There are all kinds of pubs in Australia. But the country pub is a staple. And they are much more than a pub. They serve as restaurants, water holes, betting agents, locations for town meetings, and hotels with accommodation. There are road house taverns, outback pubs, and country town pubs complete with one of the most iconic features: wrap around balconies. But it's not just about what's on the outside. What else makes the quintessential pub? Of course a cool Swan or XXXX after a hot, dry day in in the bush helps, but it's much more than the beer. Mallee roots in the fireplace, a jukebox in the corner, a TAB to place your horse racing bets (Australians DO love to bet), a pool table or darts for entertainment, authentic clientele (may or may not have teeth) and friendly bar staff.
And even better if there are fireplaces in the hotel rooms. Even if you can't light them.
Jukebox, pool table, AFL grand final event on the chalkboard, picture of some Aussie blokes, and an Akubra (Aussie hat equivalent to a Stetson) wearing Aussie in the middle of it all.
I know this sounds very close to what makes any dive bar your favorite local joint, imagine that with an Aussie flair. Kids running around without shoes, blokes yammering about horse racing and saying "G'day" "mate" and "ta", and Jimmy Barnes blaring over it all.
I've been in a few pubs since I've been here, but I always forget the last one before going to the next one, which makes it difficult to compare. On a winding holiday jaunt through Western Australia's wheat belt, southern coast, and outback I stopped in the social center of many towns to see (and smell) the welcoming, individual character of each pub with most of them dating back to the early 1900's. And how did they all rate? On a score from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest...
Gibson Soak Hotel-5.5
Just outside of the holiday haven of Esperance, this hotel lacked in
indoor amenities, but recovered some ground with a huge tree out front
and a beautiful garden out back.
Castle Hotel (York)-6.25
Granted it was a cold and rainy day, but they had lost the remote for the jukebox, and didn't have any of that warm, friendly, Aussie characters. But there was one table of old men and one table of old women having some time of meeting.
Club Hotel (Southern Cross)-6.5
Great architecture and free jukebox (computer screen with playlist, way too modern) could make up for the unfriendly feel, and the toothless locals were just a little too rowdy.
Kulin Hotel-6.75
After
searching for coffee, only to find the cafe owner waiting for a coffee
machine repair from Perth, it was decided to go into the Kulin hotel
instead. Complete with couches, a fancy "blue" room for fancy dinners,
and a hall for "big" events".
Corrigin Hotel-7
Extra points for the bartender who filled us in on the boys from Esperance who had stopped in twice on their way too and from Perth for a footy weekend. Plus their Chicken Parma was pretty tasty.
Lake King Tavern-7
More of a roadhouse type feel, maybe just because it was on a pile of dirt at a highway intersection. The cozy atmosphere and sunny ambiance helped this roadside oasis to sell out all it's rooms for the Tuesday night.
Grass Patch Tavern-6.5
This tiny roadside tavern even had the local mail slots. There was chalk to entertain the kiddies (the owners kids happened to be home from school), a rustic pool table for the adults, and plenty of tradie, truckie and farmer charm. Plus what an awesome and honest name for a town: Grass Patch.
Salmon Gums Hotel-7.5
The mallee root was burning, despite the low number of patrons. Apparently the place was packed the night before with all the farmers in after their field walks. But the owner was friendly and chatted about the renovations she's made since buying it 19 months ago. She moved to Salmon Gums from Perth's large suburb of Mandurah and bragged about the silence (the population of Salmon Gums is about 40), despite the chilly winter days and the summer day when it was 52 degree days sitting out back of the pub (that's 125in Fahrenheit!).
Denver City Hotel (Coolgardie)-8
Despite being confused about being in Australia and not Colorado, this gold mining town pub (one of two remaining from the original 23 pubs) still manages to make a living with the locals and tourists. Not to mention the owner had a record player in addition to a jukebox which she played some old country records on.
Port Hotel (Hopetoun)-8
An outback pub on the ocean? Yes please! Nathalie the owner was wary we'd be overwhelmed by their full house for Chase the Ace that night. Chase the Ace (or joker) is a weekly pub game. For each drink you buy, you get a raffle ticket. Then, one ticket is drawn. The owner of that ticket gets to draw a card from a deck of cards and if it's the Ace of Diamonds, they win the jackpot. Each week, the deck is down by one more card (as they're not replaced) and the lucky ticket holder's chances improve. And each week the jackpot gets higher. At the Port Hotel, the jackpot had gotten up to over $5,000 with only 4 more cards to go. So you could imagine everyone in that little town, young and old, were out getting their fair chance to Chase the Ace. No, I didn't win :( And neither did the lucky ticket holder. I wonder if someone will win it this week...
And extra points for an ocean view!
Norseman Hotel-9
Now Norseman is in the middle of nowhere. It is on the edge of the outback and the gateway o the Nullabor, the long stretch of road across the desert to South Australia. And the Norseman Hotel epitomized the Australasian outback pub. Tradie's in their high-vis having an evening feed while watching the news (apparently watching the news in the pub is a thing to do), a friendly bartender telling us about the Goldfields festival the next day where you can enter a raffle to win a gold nugget, an old man playing country music on the jukebox and a corner room to step out onto the wraparound porch overlooking main street to top it off.
I must admit that I didn't even go into every pub I passed. There was the Palace Hotel, Newdegate Hotel, Brookton and Lake City Hotels that didn't even get their fair rating. Too many pubs and too little time. Maybe one day I'll find that perfect 10...
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