OZtralia.tv Blog

Where To Grab A Drink While Down Under

By: Karen Halabi

Next time you’re passing through a country town, head for the wide verandahs and cheery atmosphere of the local pub. Here you’ll discover the soul of a town; it’s where the beer is cold and the yarns are spun.

New South Wales
Apart from the legendary Pub With No Beer, NSW is dotted with quirky and colourful character pubs.

In the tiny township of Tilpa, 130km north of Wilcannia, in far west NSW, there’s a classic pub called the Tilpa Hotel. The interior of this old corrugated iron pub is plastered with graffiti from its many adorning fans. And, for a $2 donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, you too can leave your mark on the pub’s tin wall.

In nearby Broken Hill, call into the Palace Hotel, the historic, three-story pub with long verandas and elaborate cast-iron balustrades featured in the movie, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, or visit the Silverton Hotel in the former mining ghost town, known for great hospitality and quirky locals.

Then, hit the Pacific Highway and head north to possibly our most famous pub of all. As country singer Slim Dusty once lamented “There’s nothin’ so lonesome, so dull or so drear, than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer”. But as legend has it that’s exactly what happened at this historic pub in Taylors Arm on the north coast of NSW. While the debate still rages as to whether this pub was in fact the inspiration for the song, one thing is for sure — with the addition of a new brewery the pub’s valuable liquid asset will never run dry again.

A little further north you’ll come across The Billi Pub in historic Billinudgel, the former home of Australia’s oldest publican, a woman by the name of Mar Ring.

Mar Ring was publican for 53 years until the age of 101. She taught former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke how to pull a beer, and was awarded an M.B.E. for community service. A painting of her still hangs over the public bar. This timber pub in the Brunswick Valley of Northern NSW, close to Byron Bay, is steeped in history, with many photos of the old township along with a good collection of memorabilia. The Billi is a good old country pub with tall stories and a friendly atmosphere, much the way it would have been in the early days.

Queensland
From Billinudgel you can head out west via Goondiwindi to Nindigully, just across the border into Queensland.

Walking into the rustic Nindigully Pub is like walking into the lounge room of the Outback. This quintessential Outback pub on the banks of the Moonie River has been the meeting point for locals for well over 100 years. It’s famous for the more than 140 Akubra hats from local farmers and stockmen which adorn the walls. Queensland’s oldest hotel, it was issued a license in 1864 after it had been shearers’ accommodation for Nindigully Station and is still in its original condition.

From here you can head north to Roma where the historic 1863 Romavilla Winery is a rarity – an Outback winery. Sample the local wines in the rustic timber and corrugated iron building, and imagine the hardships establishing a winery here.

From Roma take the Matilda Highway north through historic Outback towns such as Blackall, Barcaldien and Longreach to Winton.

Legend has it that Australia’s best known and much loved national song and the nation’s unofficial national anthem, Waltzing Matilda, was sung for the very first time at the North Gregory Hotel in Outback Winton in north-west Queensland. The Tattersalls Hotel in Winton has also been serving up genuine Outback hospitality for 120 years and is a top spot to share an icy beer with locals including miners, station owners, ringers, truck drivers, cattle buyers and shearers.

A little further north along the Matilda Highway through Outback Queensland be sure to stop and drink a toast to Australia’s hardest working dog, the blue heeler, at the Blue Heeler Hotel in Kynuna, the 100-year-old hotel where Banjo Patterson observed champagne being handed through the window to end the angry shearers strike of the 1800s. The Combo Waterhole, the famed billabong featured in Waltzing Matilda, is 20km south of Kynuna.

On the same Outback highway headed north towards Mt Isa you’ll meet locals as colourful as Mick Dundee over an ice cold beer in the historic Walkabout Creek Hotel in McKinlay in Outback Queensland. It’s famous as Crocodile Dundee’s regular drinking spot in the original movie of the same name. Known originally as the Federal McKinlay Hotel it was sold for $290,000 after the movie was made and is now the town’s one tourist attraction.

One of Australia’s most legendary watering holes is the Birdsville Hotel on the desolate Birdsville Track in Outback Queensland near the South Australian border. Built in 1884 it has been witness to history made, yarns spun and the survival of Australian mateship. It epitomises the essence of the Outback.

