Bargara Beach
Bargara is a coastal town and suburb in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. The town lies 384 kilometres north of the state capital Brisbane and just 13 kilometres east of Bundaberg. Bargara is considered to be a satellite suburb of Bundaberg, with only sugar cane fields separating the two centres. Between 1912 and 1948, a railway connected the two centres. At the 2011 census, Bargara had a population of 6,893.
Bargara has grown significantly over the last decade, becoming a popular tourist and retirement destination. The main streets of Bargara are The Esplanade and Bauer Street. The Esplanade runs along the Bargara Beach foreshore, and is lined with several modern holiday homes and units. Bauer Street contains several hotels, restaurants and clothing shops. Bargara is also a popular fishing, swimming and surfing location.
The Mon Repos turtle rookery is located just north of Bargara. A wall in the reserve dating back to the very early days of settlement was constructed using Pacific Islander labour and rocks taken from the nearby sugarcane fields. Most of the coastline of Mon Repos is part of the Mon Repos Conservation Park, established to protect the nesting areas of sea turtles. Inland of the conversation park, much of the land is state reserves or subject to other restrictions designed to support the wildlife objectives of the conversation park.
This is a great part of the world and near where I grew up and spent a great deal of my working life. The picture above is taken from the Bargara foreshore looking to the north – early morning in February 2018.