IN BUNDABERG.... HOMEWARD BOUND...

 After six weeks on the Sunshine Coast we are now homeward bound.  

We are spending a couple of nights in Bundaberg, catching up with Steve's folks with the plan of sorting out a few things for them and catching up on some yard work for them..

We also wanted to catch up with his brother Dave and his wife Tina whilst in town...  We headed over them just after 4pm but unfortunately they weren't home.  We knew they were headed back to Brisbane on Monday for more treatment for Dave's cancer so figured that this would be the only chance we would get to see them this visit...

As it was such a stinking hot and humid day in Bundaberg, we then decided to take a drive down to the local beach at Bargara to see if the weather was any better down there...

At least when we got there, there was a nice sea breeze.  We drove around to the "Basin" but it was packed and no parks were available so we headed further around to Kelly's Creek and Archie's Beach, which was a favourite haunt of ours when growing up here...

As we headed back to the car we noticed these amazing mosaic murals on the public toilets.  They were really stunning and I was keen to find out the history behind them.

From what I can gather, the murals are a new fixture at Archie's Beach only being completed in November 2020...

The artist Paul Perry took over two years, using over 100,000 tiles and more than 6000 hours of work, to finish this 33 panel mosaic masterpiece which has been installed on the amenities block.

According to the artist,  the mosaic has been a collaborative effort with local schools and indigenous groups contributing thousands of man-hours.

Altogether the artist and all the volunteers have put in 62,000 hours  and there were  over 216 people involved in the project either making fish or volunteering to mosaic the panels.

“The people involved have been local neighbours, artists, community groups, local schools and people  right across Australia.  It has been amazing and fantastic to have had so many people involved in this project.

The mosaic celebrates the history, diversity and beauty of the Bundaberg Region.  The artist feels that this is one of the most beautiful places along the Queensland Coast and Bundaberg has got the Southern Great Barrier Reef at it's doorsteps and this mosaic wall is really meant to celebrate that.

One of the main features on the front wall is a three metre  wonderful loggerhead turtle and it appears to be jumping off this wall, that is how impressive it is.

Another part of the wall has a much deeper meaning and the artist really wanted to engage with the community and make them think of the history of this area and the fact that we have First Nations people who have lived here for 40,000 years as well as the South Sea Islander communities who have also contributed to the region.

I love his work and the beautiful thing about mosaic, which unlike painting, it is not as susceptible to fading and it should be around for many generations to come...

His dream for the future would be to see the art trail extended, whether it be more mosaic work or whether it be a sculpture park that runs from Bargara up to Burnett Heads...

I hope his dream is forefilled as it would be a mega tourist attraction for the region.

I know myself,  I would really love to come back and study it in more detail as there are so many wonderful elements and textures and shapes to his masterpiece.  

Well done Bundaberg City Council...