Top five outback pubs to try
A great Outback pub is about more than just cold beer, although, as Slim Dusty pointed out, it certainly helps.Beyond a frothy, after a long day of dusty roads you seek a chat with a friendly publican and maybe somewhere to sleep. Or if you’re just dropping in, something authentically Australian and not just a souvenir-selling tourist trap. Here are five bonza outback pubs traveling blokes and sheilas will appreciate after hours on the frog-n-toad.
Daly Waters Pub, Northern Territory
Daly Waters is 600km from Darwin and 900km from Alice Springs so it’s undoubtedly remote. But, located just off the Stuart Highway, it’s easily accessible to tarmac trackers. And the Daly Waters Pub is a cracker: built in the 1930s, it has a bougainvillea draped veranda, crocodile and roo are on the menu, and accommodation ranges from rooms to campsites. The bar is decorated with ladies’ bras left by lasses involved in drinking challenges (or sometimes not) so there’s always an opening conversational gambit with the barman…and plenty of laughs.
Mungerannie Hotel, South Australia
The trip north from Maree to Birdsville is about 520km of dirt and dust, so it’s good to find an oasis like the Mungerannie Hotel. In practical terms it’s the last stop for fuel; more satisfyingly, it’s a great place to stay for an entertaining evening with owner Phil Gregorke. There’s the bar with its amazing hat collection, top pub meals and even a swimming pool for guests. An added bonus for bird-watchers is a wetlands area fed by bore water. And if you really like it, you can stay indefinitely as the pub’s for sale.
Birdsville Hotel, Queensland
Forget about rainforests, beaches and pineapples: Birdsville may be in Queensland but this is the ‘fair-dinkum’ Aussie Outback. The famous pub is the town’s main hub and has been since 1884. Built from sandstone, with a shady veranda, it’s got a bar full of memorabilia, travellers, and plenty of yarns. For meals there’s the Green Lizard Room (named for a cocktail improvised during a beer shortage) and the motel-style rooms even have air conditioning. Book one for the Birdsville Races and you’ll live like a king.
William Creek Hotel, South Australia
William Creek might seem like the middle of nowhere, but for Outback adventurers its proximity to Lake Eyre, the Simpson Desert and being on the Oodnadatta Track makes it pretty busy. Or the pub is anyway, because it’s about all there is in town. The bar is a cheerful place, the accommodation is clean and cool, the dining room is built from old Ghan railway sleepers and an airstrip means scenic flights over Lake Eyre are on tap. As is a cold beer, of course.
Grand Hotel Kookynie, Western Australia
If Kalgoorlie is WA’s goldfields capital then Kookynie is more like the planet Pluto. It’s about 200km away (and 600km from Perth), and home to the Grand Hotel Kookynie, one of Australia’s most charming Outback pubs. Owners Margaret and Kevin Pusey run the bar, accommodation, beer garden, fuel stop and grocery store, while Willie the wandering horse is ‘Guest Relations Manager’. Kookynie’s ghost-town relics are worth checking out for those looking to escape the Big Smoke.
‘Quintessential Australian pubs? Bloody oath mate…all of ‘em.
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