Category: The Pubs

The Pubs16 Comments

Explaining the Aussie Parma

Itching for Hitching

A meal in an Aussie pub has always been somewhere that one can get a decent steak with chips or a damned good roast. The fish and chips have always been a mainstay but in more recent times, over the last 20 years or so, there has been an interloper. The Parma. Based on the Italian Veal Parmigiana the Aussie Parma has morphed into a square meal of grand proportions. It is best described as a flattened and crumbed chicken breast smothered in a tomato based sauce and topped with grilled cheese. Sometimes you may find a thin slice of … Continue reading Explaining the Aussie Parma

The Pubs, Vic7 Comments

Railway Hotel, Castlemaine

Itching for Hitching

In darkness and driving rain we find the single storey Railway Hotel 1875 in Gingell Street on the ‘other side of the tracks’ in Castlemaine. The bar is welcoming but our fellas have found a cosy corner in the dimly lit dining room near the fire. Low timber ceilings enhance the ambience. The menu is inspired yet still includes the ‘usual suspects’, fish and chips and of course parma. This is just the kind of pub that you dream of finding on a cold Victorian winter’s night.   Continue reading Railway Hotel, Castlemaine

NSW, The PubsLeave a comment

Ulmarra Hotel

Itching for Hitching

It’s 2013 and we break for a cool drink at the little town of Ulmarra on the banks of the Clarence River. Like many along this coast of the Northern Rivers region this town has also suffered recent flooding and the last vestiges are still visible, sand bags around the houses, muddy remnants and the ferry is out of action. We have a beer on the veranda of the pub and watch small dogs just being dogs, moseying around, sniffing and peeing on the veranda posts. No pedigrees around here. This is where the sugar cane fields start, wide expanses … Continue reading Ulmarra Hotel

NSW, The Pubs6 Comments

Grawin Opal Fields, Lightning Ridge

Itching for Hitching

Two out of three ain’t bad. There’s another opal field about 60kms from The Ridge and it is home to 3 iconic pubs. We set off in a convoy of 3 cars down a good bitumen road to the tiny town of Cumborah. A little further on we turn onto an appalling dirt road that our mate Vee rates as worse than the Birdsville Track. Outback Jack is in the back seat thanking God that Vee has offered to take us in her car! We bump along swearing and cursing the road and the dust and reading car door signs … Continue reading Grawin Opal Fields, Lightning Ridge