Home for the night is the Mulga Creek Hotel at Byrock ” out past the kiddies playground darl.” The ground is red dirt and the trees well, they’re Mulga. As we follow a track out to the “Rock Holes” a … Continue reading A Close Encounter with the Kelly Gang
Ravenswood is about 80kms south east of Charters Towers. There’s not much out here but cattle that wander about the road and dry creek beds. An enormous mullock heap is a dead give away that there’s mining going on though. Small mullock heaps and old brick chimneys dot the landscape and a handful of old buildings. A post office / general store, a museum, hall and two live pubs. We choose the a Railway Hotel, the pub that advertises the coldest beer in Qld and are not disappointed. Hey, they use glycol as a coolant which means a lot to … Continue reading Railway Hotel, Ravenswood, Qld
The Aussie bush pub is not just a hotel. It is a place where the community gathers. It is where marriages and births are celebrated and mates are farewelled. Where thirsts are slaked and sorrows drowned. Whether the industry is cane or cows, sorghum or sheep the locals meet at the pub. Walls are decorated with trophies and photos and faded advertisements for tractors. Rooms are occupied by insurance agents and miners who drank too late and couldn’t risk the drive home because of the ‘roos on the road. If you notice money on the ceiling it means that the … Continue reading Why I Write About Pubs
I’m sure all Queenslanders know of the Nindigully Pub. West of Goondiwindi, south of St George and not far from the New South Wales border Nindigully sits at the junction of the Carnarvon and Barwon highways and on the banks of the Moonie River. As far as iconic Aussie bush pubs go this one ticks all of the boxes.Built in 1864 on a well used stock route and river crossing there is now little else but the pub in what was once a Cobb & Co staging post. The long low pub has a wooden floored verandah and hitching rails … Continue reading Nindigully Pub
In Kalgoorlie, this city of pubs each one has a chalk board out front advertising the “skimpy” of the day. A skimpy is a scantily clad barmaid and today’s skimpy at The Metropole is Ebony Rose, good on ya luv Continue reading Skimpies
The Homebush Hotel dates back to 1878 and is situated 30kms north of Balranald on the Ivanhoe Road at Penarie, NSW. Chooks peck about the grounds. Out front there is a cairn commemorating the sealing of the road in 1969. The rather small pub has been extended to include a dining room and a function room at the back. Above the bar there is a pump action shot gun and shearing paraphernalia. This is an area of sheep stations, really big sheep stations. The walls are adorned with photos of sheep and wool and a shearing mural.This pub is a … Continue reading Homebush Hotel
Atop a ridge between the Wombat State Forest and the Lerderderg State Park in Victoria is the old mining town of Blackwood. We order dinner at the rambling weatherboard Blackwood pub, it is Pot and Parma night. The publican comes out with a heaped plate of strips of steak for a mob of waiting kookaburras on the deck. There’s seed for the King parrots and last of all a whopping parma for us. Oh, you beauty! Continue reading Blackwood Hotel
Now here’s one that is a little different. The town of Rawson was built for the construction of the Thomson Dam. It is situated up in the hills behind Moe and is between Erica and Walhalla. There is a feeling of being in the mountains here. Clean chilly air and tall timber that stretches hundreds of feet above you. Old workers cabins are now family bush retreats and there is a small circular caravan park with space for about a dozen vans. Each site has what can at a stretch be described as a basic ensuite bathroom. There is a … Continue reading Rawson Caravan Park
Our club muster dinner was at a busy and bustling hotel in a Victorian Western District town. The meals were delicious and large. We all ate well especially Jack who ordered Pork Belly, the waitress called out “Jack” and served him a Pork Roast. Jack tucked into his dinner with gusto. A few minutes later she returned and called out “Jack, Pork Belly”. We all looked up and Jack realized that he had been eating someone else’s meal. Don then owned up to having ordered the Pork Roast. Brandishing the roast the waitress proudly announced “he only had a couple … Continue reading He didn’t each much
We find ourselves in Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria, but the pub has run out of beer. Continue reading The Pub with No Beer!
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