arrived at Bargara at 12.30 pm and Barry and Denise were waiting to welcome us, having re-organised our site so we would have some sun, grass and be nearer to them. We also met Helen and Vince, our next door neighbours at Ulverstone, who have been here for over three months. Needless to say, setting up took much longer than usual and nothing much was done during the afternoon except a lot of catching up. We had dinner at the Bargara Bowls Club with Barry and Denise – a beautiful piece of barramundi with a macadamia nut crust. There are lots and lots of macadamia nuts grown around Bundaberg.

This morning we farewelled Barry and Denise (must be about the fifth time) as they headed south and spent some more time talking to Vince and Helen before having morning coffee with Maxine and Henry (from Beltana Bowls Club), who have a gorgeous unit on the Esplanade. What luxury to sit on their balcony, enjoying the view of the sea, the weather, good coffee and their company. Quite a social morning.

This afternoon we headed back into Bundaberg to have a look at the Hinkler Aviation Museum. What a fantastic place to visit! There were replicas of his planes, as well as the original plane he first broke records in, many interactive displays (greatly enjoyed by both Les and Cat), a large Box Brownie camera which took our photo and emailed it to us, even a piece of wood from the very first glider Bert Hinkler built and flew at Mon Repos beach. This tiny piece of wood was sent into space on the ill-fated Challenger and recovered, intact, some time later from the ocean. NASA returned it to the people of Bundaberg and it is now on display in the museum. Cat did become a big agro when a lady asked us why we had a DOG with us! Outside was the house named Mon Repos that Bert built in England and was relocated to Bundaberg. We completed the visit with a walk around the Botanic Gardens, even spotting a few turtles sunning themselves.

Peter and Pat, also from Ulverstone, have arrived here also – it may be a long happy hour tonight!