Bundaberg town centre

Bundaberg Rum distillery

Pioneer aviator Bert Hinkler's house

Bundaberg Botanical Gardens

Burnett River Bridge

Town of 1770

Agnes Water, Queensland's most northerly surf beach

Burnett Heads

Gin Gin Mystery Craters

Lady Elliot Island

Bundaberg is known as the 'Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef'. The city lies near the southern end of the reef in proximity to Lady Elliot and Lady Musgrave Islands. Though it is seen as a regional centre, both for commerce and as a tourist base from which to explore the surrounding region, Bundaberg itself has plenty to offer the visitor. Being less than 5 hours drive from Brisbane, Bundaberg has become a popular weekend and holiday/vacation destination for Brisbane residents, and consequently the city has developed facilities and attractions to cater for them.

Where is it?: Queensland: Burnett/Fraser Coast. Bundaberg is 366 km north of Brisbane, 14 km from the mouth of the Burnett River.

Things to see and do:

Attractions around town include tours of Bundaberg Rum Distillery, a ginger beer factory and a well laid out Botanical Gardens with a a wedding chapel, plant nursery, shaded picnic areas, themed boardwalks, Japanese gardens and children’s playground. Within the gardens precinct is the Hinkler Hall of Aviation and its exhibits including Hinkler House and Fairymead House, Café 1928, the Bundaberg & District Historical Museum, the Australian Sugarcane Railway and the nearby Bundaberg Railway Museum.

Events:

• June: Bundaberg Regional Show
• June: Gayndah orange Festival
• July: Childers Festival of Cultures
• August (biennial); Wide Bay Australia International Airshow
• November: Wide Bay Australia Bundy Thunder Power Boat Spectacular
• November: Bundaberg Gemfair

Surrounding area:

Visitors to Bundaberg can enjoy beachcombing and dolphin spotting from the pristine shores of Bargara and the Coral Coast, just a short 15 minute drive from the city centre. Mon Repos Turtle Rookery (14km east) celebrates and preserves Australia’s most significant mainland turtle-nesting beach. The majesty and uniqueness of the Great Barrier Reef can be experienced at the coral cays of Lady Elliot Island and Lady Musgrave Island, or the Fitzroy Reef Lagoon and the magnificent fringing reefs of the Woongarra Marine Park right on the shoreline of the Coral Coast.

Bundaberg offers close access to a number of seaside villages, stretching from Buxton and Woodgate Beach in the south, through to Coral Cove, Innes Park, Elliott Heads, Bargara, Burnett Heads, Moore Park and Burrum Coast National Park, featuring long sandy stretches of beach with safe swimming year round.

For many years, a little corner of paradise called 1770 has been Queensland's best kept secret. The people who live there, along with those who visit there religiously every holiday season, would love to keep it that way. The absence of floods of tourists has played a big part in giving this place and its neighbour, Agnes Water, the feel of a quiet forgotten backwater in an idyllic tropical setting. More >>

At the region’s southern gateway is the town of Childers, featuring the peaceful vibrancy of a busy provincial centre overlooking rolling hills of sugar, small crops and small industry.

Visiting the Mystery Craters is a journey of discovery! Halfway between Bundaberg and Gin Gin is Australia's most baffling phenomenon. The origins of the 35 oddly shaped craters have remained the subject of controversy. The mottled mixture of sandstone and ochre stain have been the subject of many investigations and various theories have been offered. More >>

