The Outback Pub Crawl

right through remote parts of Australia there are tracks like these our back tracks often their dusty and corrugated sometimes they're really rough and sometimes they're downright impossible in the web these tracks link up the little towns out here little communities of people still forging living out of this rough country what those little communities have in common more often than not there's a little pub that's not your average pub there's great little Outback pubs they're full of charm and character and characters as well now we're on a trip from Berk through the birds will we're going to be visiting a lot of these pubs along the way I'm showing you why this is such a great little trip and why it's so uniquely Australian so come along as we visit these pubs in our back Australia [Music] our first stop isn't far out of Berk in fact it's only about 70 caves of the road it's the warrior hotel in the sleepy little outback hamlet of Ford's bridge [Music] were igano tell here at Ford's bridge was built back in 1913 so 103 years ago which is pretty impressive it's made out of red mud brick the same stuff that you get out of the ground around here that's actually the only pub still standing in Australia that's made out of this stuff that's pretty cool [Music] [Music] actually pretty quiet our life here boys like the West before I bought this will I used to work in the West a lot 9news new thing for me to come West well I was more like a drive and when they'd brought used to drive books down from the north this blog was all stock routes through it was a big go drivin camp really the next big big guy is in September 7/8 Slim Dusty died she slimmed off the old ice and tribute to slim doggy a couple of hundred eight bars down at the back camp ovens yeah how many six and a half years no I don't know 20 to be a local 30 years you gotta be better than 20 they're all good people good country people that's all countries we've live further west you go the better the people Oregon after chatting with Peter at the war we go we went into catch-up mode the convoy had already pushed ahead eager to make its way to hunger fit and bunk down for the night with the Sun hastily retreating below the horizon we plotted our way along the long straights and winding corners towards the Queensland border in what became probably the most legendary literary Trek of Australian history city-based poet and writer Henry Lawson made the massive trek from Berk the Gateway of the outback all the way to Hungerford on the same tracks that we're driving today back in 1892 Lawson actually made the walk all the way from Berk through to Hungerford talking about three weeks it's a pretty decent way see his boss actually gave him a five-pound note and a train ticket to Bourke and told him to go out and experience the real outback Australia and he made that walk going through Ford's bridge and and all the way through the Hungerford and he wasn't that impressed with what he saw it's a pretty rough country out here and he told it out was you can fortunately do it a lot easier than Lawson did back then 150 yard kilometers depending on conditions take somewhere around two hours don't forget to take a little bit of air out of your tires for the dirt for performance and comfort and of course keep a keen eye out for wildlife especially around sunset when he traveled through from Burke Lawson came across Ford's bridge but he didn't mention it much in his riding he described the warrior River as a dusty gutter with a streak of water like dirty milk as he pushed on to the town of Hungerford here's what he had to say about their Hungerford consists of two houses and a humpy in New South Wales and five houses in Queensland characteristically enough both of the pubs are in Queensland we've got a glass of sour yeast at one that paid six pence for it we had asked her English ale well Hungerford is a little bit different these days there's space to camp in the middle of town Plus is a big role flying dr. shed there's only one pub and it's a beauty let's hope the beer isn't sour [Music] straddling the Queensland New South Wales border with the famous dingo fence just down the road Hunger Foods Royal Mail Hotel is an incredible old building corrugated iron timber and nails this is a seriously authentic and original building that is absolutely brimming with character also on the way out two birds are on the big red Bosch was a big convoy of Amarok drivers and the pub had a great atmosphere [Music] [Music] we caught up with Graham in the morning when he wasn't so busy at the hotel five and a half years near looks and I've been out here actually in that since 2011 them that so a good five years II I I think someone was saying that's one of the last original common code pubs in your country you tell that right now for us that touch would like insurance finding julia service you know what a fire the patient that might know traffic lights is probably the biggest thing yeah and that way you know when you really think I would people in the city spend ten percent their life setting their traffic lights on that in that's not very voice power raising my flatted River in the country in that light mashed rivers will be up and down in a few days or something this one comes up and that we run and the flood made natural you know weeks and that sometimes Munson that my name was 2000 December 2011 to April 2012 them that there was over there for months fire favors I said there's a couple of beautiful weather the Carolinian National Park and either it's got the two lakes it's got the saltwater lake and the fresh would like no he saw Boise or both of those roughly 30 odd square K in size well also up at the park up there k Worrell okay Worrell ruins is a beautiful water hole lovely it's about three and a