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We Aussies have always had our priorities right.
In country towns across this wide brown land, one of the oldest buildings will almost certainly be the pub. As I said — priorities. In many places, the pub will have been preceded only by the railway (thereby enabling us to get to the pub in the first place) and the bank (providing us with funds to buy the next round). And who doesn’t love a good country watering hole? Once the sacred preserve of the sun-scorched, working-class man, today’s pub must appeal to a much broader range of punters in order to survive.
Generally there’ll be good quality tucker (perhaps even posh nosh if it’s a trendy gastro-pub), cold beer, family events, live entertainment, and let’s not forget good old-fashioned hospitality. What’s not to love? So, I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to visit six country pubs around Ipswich, the picturesque Scenic Rim and Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane — let alone do it in a helicopter. Excuse me? Yep, you read that right!
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I’m about to join Archerfield-based Pterodactyl Helicopters on their popular Brisbane Country Pub Crawl by Helicopter. A beer at each pub and a delicious lunch are included, but note: this is not an opportunity to get merry at 5,000 feet. Safety is paramount and there’s a limit of one beer per venue.
We begin proceedings at The Peak Pub at Peak Crossing. It was built in the late 70s from besser-brick, so it’s not as easy on the eye as some of the colonial pubs coming up later. However, step inside and you’ll discover a unique establishment full of country character. There’s a corrugated iron bar, wooden beams and an eclectic mix of pub memorabilia and bric-a-brac. A sign on the wall catches my eye: In wine there is wisdom; in beer there is freedom; in water there is bacteria. Benjamin Franklin. Wise words indeed.
At the bar I chat with an aging Hell’s Angel with long grey hair and beard and a mean leather jacket. Both he and the jacket look like they’ve really lived. He’s keen to share his views on Queensland’s anti-bikie laws having staged a number of personal protests — not least of which involved his Harley, a jousting stick, and a royal visit to Australia by Prince William and Kate. Apparently the police were not amused.
I bid my new friend farewell and we take to the skies for the next stop on this Brisbane helicopter tour — the Dugandan Hotel in Boonah. The ‘Dugie’ was built in the 1880s. It’s the quintessential county pub compete with VJ walls, corrugated iron roof and a wrap-around covered verandah. Inside you’ll find a fascinating collection of memorabilia covering the early pioneering history of the region. You could literally spend hours here.
The Royal Hotel Harrisville, another turn-of-the-20th-century period gem, is our lunch stop. The punters within have all turned out on the verandah to watch the chopper arriving in the back paddock and I have to say it does the old ego a world of good. Talk about making an entrance!
Here we enjoy an amazing pub lunch with a choice of chicken parma, steak sandwich, rib-eye steak and more. I go the steak sandwich and it’s sensational.
The Porters Plainland Hotel is another venerable venue on the circuit. It’s managed by third generation Porters, but their publican lineage stretches all the way back to Ireland in the 1800s.
On arrival at the Mulgowie Hotel (the ‘Mulga’), I get to have a beer with knockabout publican Simon. It’s a slow day so he’s got plenty of time for a chat. Simon is an amateur boxer and shows me a YouTube video of a recent bout between himself and a neighbouring publican to raise funds for a local charity. Judging by his performance, I doubt he has any trouble with rowdy patrons at closing time.
The Mulga oozes rustic charm, but as Simon tells me, it needs modernising. The trick is finding the capital to do it. I hope he manages to get it sorted out. It would be a real shame to see an amazing piece of Australian history like this fall into total disrepair.
Our last stop of the day is the Sundowner Saloon in Marburg — a mock Wild West ranch complete with a garden of giant cacti and a rather incongruous giant Bundaberg Rum bottle parked out front. I wonder if any over-indulgent punter has ever done a double-take at the size of the bottle and ended up in the cactus patch. Nasty.
As we lift off for the journey home, I reflect on all the characterful pubs we’ve visited. The priorities of the past continue to serve us well.
The writer travelled as a guest of Pterodactyl Helicopters. You can book this tour here.
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Cover image: Scenic Rim Tourism
About the writer
Adam Ford is editor of Top Oz Tours & Travel Ideas, and a travel TV presenter, writer, blogger, and photographer. He has travelled extensively through Europe, Asia, North America, Africa, and the Middle East. Adam worked as a travel consultant for a number of years with Flight Centre before taking up the opportunity to travel the world himself as host of the TV series Tour the World on Network Ten. He loves to experience everything a new destination has to offer and is equally at home in a five-star Palazzo in Pisa or a home-stay in Hanoi.
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