About Bundaberg

About BundabergWith a population of just over 50,000, Bundaberg lies on the Burnett River, approximately 385 kilometres north of the Queensland capital of Brisbane. Bundaberg is a major centre within Queensland's Wide Bay-Burnett region. The combined population of Bundaberg and surrounding Burnett Shire is about 74,000. Bundaberg is projected to have a population of 92,000 by 2016.
The Bundaberg region is located in the heart of a rich sugar and horticultural belt supported by a growing manufacturing sector. In fact, Bundaberg produces one fifth of Queensland's sugar crop and the city is surrounded by a green sea of rich sugar cane and many farms growing Australia’s finest small crops.
The city's name is thought to be an artificial combination of bunda, the Kabi Aboriginal word denoting important man and the German suffix berg indicating mountain. The city is colloquially known as "Bundy". The local Aboriginal group is the Gurang Gurang (goo-rang goo-rang) people. Bundaberg has sister city agreements with Nanning, China and Settsu City, Japan.
Subtropical Bundaberg is dependent to a large extent on the local sugar industry. Extensive sugar cane fields extend throughout the district, and value-adding operations such as the milling and refinement of sugar and its packaging and distribution are located around the city. A bulk terminal for the exportation of sugar is located on the coast east of Bundaberg. Another of the city's better-known exports is Bundaberg Rum, which is made from the sugar cane by-product molasses. Bundaberg is also home to beverage producer Bundaberg Brewed Drinks.
Commercial fruit and vegetable production is also prominent throughout the district, most notably tomatoes, zucchinis, capsicums, legumes and watermelons are grown in abundant quantities. The northern bank of the Burnett River between the Tallon and Burnett bridges is home to a colony of flying foxes. The bats leave the river at dusk and fan out all over the city to look for food.
Bundaberg is situated at the end of the Isis Highway (State Route 3), approximately 50 km east of its junction with the Bruce Highway. The city is serviced by several Queensland Rail passenger trains, including the Tilt Train and is approximately four and a half hours north of Brisbane by rail. Many long-distance bus services also pass through the city. Bundaberg has its own airport, with flights to Brisbane and Lady Elliot Island. Adjacent to the airport is a campus of Central Queensland University.
The city is home to the Jabiru Aircraft Company, which designs and manufactures a range of small civil utility aircraft. Bundaberg Port is located 20 kilometres northeast of the city, at the mouth of the Burnett River. The port is predominately used for shipping sugar cane and other goods related to that industry such as Bundaberg Rum.
Pioneer aviator Bert Hinkler was from Bundaberg, and is memorialised in many places throughout Bundaberg. Singer Gladys Moncrief, writer Vance Palmer, Australian Cricketer Don Tallon and rugby league footballer Mal Meninga all hail from Bundaberg. Prime Ministers Andrew Fisher and Frank Forde both represented Federal electorates that included Bundaberg, yet neither was from there.

Climate: Bundaberg has a sub-tropical temperate climate with warm summers and cool winters. The mean daily maximum temperature is highest in January at 30.3 Celsius, and lowest in July at 10.0 degrees Celsius. With the coldest temperature recorded in Bundaberg a mere 0.8 degrees Celsius and some inland areas of Bundaberg do experience frequent frosts. The mean annual rainfall is 1141.0 millimetres.

History: Bundaberg was founded by timbergetters John and Gavin Steuart and Lachlan Tripp in 1867. The first farmers in the area arrived soon after. Timber was the first established industry in Bundaberg. In 1868, a sawmill was erected on the Burnett River, downstream from the Steuart and Watson holdings. The city was surveyed, laid out and named Bundaberg in 1870. Experimental sugar cane growing in the district followed and a successful industry grew. The early sugar industry in Bundaberg was supported by Kanaka labour. Bundaberg was gazetted a town in 1902 and a city in 1913. Bundaberg was the location of a health-related disaster in 1928, when 12 children died shortly after receiving injections of diphtheria vaccine.

Natural features: Burnett River, Elliott River; Barubbra Island; Bunker Group; Lady Elliot Island; Lady Musgrave Island National Park; Mystery Craters; The Hummock (a low-lying volcanic remnant); Burrum Coast National Park (23 100 ha, Palm Beach; Burnett Heads, Oaks Beach; Baraga Beach; Kellys Beach; Theodolite Creek; Gregory and Burrum Rivers); Burnett Heads; Barubbra Island Environmental Park; Mouth of Baffle Creek Environmental Park
Built features: Bundaberg Rum Distillery; Tropical Winery; Bundaberg Ginger Beer Factory; Avocado Grove; Boyd's Antiquatorium; localities of Port Bundaberg, Burnett Heads, Oaks Beach, Mon Repos, Baraga, Kellys Beach, Innes Park, Coral Cove, Elliott Heads, Riverview.
Heritage features: pioneer aviator Bert Hinkler's House; Commercial Bank building (1891); Post Office; School of Arts building (1889); Christ Church; The Water Tower; St John's Lutheran Church (features texts from The Bible in huge letters); Schmeider's Cooperage and Craft Centre; The Botanical Gardens and the Museum

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