half kilometers long there's most majestic place you'd ever wish to go camping actually and that it's well you know we're a couple hundred K from both the major places like brick and we'll say can a mullah and so some people do a bit of shopping towards Burke Davao others still a candle mother to warmer a little sports days a long weekend in October and that my that's Jim Cameron motorbikes and they also have novel means my foot races every second year boy annually and that we have the field day and most of the money raised there guys the following dr. on that like I just see the 2011 field day in there for a small place here a $16,000 from that more that's a massive effort there for the progress Association and that get that tight money out of a small package perfectly this right on the board a little bit like like put that fence up there anyone take it Donald Trump was here and let the keep the Mexicans yeah a lot of people like to come across the border there to be on a winner don't they the Hungerford pub is one of my all-time favorites and you always get to have a good laugh chatting with graham but as i say all good things must come to an end and it was time for us to get back on the road when it's not flooded you can take the road north across the pyro river through Carolinian National Park through to Fargo Minda or you lo but for us though we're heading back to our southwards towards Minari so I was back through the dingo fence for an easy 100 kilometers of good condition Road [Music] this road takes you through some very pretty countryside as well making it all the way to the start of the cut line that when re when Irene here's a great little place to stop with a well-stocked general store and a really nice little laid-back pub as well the rail he runs the art back in and she has a famous reputation for hospitality unfortunately our slow progress meant that we didn't really have any time to spare so I had to keep rolling through oh well there's always next time [Music] on the road we drove along the cut line which is a very straight piece of road which is also one which is most affected by radar [Music] going to all the rain out here in the last couple of weeks a lot of the roads have actually been closed we've been quite lucky sort of the day before or either in the morning of traveling some of these tracks they've been deemed open this road here through the timber bara it's one of the ones that we're going to be taking this sign does say it's closed but we've been having a chat with the locals in town and have been reliably informed that it is open to forward drive vehicles they mustn't have just not got around to the sign yet so goes to show it does pay to have a yarn if the locals in the bar and the general store and just see what the actual go is we were very lucky to make it through considering the tracker just opened that morning it allowed us to make slow progress through the tipper burrow and we made it just after sunset tomorrow is in my mind quintessential Outback town it's got a wide meandering Main Street with a few quiet shops a handful of service stations and two pubs like so many other towns in Australia tipper borough owes its origin to the discovery of gold in the area tipper borough means heap of boulders from the many huge granite outcrops that surround the town nowadays along with sheep farming at all that tourism national parks is one of the big employers in town and most of the town income rolls in on four and two wheels being traded for fuel hospitality and supplies and family hotel has some incredible artworks adorning the walls artists like Clifton Pugh and Russell Drysdale have all if their marks upon the walls making this place a very unique pub indeed [Music] so we only made it into two Berber at last night in the end we got in here at about sundown because all the road from what I read was pretty slow in places so we took our time got here and thought would bunk down for the night sat in the van park up the road but wasn't too bad you've got two pubs in tip over you got a two-story over here and the family here and they're both really good pubs we end up having dinner over here and a couple of drinks there later so I worked out alright we'll be back on the road for a half early start and hopefully mow down small case [Music] now we were roughly halfway along the road to Virgil we thought it was a wise idea to give our reads of quick check over Cal had some problems with the club 4x4 patrols auxiliary battery so a quick bit of diagnosis with the multimeter and some fresh terminals crimped up it was all fixed we had some brekkie stopped up on anything missed or forgotten refueled and got back on the road destination Cameron corner [Music] the road from tibbar bharata cameron corner takes you through this huge and enveloping stirred national park which is a gigantic three thousand two hundred and fifty square kilometers in size it was all once a big sheep station and is the traditional land of the Wayne kumara people who lived all through Southwest Queensland and northwest New South Wales [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] our procession once again makes its way through the dingo fence this time at Cameron corner a great little establishment nestled amongst the soft risers of sand dunes the Cameron corner store is something like an oasis in the desert I generate all their own electricity here try all of their food in and supplies from town and plop water in for kilometres away [Music] Fenne and Cheryl Miller are the driving force behind this store we had a chat with fen to see what life is like at the corner he started off with about 26 years ago now local Sandino came through here he's a Vietnam vet he sat on the Sandhills counted cars and thought there's enough cars to make a business