But even without heading so far Outback you can see some great Aussie pubs by sticking to the Pacific Highway. If you’re passing through Brisbane, stop off at the Story Bridge Hotel (formerly know as Kangaroo Point Inn), one of only a few hotels to feature architecture from the quintessential Queenslander period. Built in 1886, it’s famous for its Australia Day Cockroach Races.

Further north up the Pacific Highway on the Sunshine Coast is historic Eumundi. There is something special about a country Queensland pub with their wide balconies and timber lattice work shading dimly lit bars and swirling ceiling fans and Joe’s Waterhole (formerly The Commercial Hotel) in Eumundi is one of these treasures.

Rockhampton is Australia’s beef capital. The Great Western Hotel here is widely regarded as the home of great steak, beer and rodeos. This 116 year old pub plays host to major national rodeos and features a huge undercover rodeo arena for 1,000 people that attracts champion riders to the hotel, which also has a Saddler and Poker Saloon and Mavericks Western Wear Shop.

South Australia
The only stopover on the 528km Birdsville Track, the Mungerannie Hotel sits on the edge of the Sturt Stony, Simpson, Tirari and Strzelecki deserts and is nestled beside the Derwent River – an oasis in sharp contrast to its surrounds.

Right in the heart of Burke and Wills explorer country, the Innamincka Hotel at Cooper Creek in South Australia once played host to early drovers who brought cattle down the Strzelecki Track. The pub’s convivial Outamincka Bar has become the stuff of bush legends and is must stop for anyone travelling in these parts.

You can’t get more Outback than the famous Prairie Hotel at Parachilna in South Australia. Built in the 1890s, the pub attracts visitors from all over the world who come to try the renowned Australian native cuisine or bush tucker, otherwise known as ‘feral food’, while drinking in the view of the magnificent Flinders Ranges.

The William Creek Pub is located smack bang in the middle of the world’s largest cattle property, Anna Creek Station which, at 23,800 sq kms is almost half the size of Tasmania. William Creek is South Australia’s smallest town. The William Creek Pub has an almost legendary status and is the only watering hole on the Oodnadatta Track between Marree and Oodnadatta.

On South Australia’s Darling River is the picturesque town of Pooncarie. With only 89 residents, a general store and a pub built in 1976, the town has a lovely old country town feel. But the first Saturday in October sees the town swell to around 1,500 people for the annual Pooncarie races. People come from all over the country, and of course they drink at the old Telegraph Hotel.

Tasmania
In a beautiful little valley called Pyengana you’ll come across a sign that says, “Pub in a Paddock 3km - Come and see our Beer Drinking Pig”.  The Pub in the Paddock is surely one of Australia’s quirkiest pubs. This 1880s watering hole sits in the middle of a paddock in Tasmania’s Pyengana Valley and is famous for its beer swilling pig, Priscilla, who can scull a watered-down stubby in seven seconds. In a pen out the back the sign says, “Hi, Geez I’m dry, I’d luv a beer”. The owner claims the pig has downed 76 stubbies in on session, “more than Boonie”. A Tasmanian institution since 1880, the pub offers hearty country meals and comfortable accommodation.

Northern Territory
The colourful Daly Waters Pub, clad in corrugated iron, is crammed with decades of Australian memorabilia. Once a popular drover’s rest, this quirky pub built in 1930, gained fame again as a stopover for pilots and passengers arriving on the new Qantas airline in 1934. Today, it is a pit-stop for thirsty tourists travelling the Explorer’s Way between Alice Springs and Darwin.

At The Mataranka Pub at Mataranka Springs just south of Katherine you can lean against the bar with its brightly coloured paintings then toddle off to see the nearby replica of the hut in which Jeannie Gunn lived at Elsey Station. Her story was captured in the book We of the Never Never.

The Humpty Doo Hotel in Arnhem Land is conveniently located for travellers heading to Kakadu. The hotel has many colourful local characters, so stop in at the famous Humpty Doo Hotel when next in this part of the world.

At the Barra Bar & Bistro on the Kakadu Highway at Jim Jim, you can cook your own local delicacies on a supplied barbecue with an accompanying buffet.

