Hambledon vs Grafton Hotels (Edmonton, QLD)

Posted by Mike in Pubs, Queensland on 7 February, 2010

Head to Head Shoot Out!

Which Would you Choose? – Read On!

Pubs
These two pubs are perched on either side of the Bruce Highway / Mill Road Intersection. A busy intersection it is too, and in times past, not only were they separated by the Mill Rd, but also by a Railway Branch Line, and Cane Railway, that once ran down the side of the Grafton. So getting from one pub to the other, especially after imbibing the offerings of any of the establishments, was always going to be a hazardous exercise. Shrugging aside the risks, Andrew and I were determined to do this head to head review for our reader.

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Alpine Retreat Hotel (Warburton, Vic)

Posted by Mike in Pubs, Victoria on 17 January, 2010

alpineret-4
On a recent trip to Victoria, this was the last non urban pubs visited. We had intended to stop and drink at, and review far more than we did, but for some reason, many of the pubs were not open. Visiting Hotels early in the week in some of the smaller and quieter locations around the state had possibility of discovering later than usual opening hours, in some cases not until 4.30 pm. Because I can’t review them here, the photographs on their impressive external edifices have been posted into the Facebook Classic Pub Group .   So having got that off my chest, let’s look at the Alpine retreat.

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Boorhaman Hotel (Boorhaman, Vic)

Posted by Mike in Pubs, Victoria on 17 January, 2010

AKA The Buffalo Brewery

Buffalo Brewery 2
One amazing feature about Boorhaman, is there is really nothing there, except for some farm houses and a pub. I am not familiar with the area, so stand to be corrected, but it appears as if the Pub is located somewhere between where the maps describe as the actual location of Booraham, and Peechelba East. What I am getting at is there is no town or similar surrounding infrastructure, just this pub on a single lane road in the back blocks of Victoria’s North East. This is not a bad thing, for a hotel anywhere is like an oasis in the desert of life, and more so this place, as we reached it by bicycle.

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The Golden Age Hotel (Omeo, Vic)

Posted by Mike in Pubs, Victoria on 24 December, 2009

Golden Age Hotel

On a recent tour to Victoria, I was informed that we would be passing through the town of Omeo in Victoria’s Gippsland, and might have a chance to visit the classical Art Deco Golden Age Hotel  in that town.

Admittedly, this pub is barely legal to be in these pages, as you will note all the external signage suggests that it is a Motel. However, the business actually trades as a private hotel, and importantly, the bar functions as you would expect from any pub. From what I understand, it was closed for a while, and fairly recently, re-opened as an ‘accommodation hotel’. Happily the license appears to be restored and delightfully crisp cold Carlton Draught is served to thirsty Travelers. Anyway, when you flick through the Gallery, you will note that I have included a close up of the etching on one of the windows, which clearly has ‘hotel’ printed thereon. My reviewing companions on this  trip were Andrew Soper from Cairns, and Rebecca Edwards, from Melbourne.

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Lake Eacham Hotel (Yungaburra, QLD)

Posted by Mike in Pubs, Queensland on 8 November, 2009

The Pub
It was a very unseasonably rainy, drizzly, miserable and otherwise bleak  November Sunday morning in Cairns, and with the weather came canceled plans and a need for alternative activities and amusement. Noting that this blog has been very inactive recently, or perhaps the other contributors have been remarkably slack, I thought it appropriate to take matters into my own hands and get a pub review done. When the weather is as crook as it was on the coast, it is usually a lot worse up on the tablelands, and with that thought came mental images of  cosy iconic country pubs and how much better beers tastes when you’re in a warm bar watching the rain outside lashing the windows. So a hastily recruited reviewer – eldest daughter Melissa – and we were of the Yungaburra, to visit the Lake Eacham hotel.

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Peeramon Hotel (Peeramon, QLD)

Posted by Matt in Pubs, Queensland on 11 September, 2009

Peeramon Hotel
In my opinion one of the biggest losses from Cyclone Larry was the almost total destruction of the brilliant Peeramon Hotel. Rob and I had the oppurtunity to get away for a few hours so we decided to head up to the tablelands and visit a couple of pubs. This was my first visit to Peeramon since 2006 and it was interesting to see how the reconstruction effort, a slow process due to lack of funds, had changed this iconic north Queensland pub.

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Aloomba Hotel, (Aloomba, QLD)

Posted by Mike in Pubs, Queensland on 9 September, 2009

Aloomba Pub
Reviewed on 4/9/09 by Mike Lee and Hamish Withington

I have seen the Aloomba pub on many occasions and have even visited it once before. However, this was the first time that Hamish has ever seen it and remarked that it actually looks like an old BP Servo. The building is very hmmmm… Retro – Deco.. and really looks nothing like a pub, save for the ‘Aloomba Hotel’ sign on the façade. But there are no illuminated signs advertising brands of beer, which are the typical means of identifying this type of establishment.

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Fishery Falls Hotel, (Fishery Falls, QLD)

Posted by Mike in Pubs, Queensland on 9 September, 2009

Fishery Falls
Reviewed on 4 September 2009 by Mike Lee and Hamish Withington

This pub was reviewed because of an opportunity provided by Hamish’s car breaking down while he was doing a review of the El Arish Pub. I had to go to Innisfail to rescue him, so it seemed like a great idea to do a couple of pubs on the way back to Cairns.

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Einasleigh Hotel, (Einasleigh QLD)

Posted by Mike in Pubs, Queensland on 8 September, 2009

The Einasleigh Pub. An Icon
The Einasleigh hotel stands as the image icon of the outback Aussie Pub, and there was a lot of competition to be the first to get to review this one. The perceived remoteness of this pub was what had kept the reviewing hordes at bay, but in the end it was really a simple matter of catching the train. The only catch was that we had to drive the thing out there ourselves!

The pub was built in 1909, and actually celebrates its centenary in October (next month at time of writing)

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Cock & Bull Hotel (Cairns, QLD)

Posted by Matt in Pubs, Queensland on 7 September, 2009

The Cock & Bull was bound to be amongst the first pubs we visited for ABIEP as, being that it’s the closest pub to Rob’s office, we have lunch there semi-frequently. We were just about to head out the door for a stroll down to the pub when Lee turned up at the office and decided to join us and be designated driver.

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