so he approached the owners of the properties here and Fred Osmond thought yeah that's a good idea and donated a square mile back to the government there and for the first shop and that's how it sort of started and and we're the fourth owner in here now and each one has done a little bit more and it's grown and grown and grown and getting getting very iconic now puts that corner post but does 8 years been here now living in yeah on and off about 12 years used to look after a place with an the other owner got to know the place and enjoyed it and had an opportunity to buy it and took over there I gone from the rainforest to the desert they come from Port Douglas huh yeah we had a couple of good big occasions we got Easter time we have the Easter cricket match they come from all over the place even even Adelaide to come and play cricket here and then we got new year's here well we got three time zones because we read in the corner of the three states what's the daylight savings we have a New Year's every half an hour for for the three states so we we set up around the corner post and get it all ready and do the countdown for New South Wales and the Happy New Year and kiss all the pretty girls and then half an hour later we do it all over again and then move acosta then move across again half an hour later we do it all over again so yeah yeah well we started with the golf the other owners started with the idea and I eventually finished it off and we got three holes in each state now so we call it the tri-state golf and you played the nine holes you can even get a certificate to say you've played it there's a bit of a bit of a trick bit of a novelty because in South Australia they're round holes in New South Wales they're square holes and in Queensland here try visited novelties oh this country grows on you you know people think the desert there's nothing out here but it's different over every sand hill it's just yeah I just say you got to be out here to experience it well it's it's hard to explain that the experience of the outback yeah out here and and the pub itself as well yeah the hospitality that you don't get that in city pubs anymore you don't even know your neighbors this [Music] of course one of the must do things is to head over to the corner post at Cameron corner sitting right at the very corner of South Australia Queensland and New South Wales it's one of the reasons why visiting this place is so special the corners named after Jordan Brewer Cameron a government surveyor who spent two years between 1880 and 1882 placing a wooden post every mile up to Queensland and New South Wales border we've actually heard that the puppy has a New South Wales mailing address a South Australian phone number and a Queensland publicist [Music] we head off from the corner tracking further west before turning north towards enemy Cup you're in the northern reaches of South Australia now traveling through the stress Leakey desert there's a handful of different ways you can go but at the moment all bar the stress leaky track was closed due to rain the stress is a big well maintained track own to all the huge trucks and machinery that travel through here servicing the Santos oil and gas facility located up the road when you're travelling through here always be there ready for the big road trains and trucks you're best off slowing right down and pulling off the road a bit give them plenty of space to pass it's a lot easier for us to stop through this for them [Music] the convoy arrived the enemy go pitching camp down by the Cooper Creek at the town college inna Minka Hotel is just up the road but for now we prefer to set up camp get a nice little campfire going and enjoy the ambience of this green pretty common Michelle and I are in a rooftop tent on the defender but I have to say we're a little envious of Shane and a NASCAR driver it's a nicely made australian manufactured camper trailer stitch to be very comfortable [Music] after a great little night around the campfire we were up early it's packing up camps and making our way up to the endemika hotel word around the place is that the tracks through the bird who were currently closed and we might have to turn back fingers crossed something that's going to change [Music] so we're in it in Dominica hotel this morning it's a little bit early for a beer seeing is it's around 9 o'clock and not a shift worker so instead have a coffee have a chat and have a look at the pub and I can actually find out about what the roads are doing this morning because a lot of the roads around here a very low line and it's going to be pretty hard to get through to birdsville so I'm gonna have a chat with the people here find out what the go is and then go from there even though she was flat out making coffees and fielding lots of nervous questions I managed to speak to Michelle the manager here at the enemy hotel about what the situation really was with the roads so you've got the kudu low right which is up the middle yeah but at the present moment could he lose been closed for well over a month over month yeah we know we're gonna rain back at the early May and the roads been closed since then it's low-lying creeks that get flooded washed out okay yeah so that's you know certainly then you've got Walker's crossing to head to birdsville but unfortunately again with the rains that we've had last month it has continued to stay closed then the next step would be out back out Queensland Road up the arrow Bri but at the present moment that is still close we're waiting on to hear from these shows if the bottom end can open more have you ever happened Morales and see what happens the other option then you straight out the Queensland road out to the team dissection and head towards there at mangoes be okay Lexa's so that's heading out past