NSW, The Pubs2 Comments

Homebush Hotel

Itching for Hitching

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

National Park, NSW, Point of Interest1 Comment

Yanga Station

Itching for Hitching

Ten kilometres down the Sturt Highway and east of Balranald, NSW, is Yanga homestead. Yanga station is large, so large that it has 160kms of river frontage to the Murrumbidgee River. The homestead is situated on a peninsula overlooking vast Lake Yanga. Now a National Park Yanga station was once 85,000 hectares and the largest privately owned station in the southern hemisphere* From the homestead one can see both the sunrise and the sunset over the lake. Chiefly a sheep station it was established in the 1840’s. Construction of the homestead was commenced in the 1870’s of drop log design … Continue reading Yanga Station

Places, Vic8 Comments

Victoria’s Volcanic Western Plains

Itching for Hitching

Across Victoria’s western plains there are the remains of around 400 volcanoes. Stretching from Melbourne to Mt Gambier in South Australia the last was thought to have erupted 10,000 years ago. Nowadays they are little more than pimples on the landscape or rolling hills of wheat or grazing land.The most spectacular is Tower Hill situated just north of the historic seaside town of Port Fairy. Tower Hill is a nature reserve and home to emus. It is well worth taking the time to drive through the crater. Better still take a picnic and enjoy the lakes, the wildlife and surroundings. … Continue reading Victoria’s Volcanic Western Plains

Places, Qld2 Comments

Undara

Itching for Hitching

As we turn into the Undara National Park the bush is very sparse and dry and reminiscent of the Bendigo goldfields area way down south in Victoria. Undara Lodge is on the Savannah Way in northern Queensland. It borders the Undara Volcanic National Park and is owned by the Collins family, cattle farmers who first settled here in the 1800’s. They run a slickly professional operation and provide accommodation in restored historic railway carriages as well as cabins, on site tents, dongas and camping facilities. Dongas are like shipping containers with several individual air conditioned rooms, similar to those used … Continue reading Undara