We woke up with the intention of walking along the foreshore of Hervey Bay but unfortunately the rain that had started during the night was still going strong.

Instead, we thought it might be more comfortable to go and explore Bundaberg for the day. Bundaberg is an old town with a pub on each corner it seemed. The shopping precinct is mainly street shops and we did locate a shopping centre but the whole of it was closed until late May. This area had been so hard hit by flooding that the shopping centre required total refurbishment. We pondered about all of the staff and store owners out of work from January to May. Other major towns are quite a distance away and not all of them would have been able to be relocated. 
Bundaberg is the home of Bundaberg Rum. The distillery has a sugar cane farm next door to it and the sugar required for manufacturing the spirit is piped straight from the farm to the plant. They do tours (with samples ) but there is an 18 years age minimum. Ray and I would have been ok (Seniors Cards to prove it) but Caleb won’t pass for 18 for at least another 6 years! 
We dodged the rain to stock up on some more fruit and vegies and when we came out, the rain was heavier still. 
We drove to Aldi because there were a few things we needed and it was dry and warm. They didn’t have any of the things on our list unfortunately but they did have a bag of lolly bananas with our name on it and a box of Turkish Delight which is my favourite. After Ray had convinced me to put back the icecreams I wanted, we went outside and the rain was pelting down. We were amazed. It was so heavy that there was a river of water running across the carpark. We made a dash for the car and got drenched. Ray and I gave each other that look. The one that says, “If we had wanted this, we would have stayed in Melbourne.” Hopefully we can trust the weather forecast and in a day or two the sun will reappear. 
On the way home I had a Nana nap and when I woke up the desire to cook had evaporated, so we picked up a pizza. We sat inside listening to the rain and hoping for better luck with the weather tomorrow.