Hervey Bay Gossip

While Hervey Bay and the Fraser Coast seem to be enjoying a good holiday season with tourist numbers similar to previous years there may be some rough times ahead.

Tourism Australia is expecting inbound travel from overseas destinations to drop by 4.1 per cent next year. This in turn will lead to job losses in tourism related industries and the downturn is likely to last beyond the next 12 months.

While there is expected to be a boost in domestic travel and tourism it’s not going to be enough to ease the pain that the industry is about to feel.

Some much-needed rain fell over Hervey Bay during the night and some falls were quite heavy. The weather station at the Hervey Bay airport recorded 17mm between 12.30 and 1.30 this morning.

While the morning is bright and sunny we can expect more storms later in the day although heavy falls are not expected.

The caravan parks are full … no vacancy signs are up along the Esplanade …. the streets are crowded with tourists and the cafes are packed. It looks like being a good Christmas for Hervey Bay businesses.

Let’s just hope the good times for Hervey Bay go right through to the end of January.

Hervey Bay is one of the centres that’s really being affected by the fuel shortages caused by the fire at the Caltex refinery earlier in the month.

At noon today the Caltex on Boat Harbour Drive at Pialba was out of Vortex 98 while the Shell on the corner of Main Street and Torquay Terrace appeared to be out of everything but E10.

The BP on the corner Queen Street and Torquay Road had stocks of all grades and the Mobil on corner of Main Street and Boat Harbour Drive also appeared to have stocks of all grades.

Limited deliveries are being made so the situation may change overnight.

If you’re looking for a good cup of coffee in Hervey Bay to start the day then you can’t go past Bayaroma in Torquay or Enzo’s on the beach at Scarness.

Unfortunately by late afternoon all those good places are closed but there’s still one place left in Hervey Bay to get a good cup of coffee and it’s open late into the night. Cafe Balena in the boat terminal down at the marina not only has great coffee but a great atmosphere too.

This was the view from Cafe Balena yesterday as dusk settled over the Marina.

Just three days out from Christmas Day in Hervey Bay it looks as though we could have some rain. Forecasts suggest that there is a 50% chance of some showers on an otherwise hot day.

The forecast maximum will be 30C. Perhaps the beach will be the place to be on Christmas Day. It certainly was yesterday morning.

If you find your letter box full of junk mail today take a few moments to have a look through it because there’s something quite valuable tucked away in all those flyers and brochures.

In amongst all that junk mail you should find a free Hervey Bay street directory. Of course you’re going to see a lot of advertising too … after all someone had to pay for it … but the easy-to-read maps are there.

With the way Hervey Bay is expanding you might find that this street directory is invaluable.

 The directory is published by XY Mapping and you can find their details on their website.

The dream to build a specialised patient transfer facility at the Hervey Bay Airport came a step closer this week when the Hervey Bay RSL and Services Memorial Club donated $80,000 to the cause.

With that donation the RSL joins groups, businesses and individuals right across the Fraser Coast in working towards the construction of this important facility.

You can read more about the Fraser Coast Patient Transfer Facility if you follow the link.

If you are and you’re going to roast it yourself then here’s the way one expert got 13 frozen turkeys ready for Thanksgiving.

Just follow the link to A Catering Story: The Tale of 13 Turkeys

The school holidays start in Queensland today and that means that here in Hervey Bay we should start to see the caravan parks fill up.

Of course with the gloomy economic outlook Australia is facing the tourist season may not be what we were hoping for but already there are signs in the caravan parks along the Esplanade that visitors are starting to arrive.