CAMPSITE # 168 - Bundaberg Rum Distillery

I don't even drink Bundy Rum! I can't stand the smell of it let alone the taste. So, why on earth would I even consider going to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery? For the same reason you quit your job, pack your life into a Troopie and go for a big long drive around the country for a year - the experience. (And also for the love of your rum drinking boyfriend).


For $15 per person, you can go for a self guided tour around their museum. The museum explains the process of making the rum and gives a bit of history about how it all started. You can pay an extra $10 per person to do the tour of the distillery and see for yourself how the rum is made and where it is stored. 


As a non-rum drinker, I couldn't help but have a little chuckle at the seriously-serious-rum-drinkers on our tour. Just as we were lining up for the tour, I turned my head to the earth shattering rumble of a shiny black V8 Ford Falcon with tasteless red hot flames paintwork and cheap glossy chrome covering all of the plastic that lay beneath, this bogan-mobile certainly was difficult to miss. But the car had nothing on the young family that climbed out of it. Let's just say, they were A-typical Bundy Rum drinking Aussie Bevans. And then there was their chubby little son, surely his t-shirt reading "My Dad Can Kick Your Dad's Ass" says enough.

No doubt these guys were friends with the 5 or 6 fellas parked up on their camping chairs right out the front of the entry. After noticing two of them with laptops perched on their laps and a couple of others engaging in a card game (using Bundy Rum cards of course) it was quite clear that these guys had been sitting around for a long time. We went over to have a chat to them and to find out why on earth they were there. Turns out, Bundy Rum release exclusive bottles and they were there to get the first ten on offer. So, how long would you wait in line 24 hours a day with only loo breaks and a shower to break up your day all to acquire one bottle of your favourite drink? The guy in position number one had been there for 2 days. He had another 12 to go. That's all. Nothing else to do but play World Of Warcrafts out the front of his Bundy Rum factory. But that's ok, his 'Mrs' drops the kids off after school for half an hour so he can still see the kids.

Site : Pippies Beachhouse Rainbow Beach
Rating : 5 / 20
Facilities : Setting up camp underneath a hills hoist in the carpark of a backpackers wasn't exactly our idea of an ideal campsite. But, after touring the Bundy Rum Distillery all afternoon we turned up so late that this was the best we could get. $12 per person to sleep in your own car in the carpark and use their backpackers facilities.