This guy wanted some of our French Fries. It is White Australian Ibis and due to its increasing presence in the urban environment and its habit of rummaging in garbage, it has acquired a variety of colloquial names such as “tip turkey” and “bin chicken”.

After our first week in Australia, we have learned a thing, or two.

For those that really know me, you know I love music. I listen to just about anything and when my iPod (yes, I still have one) is on shuffle, there is no telling what will play. In my library, I have almost 100,000 songs from all genres. Among these songs are quite a few from the Bee Gees.

The Bee Gees really hit their stride during the disco error and were rocketed to super-star status because of the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever in 1977. The movie’s soundtrack became one of the best-selling albums of all time. But, the Bee Gee songs I tend to like more are their pre-disco stuff.

They have a song with lyrics that read, “Jimmy had a bomb and the bomb went bang. Jimmy was everywhere”. How can you not like a band that sings lyrics like this in the chorus? This song wasn’t a big hit. It’s called Paper Mâché, Cabbages & Kings. The track was on the 1972 album, To Whom It May Concern. This was the Bee Gees’ eighth album. The big hits from this record were Run to Me (one of my personal favorites), Sea of Smiling Faces, I Held a Party, and Alive (a huge hit in Japan).

We visit Redcliffe

So, why all this Bee Gees trivia? It turns out they grew up in Redcliff, Australia. The Gibbs family was from the Isle of Man (UK) and in 1958 they all moved to Redcliff. At that time, a lot of Brits moved to Australia. I remember having some friends from school pack up and move in the 1970’s. Australia was advertising in the UK for immigrants and would help with almost the entire cost of relocation. It was in Redcliff the Bee Gees formed their first band and began their musical journey. Their name was actually solidified by a local DJ called Bill Gates (not the Microsoft founder). He used the coincidence of his initials and the Brothers Gibb being the same. B.G’s became Bee Gees.

Located in Redcliff is a walkway dedicated to the Bee Gees. It’s pretty cool. We discovered it quite by accident. It is a 70-meter commemorative walkway honoring the Gibb brothers (Barry, Robin, and Maurice) and their musical journey from Redcliffe. It opened in 2013 and was expanded in 2015 and features life-sized bronze statues of the brothers as children and adults. It has over 60 photos, album covers, and a video screen showing interviews and home videos. At night, light shows set to their greatest hits illuminate the walkway.

For me, it was actually hard to walk away since whenever I tried, another song started to play. I would stand and think, wow – this is a great song and I haven’t heard it in years. The Bee Gees had a lot of songs like this. What is even more impressive is the walkway does not have any graffiti. In most places we’ve visited, an open public exhibit like this would never last without being vandalized at some point.

The Bee Gees as kids. I knew all the hit song titles posted behind them

The Bee Gees walkway

The Gee Bees, all grown up and superstars.

Also in Redcliff is a Sunday Market. The main street through town is closed and overnight vendors set up tents with all sorts of goodies to show. A stroll through the market is interesting. We found kangaroo jerky, Japanese octopus balls, and Korean corn dogs.

Yes, kangaroo meat is consumed by people in Australia. It’s known for being lean and high in protein, making it a healthier alternative to some other types of red meat. Kangaroo meat is often available in various forms such as steaks, sausages, and ground meat. It’s used in a variety of dishes, including stir-fries, burgers, and casseroles. And apparently, jerky.

I have so many questions.

It is amazing to see how many people brought their dogs to the market. I think this is great. Growing up in the UK, we could take the dog to just about anything. It was common to see people’s dogs in pubs or restaurants. I used to take my dog, Buddy, to the pub but had to stop once I saw him sneaking a drink of beer from some unsuspecting soul’s glass. I also had an episode on a bus with Buddy not getting out from under the seat. But, that’s a story for another day. My point is, it’s great to be in a place where people can take their dog into a restaurant.

For those people in the USA freaking out about this and getting all germ-a-phobic on me about dogs in restaurants, let me assure you this is a common occurrence outside of the US and nobody is dying because of it. I can honestly attest that people’s pets are better behaved and cleaner than some children. I will go one step further. They are also quieter.

Cindy and I once spent an evening in a restaurant in the French countryside. We had no idea the people at the table next to us had a dog with them. It lay quietly under the table while they ate. We only noticed it when they prepared to leave. Has this ever happened with kids? Nope.

