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| Wayne, buying our first celebratory drink in Bundaberg Australia, a zippy Bundaberg ginger beer. |
Ever wonder what to do with currency not current with the country you’re in?
You could take it to your local currency exchange, usually best at a bank or airport. We believe we’ve found something better, or, at least more fun to do with it.
We have this silly tradition, inspired by Wayne, to use it as a celebration, buying our first drink to welcome ourselves back to the country. The last time we did this was when we returned to the Bahamas. It took us a bit longer to use our Ozzie dollars; Wayne found a tenner from my 2007 trip to Australia when we moved after selling the last home we owned, in Vancouver Washington.
We cleared customs on November 14th, at the Bundaberg Port Marina and wasted no time buying a thirst-quenching chilled Bundaberg ginger beer from the marina office store.
While there are alcoholic ginger beers, despite Bundaberg’s worldwide renown as a maker of rum, their ginger beer is a simply delicious soda. Their diet ginger beer, which is pretty tough to come by, even here, is hands down by far my favorite ginger beer ever. And as a fan of that particular bubbly, I’ve tried quite a few.
Cheers to Australia! And cheers to you – with whatever happens to be your handiest libation!
And now you know what to do with that no longer current-to-your-country-currency – use it as an inspiration to return there with a cheer, or give it to a friend who can.
Location Location
We drank our first Ozzie drink at Bundaberg Port Marina (S24.45.618 E152.23.794), outside Bundaberg, Queensland Australia. At the moment, we are underway from there to Fraser Island, still in mobile phone wifi range. There’s still some awesome stuff to share on our last country, New Caledonia, so expect a few more posts.
Cruising By the Numbers
- Our November 2016 sail from New Caledonia to Australia, 790 miles
- Our September 2016 sail from Vanuatu to New Caledonia was 305 miles.
- Our August 2016 sail from Fiji to Vanuatu was 525 miles.
- We cruised just under 440 miles in Fiji, between late May and early August.
- Our May 2016 sail from New Zealand to Fiji was 1090 miles.
- December 2015 – May 2016 if we weren’t cruising New Zealand or hunkering, we were making massive road trips from New Zealand’s tip to its tail.
- From December 2014 – November 2015 we sailed from Northern Florida’s Atlantic side to New Zealand, over 10,000 miles, with more than a few stops in between.
- December 2013 – May 2014 we sailed 1792 miles from Jacksonville Florida to the Bahamas. and back.
- March 2012 we bought Journey in St. Lucia. September 2012 we moved aboard, did some boat work, then sailed her to Jacksonville Florida by June 2013, 3762 miles.
Up Next
After Fraser Island, we’ll be heading South to Pittwater, near Sydney to pretty up our boat for sale. After Fraser, Mooloolaba will likely be our next stop on our Southbound passage.