never married yeah past the every turn on which can't be taken at the present moment and out the adventure way it is just a bit for everybody yeah pretty anxious but I'm sure they'll get there and enjoyed at the end of the day the report is through and we're very lucky seems like the four gods are with us this time the conditions are a little treacherous at times on these rain sodden tracks [Music] [Music] if you're traveling on your own wouldn't be a bad idea to try and buddy out with some fellow travelers so you've got a better chance of recovery we're able to use a combination of Arab berry and core Dillo downs roads to link up with the birds will development track further north from there we can get into birds will quite easily [Music] conditions of the road were pretty bad through here so with a late departure from Indonesia combining with slow progress along the roads we ended up making camp along the way luckily there is an awesome campsite at Qdoba ruins not far off the track don't worry you won't miss it it's pretty obvious there's some flat areas for camping room for big groups a little bit of water nearby and even some firewood if you're lucky and of course don't forget to have a little bit of a look through the ruins it's pretty fascinating it gives you a little bit of a glimpse into what life would have been like here back in the pioneering days and let me tell you it would have been a lot harder than we ever now [Music] you [Music] [Applause] now the guys are going to set up camp and I couldn't really help myself on foot I'll go and check out this final table on the journey it's one of the most iconic pubs in Australia I think and one of my personal favorites it's the birds go ahead tell [Music] [Applause] [Music] pubs don't get much more iconic than the Birdsville hotel and with the big red bash in town this place is absolutely pumping we managed to drag the manager Ben away from the bar for a few minutes to tell us what life is like at Birdsville and behind the bar at the Birdsville hotel today so my name's Ben and look after operations here at Birdsville hotel and also down at in the minke hotel all part of the same company basically called upon between the two hotels depending on what events are running and and where they're at obviously with the big red bash in town we've got a few staff here from in a mentor as well to to help out between the two pubs especially now that it's held here and not not out of big red it's a harsh environment out here you know especially of the summer so we're flat absolutely flat strapped during the tourist season and then we go into the summer which is a lot quieter but then we have the environment to deal with with heat which you know can cause problems with mechanical breakdowns and fridges and all that type of stuff so but that that is very rewarding because we don't have a lot of people out here to help us assist us to fix things so you know sometimes even youtubing something to learn how to fix something up or make an adjustment on something and you you pull it off and it's a rewarding feeling you know averaged a bit behind the bar and a season varies quite a lot it we've got a huge range of customer base so what we do get a lot of bus tours and stuff through here off road buses so it's an older customer dynamic and then obviously with with the simpson desert being a huge draw card for tourism in the area family family based customers and then a lot of younger younger couples and singles that have taken the desert challenge on when they do get to the bar it's always exciting it doesn't matter for our for our bar staff they could have been you know working all day and that it's still exciting for them because people walk in and they've ticked that bucket list off they've crossed the desert they've made it to the birds were hotel they've made it up big red motorbike riders are quite funny they'll pull up and off and walk into our front bar and just lay flat on their back on the on the slate floor you know to try and straighten their well straighten their spines out I think it more the case but yeah as as as far as bar work goes our staff really enjoy it because everyone's got a story everyone's on a journey yeah actually with a lot of road closures around the area so there was a lot of people quite nervous we joined up on some Facebook groups and people travelling out to the big red Bash we could see that there was a lot of concern over road closures as far as we're concerned if people couldn't get here then the bash would be delayed so you know it would happen when it happened and people wouldn't miss out as far as stock goes we were prepared for for it to be out of big red obviously but we're very lucky in the fact that when we found out I think which was about four or five days before the bash we found out it was being moved to town our supply truck was stuck in Adelaide so we're able to top up on extra alcohol and extra food and yes so we won't run out knock on wood but I have across the desert quite a few times now it's it's something that even big red for example no matter how many times you go across it living here sometimes we go out there twice a week and drive up in this park on top and watch sunset and stuff like that and take new stuff out to see it it's something that I've always said to people the very first time I went up big red I was quite a lot younger than what I am now to this day I still get the same level of excitement and adrenaline when you go up the western face of big red and you make it up first go it's that doesn't change and that's when you realize that the deserts pretty special place and then you know really does get in your blood [Music] [Music] another place that you have to check out in Birdsville is of course the bakery I think the worst place about going