Once again, so many questions.

Making our way down the market

If you come to Australia, bring your hat. The sun here is brutal.

These are old vinyl albums laser cut into art

To get to the market, we took the bus to avoid the headache of parking. Public transportation here is amazing, even on a Sunday. It is possible to take a bus or train to just about anywhere in our area. The app from the transit authority makes it easy to figure out the route, where, and what to catch. Plus, you can’t beat the fare. It’s only 50¢ (US$0.32) per ride. We both have cards that allow us to hop on and off the buses and trains. We purchased them at the local grocery store on our second day here. The bus drivers are super helpful letting us know where to get off.

Speaking of trivia, I have quickly determined the department of the Queensland State government that oversees road signs has waaaaay too much money. We recently took a trip to Bundaberg, about 350 km (220 miles) north of us.

Apparently, the road we took was a “fatigue zone”.  Along the road are signs with trivia questions. First comes the question, and then a little further down the road is the answer to the question. I swear, I am not making this up – a sign referred to this as “life saving trivia”. It didn’t help us one iota since it was not tourist-friendly and we had no earthly idea what the trivia questions were about. But, we are thankful it saved our lives. Australian tax dollars hard at work.

On our way to Bundaberg – the fatigue zone

So why did we go to Bundaberg? The simple answer: to get Cindy’s shoes. Why were her shoes in Bundaberg some 350 km away? Well, that is a longer answer. While we were in New Caledonia, our original plan was to arrive in Australia at Port Bundaberg. Sitting on the boat one rainy day in Port Moselle, Cindy found some shoes just like a pair she already owns when looking on Amazon Australia. If you have shoes you like and they’re comfy, you buy the same again, right?

The ones she has are rather worn and as luck would have it, she finds a pair just like them on Amazon Australia. And to top it off, they are on sale. Cindy, not being one to pass up a good deal, takes full advantage of the savings. She ordered some and had them shipped to the marina ahead of us to be held. Amazon said shipping would take two weeks. This would coincide with our expected arrival. Amazon lied. It took two days for her shoes to arrive. Normally this is a good thing. But, not this time.

We were stuck in New Caledonia and waited for decent weather to sail to Australia. Since we waited so long, we changed our plan to clear into Brisbane instead (our vessel insurance dictates we need to be south of lat 28 for cyclone season). Cindy went to Amazon to cancel the order or change the ship to address only to find the shoes she purchased on sale had already been delivered. We asked the nice folks at the marina to hang onto them and we’d figure something out.

We made a day out of picking up her shoes. We drove to Bundaberg and back in a day and got to see our first glimpse of Australia outside of a metro area. Now, you’d think that two people who watch the weather so very closely to stay alive when moving about the globe might check the weather before making a 700 km trip by car, right? Nope. For whatever reason, it didn’t dawn on us to look at the weather.

We got seriously rained on this trip. Thankfully, most of the rain was when we were driving on the M1 motorway (highway). Besides interfering with our trivia, it only slowed us down a little bit. Once off the main road, the next leg of the journey was through a very flat area. It reminded us of Texas. And, like Texas, the roads are prone to flooding.

I think it’s going to rain…

Yep!

In New Zealand, we fell in love with a fast-food place called Cheeky Chooks. It is Korean-style fried chicken. It was like crack to us – after our first taste, we were hooked. The two young Koreans who ran the place were super nice and we quickly became regular customers. It was dangerously close to where the Puffster was berthed.

When looking for a place to grab lunch in Bundaberg, Cindy found a place claiming to have Korean-style fried chicken. How could we possibly resist? I’m so glad we gave it a try. It didn’t disappoint. Although not quite as good as Cheeky Chooks, it was still delicious. As we were leaving, I stuck my head inside and told them how I really enjoyed the Korean-style fried chicken. An older Korean lady came out of the kitchen beaming and said it was her recipe and she made our lunch.

Bundaberg Port Marina

Jame’s Place in Bundaberg is the place for Korean fried chicken

How fun. Sipping a Bundaberg drink in Bundaberg. Passionfruit, Cindy’s favorite.

Here’s the funny part. We reached the Bundaberg Marina and Cindy picked up her shoes. When she tried them on, they did not fit. Even though they were the same size, make and model as her current shoes, they were a little bit too small. She is working on her Amazon return.