Queensland Pub Crawl Comes to it’s End

I don’t know about you but I am happy to report that our Queensland Pub Crawl has come to an end!  It is not that we haven’t had fun visiting all of these places but it is getting difficult to keep finding new things about bush pubs to describe to you the reader.  Nonetheless, I will finish the job that I started (even if I do go lightly on the pub descriptions)…

We arrived in Longreach in central western Queensland to re-supply the van with food and water, etc, and get some maintenance done on the vehicle (replaced front brake pads).  The town is the home of the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and is well worth a visit.

Bronze statue of Stockman out the front of the Stockman's Hall of Fame

While in the region we drove about 100 kilometres to the east to visit the town of Barcaldine and it’s ‘Tree of Knowledge’.  The Tree of Knowledge was the shady gathering place / headquarters for striking shearers in 1891 and now symbolises the foundation of organised representation of labour in Queensland.  The tree itself was a grand old Ghost Gum that was over 100 years old at the time of the shearer’’s gatherings and was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.

Unfortunately, it was poisoned and killed in 2006 by an act of senseless but wilful vandalism - not much ‘knowledge’ deployed in performing that low deed.  The perpetrator has not been found.  Now all that remains on the site is a monument.

The 'Tree of Knowledge' monument in Barcaldine

There is however, a small part of a happy ending to offer...  Before the tree was officially declared dead, i.e.: while it was visibly sick and dying but not yet dead, several cuttings were taken from the tree which were successfully nurtured and re-planted.  These are now growing in and around the town of Barcaldine.

Upon departing Longreach the next three, and last, pubs on this part of our journey were visited. In order these were: The Middleton Hotel, The Blue Heeler Pub, and the Gregory Downs Hotel.

Middleton Hotel - 2 May 2019

Blue Heeler Hotel, Kynuna - 3 May 2019

Gregory Downs Hotel - 7 May 2019

After spending the night out the back of the Gregory Downs Hotel we travelled to the town of Camooweal just 13 km inside the Queensland / Northern Territory border and thereby wrapped up our Pub Crawl through Queensland.

In summary, our pub crawl took us a month to complete.  We visited 14 Bush Pubs and travelled 4,866 km in doing so.

It was a long and winding route through
outback Queensland but we 'got er done!'

In the next episode when you ask WTF? - Where are The Farrows?, I will no longer be able to answer your question by saying ‘Queensland’.  We are Northern Territory bound!