The Bundaberg Region is a place that brings senses to life; no matter your age or stage of life.
The rural landscape is a kaleidoscope of colours; perfect for games of eye-spy. It’s an ideal family holiday destination, where everyone is welcome, including your furry friends. Enjoy slow romantic walks along sandy beaches or find a pretty park for a teddy bear tea party.
The meals you can create with the extensive array of fresh produce and seafood are limited only by your imagination. The lingering aromas of molasses and ginger open your airways. Chilli and lime tingle your tastebuds. There are household beverage brands that have put Bundaberg on the map, as well as up-and-comers to discover like HOTI, which won first and second prize for best Kombucha at the 2022 Drink Easy Awards.
The farmers, cafes, food manufacturers, experiences and accommodation providers featured herein will have you singing a new tune in no time. The only other sounds you’ll hear are waves gently lapping at the shore, breeze in the trees, your dog snoring contently and your children giggling.
SUGAR
Welcome to sugar cane country, where rows upon rows of lush sugar cane and rich red soil greet you upon arrival, only to reappear in every glass poured of Australia’s favourite award-winning spirit. When in Bundaberg, it’s only right to experience the full journey from crop, to crystal, to world-class blends. Step back in time to the pioneering days of the Region’s sugarcane boom at Fairymead House and Sugar Museum. Admire the spectacle of a cane field fire at the annual Childers Festival, and sample top-shelf blends with a Bundaberg Rum Visitor Experience.
SPICE
Quench your thirst and warm your tummy this Winter with a true-blue Aussie icon, Bundaberg Ginger Beer. The jewel of the Bundaberg Brewed Drinks family, it’s best mixed-up Bundy style by inverting the bottle upside down to see real brewed ginger pieces form a flavour-filled cloud. Pop the cap and sip the spice-filled brew. They have more than 50 years of brewing experience up their sleeves, expertly crafting flavour-filled drinks. Discover the secret to time-old family recipes at the Bundaberg Brewed Drinks Barrel.
Add some zing to your foodie must-do list and let native flavours burst on the tip of your tongue with every bite at the Milbi Café, nestled within the Mon Repos Turtle Centre. This café combines bold flavours across a modern menu, dishing up a range of zesty flavours year-round. So, if the sound of creamy smashed avo served on local Pocket Storehouse organic sourdough, and sprinkled with fresh local herbs, Persian feta, old man saltbush, finger lime and pepperberry tickles your tastebuds, you’ll want to ready your fork.
ALL THINGS NICE
Our near perfect year-round conditions make the Bundaberg and North Burnett region the ideal place for a food lover’s paradise. Taste food next to where it has been grown, caught, distilled and let the flavours dance in your mouth to a symphony of freshness – that’s the Bundaberg Region food experience. As our hardworking farmers are busy feeding the nation year-round, between May – August is when our region’s farm-gates are bursting at the seams with all that’s best in season. Make the most of this peak producing period and fill you pockets with gold coins before venturing on a farm-gate trail starting with Macadamias Australia, One Little Farm, Alloway Farmers Market, The Lettuce Patch and Tinaberries, just to name a few. Enjoy feasting on our Region’s nicest and freshest flavours, spanning from a-z!
SNIPS & SNAKES
Bundaberg is a haven for quality time, belly laughs and just good old-fashioned family fun. There are many coffee bars and cafes nestled amongst our coastal streets, offering special menus for little folk to accommodate even the pickiest of eaters, great and small. If your family rise and shine at the break of dawn and is in need of sustenance, The Beach Mill right on the shores of Nielson Park Beach brews great coffee from 6am. If your teenagers are known to hit the snooze button, The Windmill Café Bargara’s menu is jam packed with Insta worthy goodness.
In Bundaberg West there’s a zoo named Alexandra Park that’s home to a small but much-loved collection of Australian and exotic animals. Everything from frogs, lizards, turtles and snakes to parrots and emus, tamarins, wallabies, quolls and dingoes. And best of all, it won’t cost you a cent to visit.
WHALES & SNAILS
Every year, between July and October the pristine waters of the Southern Great Barrier Reef play pitstop to the humpback whales that migrate the highway of ocean between the Antarctic and the tropics. The ideal training ground for young calves to learn essential survival skills and bond with their mothers before taking on the big wide world of the open ocean!
Getting up close with these big beauties is always bucket-list worthy, and thanks to Australia Whale Experience, watching adventurous juveniles breach in between waves, or mothers and babies bond will have you and the whole family high fiving (or fin slapping if we’re talking whale) over this moment for years to come!
Not quite the cockle shells favoured by ‘Mary, Mary, quite contrary’ but at Grunske’s on the River Seafood Market and Restaurant you’ll find an impressive selection of fresh caught shellfish waiting to be devoured.
PUPPY-DOGS’ TAILS
Our four-legged friends are family, and these pup-approved venues are sure to keep tails wagging all day long as you explore the tastes of Bundaberg this Winter.
Step into Cha Cha Chocolate with your furry friend and meet Melanice Jacobsen, who owns the Wonka-inspired sweet store in Bundaberg CBD. Mum to a cheeky cocker spaniel, Melanice will warmly welcome you and your fur baby. Browse their range of delicious local goodies, teas, biscuits, vintage chocolate and a selection of US and UK sweets to satisfy the biggest chocoholic.
Kick back and enjoy a hot pizza and craft beer at Ballistic Bargara just a five minute walk up the street from Cha Cha Chocolate and slurp up a tasting paddle. Dogs are welcome in this industrial-style beerhouse where the beer is ice cold and there are even options for the non-beer drinkers.
Big4 Breeze Bargara, NRMA Woodgate Beach Holiday Park and Bundaberg East Cabin and Tourist Park are great options for those travelling with pooches. There are plenty of off-leash dog parks in the Region, as well as long meandering pathways. Be sure to stop in at the Windmill café when you’re done for a doggie gelato or puppy chino.