Just south of Darwin on the Darwin River Road at Berry Springs,  you’ll find the Lichfield Pub, home of the bull arena and shed, which has a 180ft long bar.

Western Australia
Over on our West Coast, The Roey, Broome’s oldest pub, lives by the saying “if it’s going to happen in Broome, it’s going to happen at the Roey”. If you stumble across a local character by the name of Swindle, pull up a chair and order a coldie because he has enough tales about pearling and gangsters to last a week.

While sunset camel rides on Broome’s Cable Beach are world famous, it’s the tales about beer drinking camels that draw attention at the Whim Creek Pub.  Half way between Karratha and Port Hedland, this pub has its own wildlife sanctuary and was once home to a camel with a penchant for beer. Don’t worry about missing the pub – it’s painted bright pink!

The biggest and best known pub in Kalgoorlie is The Exchange. It holds the record for the biggest volume of Jim Beam sold in regional WA. It was originally constructed as a shed in the late 1800s.

The population of the small goldmining town of Kookynie, 200km from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, is less than 10 people, but the town’s 1894 vintage Grand Hotel with its big verandahs and spacious rooms continues to survive. It was once the favourite watering hole for local prospectors.

True Australian country hospitality is alive and well in our great Aussie pubs. Whatever the style of accommodation or the location, the locals will greet you with a firm hand shake and a strong stare. Our great Aussie pubs are about the people and the places, and they’re the heart of our nation.

“The Wry Drive”

By: Megan Anderson

Snug. Penguin. Flowerpot. Paradise. These might sound like the makings of an enchanting fairytale, and they are. But it’s not a fairytale you read. It’s one you drive through.

As if Tasmania’s beautiful landscape was not enough, there’s endless charm, intrigue and oddball flavour to be found in many of its place names. Be they major towns or faint specks on the map, they add a fun dimension to driving the picturesque peninsulas, forests and mountain roads of the island state in Australia’s south east.

Heading north from the capital Hobart? Stop in for the curiosity value at Bagdad, Ouse and Nowhere Else (where, incidentally, the usual signifiers of a township – shop, hall, council chambers – are elsewhere). At Penguin, the townsfolk have taken their moniker to heart, festooning the footpaths – even the rubbish bins – with motifs inspired by the local fairy penguins. While you’re near the north coast, you’d be churlish not to stop at Nook. It’s not far from Paradise, in the vicinity of Promised Land.

Going south, it’s all charm on the scenic route to Cygnet, an easy loop from Hobart. Travel down through Bonnet Hill, and hug the winding coast line to see the picture book settlement of Tinderbox, where dirt roads amble high above the water. The Chimneys heralds the entry back onto the main road, which leads to the delightfully named coastal town of Snug (and, just to be thorough, Lower Snug), said to be named by sailors who were able to snugly anchor their ships in the D’entrecasteaux Channel alongside it.

Across the channel is Bruny Island, to which you can catch a car ferry from the pretty, yacht-dotted cove at Kettering. There’s more name game to play on arrival. Trumpeter Bay, Fluted Point and The Neck grace the island that’s home to sheep, artisans and a colony of fairy penguins. Locals have their own irreverent description for people who reside in the settlement of Lunawanna.

Back on the mainland, it’s hard to resist just selling up and moving in to a town called Flowerpot. Honeys Road and Fleurtys Lane are possible addresses at this tiny settlement on the flat, sheltered coast. Perhaps as a backlash to all this whimsy, Flowerpot’s near neighbour is simply called Gordon. Now there’s a good, honest name. But the trend didn’t catch. Further around the peninsula, Eggs and Bacon Bay proudly declares wryness alive and well. By the time you reach Cygnet, things are soft and fluffy once more.

On the neighbouring Tasman peninsula the place names take on a more sinister tenor. It’s perhaps fitting for the route that leads to Port Arthur, the old convict prison site with a dark and torturous history.

