THE
GREAT
AUSTRALIAN
PUB
From William Creek Hotel, which sits in an isolated outback settlement with a permanent population of just six, to The Palace Hotel in Broken Hill, which took on a starring role in the 1994 film Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, we visit five of the most remote pubs to find out what makes them so unique.
WORDS Che-Marie Trigg
PHOTOGRAPHY Destination NSW, Steve Strike, Bauer Media, Genevieve Vallee / Alamy
WILLIAM CREEK HOTEL
Trevor Wright doesn’t just own the pub in William Creek, an isolated outback settlement with a permanent population of just six – he owns the entire town. Smack in the middle of the legendary Oodnadatta Track, which helped open up inland Australia, it’s more than 200 kilometres from the nearest town.
“We are one of the most remote hotels in Australia,” says Wright, who jokingly refers to himself as William Creek’s ‘benevolent dictator’. “We’re in the middle of the largest cattle station [in the world], Anna Creek, which is roughly 26,500 square kilometres in area. It’s amazing. It’s unique. I think we’re probably the most isolated, self-contained small community in Australia where one person has ownership of the lot.”
Wright first spotted William Creek from a helicopter 32 years ago. He’d been on his way to Alice Springs but decided to “call in and have a look”. Then-publican Peter Moore convinced him to start a scenic flight business over Lake Eyre, based out of William Creek. Eventually, Moore moved to Melbourne (Naarm ) and sold Wright his house. In the decades since, Wright has gradually bought up the rest of the town as residents have left, including houses, blocks of land and the caravan park. The last piece of the puzzle was the pub itself, which Wright bought 12 years ago. “And that gave me the whole town.”
The pub started its life in 1887 as a boarding house (and operated as a sly grog shop until the 1930s when it finally received its liquor licence). The following year, the original Ghan began rolling through, inextricably tying the town’s fortunes with the historic train and cementing the William Creek Hotel as a pitstop until 1980 when the train line was relocated. The pub’s heritage-listed dining room – with a kitchen led by a chef who flies in from London’s Savoy Hotel to cook Aussie pub classics during the high season – is built from the old Ghan’s railway sleepers, and artefacts from the train are dotted around the pub alongside old photographs of the surrounding area. The pub even doubles as a general store, selling tyres and fuel.
Visit William Creek Hotel in this remote part of Australia and take in local scenic wonders like Lake Eyre, Wilpena Pound and the Anna Creek Painted Hills on an Outback South Australia tour.
“The last piece of the puzzle was the pub itself... and that gave me the whole town.”
THE PALACE HOTEL
“Oh tack-a-rama! Who the hell does all the painting around here?” declares Mitzi Del Bra, Hugo Weaving’s drag queen in the 1994 film Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. He delivers the line after entering The Palace Hotel in Broken Hill (Wilyakali Land) and clocking the kitsch murals gilding the heritage-listed pub’s walls and ceilings.
The Palace opened as a grand coffee house in 1889, but a few years later was converted into a pub. By the 1950s, it was one of more than 70 pubs in the remote town, serving a population of wealthy miners. Mine shafts ran beneath Broken Hill; a group of miners diverted a tunnel directly into the downstairs bar of The Palace for easier access.
Come the 1970s and Italian migrant Mario Celotto took over the pub, which was getting a little tired in its old age. He enlisted Indigenous artist Gordon Waye to rejuvenate the place with a truly unique series of landscape murals that remain celebrated to this day. All these years later, The Palace is still a hub for the local community and visitors. Riffing off the pub’s starring role in Priscilla, in 2015 the pub’s owner Esther La Rovere founded the Broken Heel Festival.
Uniquely, The Palace is the only pub in Australia where you’re allowed to play two-up every single day of the year. Today, The Palace Hotel stands as a colorful emblem of Broken Hill’s spirit, blending history, art, and a dash of theatrical flair. Its quirky murals, vibrant atmosphere, and iconic connection to Priscilla have made it a must-visit destination for travelers and locals alike. Whether you’re here for a cold drink, a spin of two-up, or to soak in the charm of a bygone era, The Palace is more than just a pub – it’s a piece of living history, where the past meets the present in the most fabulously unexpected ways.
Visit this venerated piece of Australian cinema history while exploring Broken Hill as part of The Indian Pacific journey. Taking you across the continent from ocean to ocean, you’ll get to visit iconic parts of the country like Kalgoorlie, Cook, and the Blue Mountains.
LION'S DEN HOTEL
Since 1875, the charming iron and timber Lion’s Den Hotel, near Cooktown (Gungardie) in Far North Queensland, has served an array of visitors – first local miners, then tourists exploring the nearby rainforests and national parks – making it one of the region’s longest-standing pubs. Named for the now-closed Lion’s Den tin mine nearby, this quirky pub was badly damaged by the floods wrought by Cyclone Jasper in December 2023, but publican Judy Fry quickly jumped into gear, rebuilding the hotel to serve the hordes of visitors the pub receives each year. Offering camping, good grub and regular live music, it’s a worthy pitstop if you’re heading to or from the Daintree.
