In Search of the Real Aussie Pub

We were excited about going to Bundaberg next to see the Ginger Beer factory, but did you know that Bundaberg is actually more famous in Australia for making rum? We didn't. The tour is all about the rum, not the ginger beer at all, so we didn't stop there in the end:(

After a quick layover at the twin towns of 'Town of 1770' (yes, that is the actual name of the town - it was the year that Captain Cook first landed there - did Captain Cook discover everywhere in the world, what on earth was everyone else doing?) and Agnes Beach for the night, the next day we kept on trucking through the Queensland sugar cane lined roads, through Rockhampton, the steak capital of Australia (we could tell by the massive cow on the roundabout as we drove in) which would have also been the perfect place to stop if we were in the market for cowboy boots, saddles and 10 gallon hats - we weren't.

After Rockhampton it is a long drive to anywhere else, it's just you, the road, and a whole lot more sugar cane. The Queenland council have put up funny little signs on the side of the road, to keep you laughing and awake on your journey - dear me, as if we don't hear enough of that in the car!





For lunch we stepped off the highway and into the tiny town of Marlborough, to eat at the Marlborough Hotel.

Here's the hotel.





And here is Marlborough.




We walked in and it was like we had entered a veritable alcoholic oasis in a desert of sugar, and there was even a pool table:)





Even the Bundaberg Rum Polar Bear was there - looking a bit worse for wear admittedly.












The chips were to die for, and we even got to write on the walls, our names forever emblazened and preserved on plaster and paint, along with all of those who had gone before us on their East Coast travelling adventures, to prove that we had made it through the sugar fields to find the holy grail of Aussie pubs.











Alex's strange campervan drawing, not mine...!

And later, after not frequenting any Australian watering holes since we have begun our trip, we drank in our second one that day. For the bargain price of $10, we got to park out the back of the General Gordon Public House in Homebush near Mackay. Established in 1886, the pub was bursting with character, and dirty overall'ed sugar cane farmers with wide brimmed hats and three teeth.








All in all, it was my kind of day, apart from losing 2-1 at pool (only had 1 ball left though) - that husband of mine, I taught him far too well;).

Love
Est xxx