BEST BUSH PUBS

FANCY AN OUTBACK TIPPLE? HERE ARE A HANDFUL OF QUINTESSENTIAL AUSSIE PUBS TO WET YOUR WHISTLE.

- TRISTAN TANCREDI

WITH hundreds of kilometres between stops, a 4x4 pub crawl isn’t exactly a Saturday night spent staggering between fuel stops. Instead, the cold beer and warm food at an outback pub is a well-earned reward for long days spent behind the wheel covering vast distances of red dirt.

Australia is famous for its rural pubs, with most iconic establishments on this list servicing off-the-grid tourers for decades, keeping them well-fed and showered. Many of the publicans and locals are also more than happy to advise passers-by on track information and nearby attractions, or to simply have a general chit-chat.

Considering the vast amount of bush pubs servicing folks as we speak, we’ve tried to tick off six of the more iconic and famous pubs in Australia. So get out there, stop in for a beer, and help support these rural communities.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

CAMERON CORNER STORE

THE peculiar Cameron Corner Store is positioned where the three states of Queensland, South Australia and NSW meet, at the eponymous junction named after James Cameron who surveyed the area in 1880.

Despite the pub’s isolation, it’s positioned on a busy tourist circuit popular for outback expeditions and travelling parties, so it’s often bustling with tourists heading in crisscrossing directions. Patronage numbers typically spike during mid-winter when the annual Birdsville Races – 480km to the north – take place.

Things quieten during the warmer months – from about October – due to the searing outback heat, but ramp again from late March/early April with people escaping the cooler climes – we’re looking at you Victorians.