THE classic art deco Grand Hotel at Goomeri in Queensland was re-built in 1943 after the original pub was destroyed in a tragic fire that killed the publican and his wife, a barmaid, and five guests on December 23 1939…. Read More ›
Queensland hotels
Queensland police had an ‘official beer taster’ who was paid to ‘get drunk’ once a week
Drunk again, eh sarge? Ex-Police Sergeant Alfred Bee, of St. John’s Home, Toowong, used to be paid to get drunk one day a week. Each Sunday, he used to stagger from one Brisbane hotel to another until he had to… Read More ›
Jim Cavill’s Surfers Paradise Hotel
LARGE HOTEL DESTROYED Damage Estimated at £30,000 PRIVATEL ZOO SAVED. Brisbane, Monday: The well known Surfers Paradise Hotel near Southport was destroyed by fire early this morning. The hotel was destroyed, with the exception of a number of detached living cabins and a comprehensive private zoo. The… Read More ›
Gin Gin’s three pubs
THE best example of community spirit and good fellowship is in a little Queensland township named Gin Gin. There are three hotels, and three nights per week the drinking section of the community visited each one of these hotels in… Read More ›
The swear bottle at the Marlborough Hotel
THE little lady schoolteacher was positively outraged by the swearing at the pub (though she did admit that “bull” was allowable, this being the heart of Brahmin country). So she put a large bottle on the bar: “SWEAR BOTTLE, IN… Read More ›
Norm Kelly and the White Horse Hotel, Charters Towers
NORM Kelly (pictured) knew there was tin in that hill; he knew it deep in his heart. But he was out prospecting with his uncle, who was the boss, and he said, “No.” So they went fossicking somewhere else.Then two… Read More ›
You’re terrible Muriel: The Hotel Hamilton
By John Larkins* The wind howled its lament across the drought country, through the gasping trees beside the track, and raised a flurry of dust from a road cracked like the lips of a man lost in the blazing desert…. Read More ›
Brisbane brewery strike: Northerners forced to drink Resch’s and Richmond beer!
QUEENSLANDERS are a loyal lot when it comes to their local beers. They love their XXXX, and it took a lot for the northerners to be tempted to tipple southern brews. But desperate times, call for desperate measures. A strike… Read More ›
Adavale’s Blackwater Hotel, aka ‘The Dog & Vomit’
By MICK ROBERTS © WHILE the Brits have their ‘Dog and Whistles’ and ‘Fox and Hounds’, here in Australia we also have had a few pubs named after ‘man’s best friend’. There’s the long-gone, infamous colonial pub the ‘Black Dog‘… Read More ›
Waterloo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
MET ITS WATERLOO After yesterday’s heavy rain this taxi-cab skidded on the wet bitumen, got out of control, and crashed into an awning post of tho Waterloo Hotel, Valley, where another cab earlier in the day had been involved in a similar accident…. Read More ›