to this bakery is choosing which part I have when you go I mean there's steak and kidney kangaroo and claret lamb shank carried camel rabbit beef pies there's also some very delicious looking pastries and sausage rolls so you'll have your work cut out for yourself there's some great artworks adorning the walls of this bakery too and the coffee isn't too bad or a pretty good excuse to come back and try another pie I suppose [Music] we caught up with Troy cassar-daley at the birds will hotel after doing a private little performance for some disadvantaged kids we had a chat with him about the bash and our back pubs and why he thinks they're so special we've been doing a bit of a run out from Berk through the birds or just visiting all the Outback pubs on the way out here do you think it's a bit of an important side of Australian identity and things like that sort of the rural side of things yeah I think it's important because I spend most of my working career out through these areas and not quite as remote as Birdsville jeez I love getting out here but we're really I think pretty fortunate to to get a chance to meet a lot of Australians in in their natural inhabitants out here like just really beautiful places people who are dry and and just love to have a yarn and it really inspires me actually I really get quite inspired all the songs you write about the country makes sense when you climb that big red sea and you and you go okay this is what we're inspired about it's lovely you would have seen a few pubs in your time traveling around the place if you got any personal favourites that you remember quite well yeah I'll look I'll the Blue Heeler at con una was pretty amazing I think um when I first went through there I think I was about maybe 22 or something like that and I was really thrilled to see slim Dusty's name on the wall and I thought wow I don't know I've never met slim at 22 took me a while to sort of get to know him but when I saw that I was pretty inspired I thought that's that's a pretty amazing experience to go on walk in there and have a beer when you've been traveling all day then you see something his name on there the king is what he's the king have you been individual a few times before this or your first army you might can you um tell me about how the towns going at the moment with the bash coming through bit of action obviously a bit busier than it normally is I tell you what is probably take the staff at this pub here probably about a month to get over what they're doing they have not stopped and also the people who are you know the organizers as well the way they've been running around it's been very seamless and but it's great for the town I think when they started it a couple of years ago I think they had about 700 payers and a few vehicles and some campsites and to get to for that to 7000 sold out now I was talking to Paul Kelly about it this morning over breakfast and I will just said um we just can't believe how many people just can make it a part of their itinerary to come to Birds and all power to them for driving as far as they have you reckon it's a bit of a different breed of people they live out this way Oh different breed of people I suppose for a lot of reasons they like the actual remoteness of it not everyone could live out here because they like to have that social factor where they their gregarious I want to get into town and mix up with people but people out here don't mind their own company and and that's rare the hardships are what really makes them who they are and the adversity that you see is pretty amazing because they you know not everyone has to go through this sort of stuff they can always move back into town somewhere but they stick it out this was a really interesting year for the big red bash firstly it was sold out with 7,000 tickets being very quickly snapped up by keen punters there were some huge names performing as well some people like Jimmy Barnes Troy cassar-daley and my favourite poor Kelly and because of all the rain out here the event was actually moved into town which did make for an awesome atmosphere it was a bit of a shame to lose the backdrop of big red definitely but seeing the town buzzing so much was really incredible [Music] [Applause] [Music] so the trips finished the pub crawl everyone turned off their separate ways and dropping back I've been thinking about I guess what makes this trip so special and I've been team out the people or what I guess you know that there's a lot of nice tracks that you drive through some really beautiful scenery and of course there's little pubs and towns are really really cool but it's the people that you get to meet these characters that live out here then got lots of stories about hardship and struggle and what's the stories about made cheap and laughter as well and they've got this sense of community I guess that you just don't really get in other places it's really them that make these trips so special I think I think the other the other great thing about this journey is the fact that once you get to birdsall the trip doesn't really finish sure you can go straight home if you've got work to go to and things like that but if you do have some spare time when you think about it up in the north you've got all of the Queensland channel country to the south the birds will track the data Mari and all that stuff and then finally in the West you got the Simpson Desert so I mean which way do you go you choose you

Channel: Pat Callinan's 4X4 Adventures

Views: 151,602

Rating: 4.7394958 out of 5

Keywords: 4x4, fords bridge, offroad, 4wd, off road, outback, remote, pub, innamincka, wanaaring, birdsville, cameron corner, tibooburra, dirt, bourke

Id: _ugIDHMKjuY

Length: 38min 35sec (2315 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 26 2017