Families came with picnic lunches, some brave souls took to the ocean while sun worshippers simply lay on the sand and soaked up the perfect winter conditions at Woodgate Beach last weekend.
The winding back of restrictions saw large numbers of visitors descend on the seaside village much to the delight of cafe and shop owners who were swamped with lunchtime crowds.
With a balmy 23 degrees on offer, people obviously relished the release of the lockdown valve and jumped in their cars for a day out at one of the region’s most desirable locations.
Robert Cooper, proprietor of Serenity Cove Cafe adjacent to the Woodgate Beach Holiday Park, said the weekend crowd had marked a great return to positive trading following the extended lockdown period.
“It was really good. Saturday may have been a little busier than Sunday, but it was just great to see people out and about and enjoying the perfect weather here at Woodgate Beach. Our staff were kept very busy and with the caravan park now taking heavy bookings we are looking forward to a period of excellent trading,” he said.
“We were able to retain all staff during the lockdown and managed to find plenty of things to do. We undertook some improvements and renovations to the cafe, and we are expecting to commence to progressively open our deck area to increased trade in coming weeks.”
Crystal from the NRMA Woodgate Beach Holiday Park said the upcoming weekend was all but booked out.
“We have been swamped with phone and online bookings,” she said.
“With Queenslanders now free to travel around the State, our bookings for the forthcoming school holiday period are very heavy. As a matter of fact, bookings for throughout June and July have been great.
“Normally we would now be catering to an influx of Victorian holiday makers and we know they are biding their time just waiting for border restrictions to be removed to allow them here to bask in our Winter sunshine.”
The Esplanade was packed with people enjoying lunches in the shelter sheds.
A visit by a Veteran and Vintage Car Club attracted plenty of interest from the many people using the seaside walkway.
Bowlers, desperate for a return to their sport, were seen heading to the rinks at the Woodgate Bowls Club for a social game while keen fishermen were witnessed launching boats off the beach.
The Bundaberg Region forecast for this coming Saturday is a maximum temperature of 25 degrees with a possible shower.
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