The pub itself is an important archive of the area’s history. In the early days of the nearby mine, workers left their pay packets behind the bar so they wouldn’t get stolen. They’d write their names and how much of their pay was left on the wall to track their spending. Those signatures still adorn the walls, and scores more have been added over the last 130 years by visitors coming from around the world, acting as a living memorial to the pub’s past and present. Space for signatures has become so tight that many guests have resorted to leaving their marks on the ceiling.
Before heading out to enjoy pizzas and parmigianas beneath the century-old mango trees in the breezy beer garden, be sure to check out the collection of memorabilia inside. You’ll find everything from international license plates to stubby holders, rusty saws and sports jerseys. And on your way out, get a selfie with the life-sized lion that guards the front entrance – the pub claims it’s the most photographed lion in Australia.
Visit Far North Queensland’s longest-standing pubs, travel the iconic Bloomfield Track, journey to Pajinka, the northernmost tip of the Australian mainland, and explore the tropical wilderness of the Cape York Peninsula as part of the all-inclusive 13-day Cape York Wilderness Adventure with Outback Spirit.
“The pub itself is an important archive of the area’s history.”
NORTH BYRON HOTEL
“Our focus from day one was our local community, creating a space where locals and experience-seekers who have chosen to call Byron (Cavanbah) home can gather and build memories and connection,” says Jedd Rifai, Head Chef and Licensee of the North Byron Hotel.
Though the current owners only took over the pub in 2021, it’s already part of the fabric of the local community. That’s in large part thanks to its roster of events – including food festivals and kids’ cooking classes – and leafy beer garden, which has a custom-made fire pit and grill for regular large-scale barbeques when Scotch fillets, lamb and whole pigs are sizzled over the embers.
A focus on community is built into every element of the pub. Ninety per cent of its produce is sourced from within a 350 kilometre radius, and many of the spirits and beers are local too.
“When your neighbours do it so well, why look anywhere else?” says Rifai, who also makes clear the importance of fostering a respectful work environment. “We hope that when guests enter the venue, they feel the close-knit force, from all over the world, that we work to support and nurture.” While Byron Bay’s population is notoriously transient, the North Byron Hotel has quickly cemented itself as a spot where longtime locals, temporary residents and visitors can head for a good feed and a hearty welcome. “We’re a pub that hosts good people and serves great food and booze. Simple,” says Rifai.
See the North Coast like never before. The hinterland rainforest and eclectic community of the Northern Rivers region is one of the many beautiful stops as you wind your way up the coast on a North Coast Rail Tour with Vintage Rail Journeys.
BIRDSVILLE HOTEL
“There’s an old saying in Birdsville (Wirrarri): you go any further out, you start coming back in,” says Courtney Ellis, who bought the 140-year-old Birdsville Hotel, an icon of outback Australia, in 2019 with his wife, pilot Talia Ellis. “We are about as remote as you can get in this country.”
Since it was built in 1884, the now-heritage-listed pub has sat at the core of community life in Birdsville, a town of around 100 that’s a portal to the Simpson Desert (Munga-Thirri). Ellis says he and Talia see themselves as custodians of the hotel. While they’ve implemented a few upgrades since taking over – including modernising behind the bars (their fronts retain their original timber), hotel rooms and bathrooms – maintaining the pub’s authentic spirit is at the heart of all they do.
“We’ve been very aware and sensitive to the fact that we don’t want it to look like a nice flashy hotel in Collins Street [Melbourne]. It’s got to be what it is: the Birdsville pub,” says Ellis. “We’ve got to make sure that whatever we do, we keep the experience authentic to the hotel that it is.”
One element of the pub that will always remain is its expansive collection of hats. For 40 years, people associated with Birdsville have hung their hats from the ceilings and walls, leaving a remnant of themselves for future generations to find when they stop by this one-of-a-kind pub. “Some are people who were well-known locals who have passed on, and so their hat goes up on the bar,” says Ellis. “But then again, not everyone who’s got a hat there is dead – I’ve got a hat up there, and I’m not dead!”
Beyond hats and hotel rooms, the pub offers a range of services you certainly wouldn’t get from a hotel in Melbourne. Along with the food (Ellis recommends the “beautiful, juicy 350-gram porterhouse steak”) and cold beer, it operates a truck specifically to rescue patrons that might break down in the nearby desert. It also has an aviation refuelling facility for those choosing to fly in.
“We’ve had a long association with the hotel,” says Ellis. “We just love it. We love its history. We love what it does and we love what it means to people. We’re the custodians of it at the moment and hopefully for a very long time.”