The road signs begin harmlessly enough – Primrose Sands, Dodges Ferry – and the landscape is magnificent. Gently winding roads tease with watery glimpses of jade coves carrying kayakers from point to point, and playful boat sculptures grace paddocks where sheep get fat on life. The terrain is by turns lush, sheltered and ruggedly rocky. It’s dotted with ancient oaks, thick copses of upright silver wattle, a few chicken sheds and the very occasional remnant of the peninsula’s once thriving apple industry.

But once you hit Eaglehawk Neck, a distinct aroma of toughness creeps into the map. Not just at Stinking Bay. There’s also Pirates Bay, Penzance, Isle of the Dead, Purgatory Hill, and sites like Tessellated Pavement and Devil’s Kitchen. The views are breathtaking, but the map is riddled with portent. There’s even a place called Dog Bark. And, to curb any complacency, Frying Pan Point.

As if in defiance of this trend, the tiny holiday settlement of Doo Town (near the equally light hearted Egg Beach) flies the flag for whimsy again. The modest shacks bear silly names that inspired the town’s comic moniker. Doo Nix. Just Doo It. Doo Us. Much-a-Doo. It’s clear that the Tasmanian sense of levity and lack of earnestness has won out on this patch of coast. Except for that one house that doesn’t want to play ball. Erect a sign in keeping with the town’s spirit? No can doo. It calls itself Highfield. But what’s in a name.

Tasmania Sea Tales

By: Phoenix Arrien

In 1981, a group of 14 Tasmanians decided that the state should have its own “tall ship”. They chose to build a replica of the “Lady Nelson” built at a cost of $562,573 dollars by public subscription and completed in 1989.

Now operating out of Hobart offering educational and historical charters as well as harbour cruises, it takes 200 volunteers to keep the ship operating. The most popular voyage is a two night sail to the reaches of Bruny Island and the Tasman Peninsula

Sailing along the coastal cliffs of Bruny Island offers me a taste of the dramatic coastal scenery along the Tasman Peninsula. Seabirds and dolphins visit the ship.

Tasmanians love their Lady and come out to wave as we sailed past. There is something special about such this little vessel, a courage and spirit of adventure in one so small to brave the world’s oceans and I become very fond of her in a short space of time.

I can see why she inspires 200 people in a small population who commit to her continuing presence. www.ladynelson.org.au

Australia’s Convict History

By: The OZtralia Producers

Port Arthur is a must see if you are going to travel Tasmania. As you know, some of the first residents of Tasmania were convicts. Port Arthur was built on the back of the first citizens of Australia.

The area first began in 1830 as a timber station as another timber station at Birches Bay closed. Port Arthur soon became a local necessity as shipbuilding facilities and a flower mill were built here. In 1848 the first Prison started at Port Arthur. The rest is history.

As Australia was a colony at the time, Port Arthur received a lot of inmates. The goal between 1850 and 1860 was to make Port Arhtur sustainable. Over the years though, the colonies stopped sending prisoners and numbers of inmates soon receded to the last being on the grounds in 1877.

Recognizing that Port Arthur could be a tourist site (everyone is a bit curious on how a prison works, right?) the Scenery Preservation Board was created at Port Arthur in 1916. Soon the National Parks and Wildlife took the helm to re-create the actual authentic “Port Arthur” experience.

Today funded by the Tasmanian government scene Port Arthur is very well done.

We would not be true if we did not mention Sunday April 28, 1996 where thirty five people were killed in and around Port Arthur after a man went on a shooting spree. He is not in prison serving thirty five life sentences without the possibility of parole.

By: Priscilla Fox

When referring to a ‘nice drop’ in Australia, it could be interpreted as stumbling awfully close to the cliff face of a mountain. It is however more pleasantly associated to an alcoholic beverage of the grape kind.

The wine industry in Australia is considered the world’s fourth largest exporter of this in demand juice which can be represented in any possible way that the humble grape can be exploited.

From the Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon to the Jacob’s Creek Chardonnay as well as the sparkling Pinot-Noirs from the highlands of Tasmania, there is a taste for every palate.

Almost every state in Australia including Queensland has its own wineries and it is certainly a must when visiting the country to fit in a tour to sample the delightful flavours.

Not only can you trek our lands to see the wonderful mountainous views but to make the trip complete, take an intoxicating bottle of Australian wine in your backpack and you’ll have created the ultimate nice drop experience.