Walkabout Creek Hotel

In a nutshell: Call that a knife?

Where: Middleton St, McKinlay, QLD.

Tell me more: If you want to sup a cold beer at the very bar that Crocodile Dundee called his local in those films, then this is the place to come. Well almost. The original Federal McKinlay Hotel was sold, renamed and moved up the road after the film took the world by storm.

Daly Waters Pub

In a nutshell: Outback weirdness.

Where: 3km off Stuart Highway, 4km north of the Carpentaria Highway turn off, NT.

Tell me more: This surreal drinking hole, once a stop-off for London to Sydney flights (there’s an airstrip just outside), is one of the most famous pubs in the outback. It also claims to be the Territory’s oldest pub (since 1893) and is now randomly stuffed with everything from bras to banknotes.

Adelaide River Inn

In a nutshell: Drink with a stuffed celebrity.

Where: Stuart Highway, NT.

Tell me more: Continuing the Crocodile Dundee theme, this bush pub merits a visit if only to meet its most famous local, Charlie, who can usually be found propping up the bar. Charlie, sadly long dead and stuffed, was the water buffalo hypnotised by Mick Dundee in the movie.

Espanol Hotel

Where: Lappa Junction, on the road to Chillagoe, about 43km past Dimbulah, QLD.

In a nutshell: The pub that really has been drunk dry. T

ell me more: This boozer has become legendary for a reason most bush drinking holes would rather avoid – it’s the “pub with no beer” made famous by Slim Dusty’s classic of the same name. Enjoy the collection of old pioneering artifacts. Just don’t forget to bring your own booze.

Desert Cave Hotel

In a nutshell: Where the drinks always take you to a dark place.

Where: Hutchinson Street, Coober Pedy, SA.

Tell me more: Fed up with the heat? Then head underground. Like most of Coober Pedy, Australia’s biggest opal mining town, the Desert Cave Hotel is basically a massive man-made cave. But it has the added distinction of being the world’s only underground four star hotel. It also features a pub.

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Pub In The Paddock

In a nutshell: Get drunk under the table by a pig.

Where: St Columbia Falls Road, Pyengana, Tasmania.

Tell me more: Forget the sharks, crocs and even the stuffed water buffalo, the Aussie animal you really need to meet is Slops, the beer-drinking pig. Proud locals claim this hard-drinking Tassie porker once guzzled a record 76 stubbies in one session, although he apparently fell over after the 54th. Don’t they have the RSPCA down here?

Silverton Hotel

In a nutshell: Track down the original Road Warrior.

Where: Outside Broken Hill, NSW.

Tell me more: If your film taste is more post-apocalyptic nihilism than light-hearted croc wrestling, then you may enjoy a quick jar at the Silverton, where bits of Mad Max were filmed (his car, now owned by the landlord, still sits outside), plus the XXXX adverts and many more. The town itself, previously a wild hub for miners, is increasingly ghostly.

Ettamogah Pub

In a nutshell: Cartoon craziness.

Where: Main Street, Cunderdin, WA.

Tell me more: If reality is no longer enough then how about a beer in a cartoon bar? The Ettamogah Pub, complete with leaning walls, brings alive a boozer created by Ken Maynard in his cartoon series printed in the Australasian Post magazine. They’ve since been built around Australia, including Sydney and the Sunshine Coast.

The Esplanade Hotel

In a nutshell: For a taste of musical history.

Where: 11 The Esplanade, St Kilda, Melbourne, VIC.

Tell me more: Always packed, the pleasingly shabby Espy is arguably Melbourne’s best pub, making it one of the best city bars in Oz. It has also been one of the country’s top music venues for more than a century. Lots of Aussie bands have had their big break here, including AC/DC, Nick Cave, Jet and Wolfmother.

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Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel/Fortune Of War

In a nutshell: Sydney’s oldest pubs. Where: 19 Kent St and 137 George St, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW. Tell me more:These Sydney landmarks both love claiming to be the city’s oldest surviving pub. The Lord Nelson first became a licensed hotel in 1841, making it the oldest continually licensed hotel in town. The Fortune’s claim is based on the fact it has called the same building home since 1928, while other pubs have moved premises.

Bondi Icebergs Club

In a nutshell: Hang out with the beautiful people.

Where: 1 Notts Ave, Bondi, Sydney, NSW.

Tell me more: Supposedly the world’s only licensed swimming club (who checks these things?). Stop off for a glimpse of the best views of Bondi. Soak up the sights before heading up the beach to the North Bondi RSL Club where you can soak up the beers for far less cash.

More Great Aussie Boozers

We’re not saying Aussies are a bunch of piss ‘eads… Actually, that is what we’re saying. Only folks in the Czech Republic, Ireland and Germany drink more beer. Here are four great boozers:

David Boon

The dwarf-sized cricketer is famous for scoring gazillions of runs. But the Tasmanian became an Aussie legend when he consumed a record 52 cans of beer on a flight from Sydney to London, before the 1989 Ashes tour (which the Aussies won, groan). Alcohol consumed at altitude can double the effects on your body and ‘Boonie’ had to be carried across the tarmac. Boon is often referred to as the ‘Keg on Legs’ because of his exploits.

Bob Hawke

Prime Minister (1983-91) Bob Hawke is famous for his left-wing larrikinism. However, many of his political achievements have lost notoriety to something he accomplished whilst studying at Oxford (UK). Hawke holds the world record for the fastest consumption of a yard glass (approximately 1.7 litres) of beer in 11 seconds. In his memoirs, Hawke suggested this single feat may have contributed to his political success more than any other. Only in Oz.

‘Bon’ Scott

Ronald ‘Bon’ Scott was lead singer of hard rockers AC/DC (1974-1980) – not the one who dressed like a schoolboy, the other one. The rock legend lived the life of rock ‘n’ roll cliché: the drugs, the birds, but most of all, the booze. In 1980, he was found dead in his mate’s car after a heavy night out in Camden, London. Classily, he had chocked on his own vomit. The official cause was “acute alcohol poisoning”, but conspiracy theories claim a heroin overdose, or death by exhaust fumes. We say booze.

Les Patterson

Les Patterson is a character created by Barry Humphries, of Dame Edna Everage fame. The obese, lecherous, farting, belching, nose-picking figure boasts of visits to Bangkok “rub and tug shops” and jokes that “the best place to hide something from a Pom is under a bar of soap”. A perpetual slurrer of words, he’s rarely seen without a tinnie in hand.

 

Photo: facebook.com/pages/The-Original-Ettamogah-Pub-Albury, Getty