The Rockholes Route
Start Trip
The Pub Route
thepubroute.com.au
Distance
240km
Pub Stops
3
Duration
1-2 days
Drive Time
5hrs
The Rockholes Route takes the old road from Bourke, past Mt Oxley to Gongolgon, across to Byrock for a stop at the Mulga Creek Hotel, and back to Bourke along the Mitchell Hwy.
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Trip Itinerary
North Bourke
Four hotels jostled for trade when passing drovers, teamsters and shearers arrived at the staging post on the junction of the roads to Hungerford and Barringun, in the old days when the big mobs of a thousand or more head of cattle came from stations far to the North into Bourke railhead. The ‘Judas bullock’ led them across the span to their fate.
1
Pub STOP | North Bourke Hotel
Perched on the corner at North Bourke, ‘The Northy’ is the first thing you’ll see after you cross the North Bourke Bridge, and its a great place to stop and get your bearings. The pub is a modern building recently opened which replaced the historic old riverview hotel that was destroyed by fire in 2010.
Car
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6.42km
Bourke
While only two hotels remain operational in Bourke, the outback town is synonymous with the outback, pioneering adventure, and the associated hotels that are scattered throughout the shire. Probably one of the most iconic towns in Australia, synonymous with the term ‘The Back of Bourke’, this small rural township is located on the banks of the Darling River, and is something of a regional centre for surrounding villages and properties. Sometimes known as ‘The Gateway to the Real Outback’ Bourke is a key service centre for fuel and supplies before heading out to explore the region.
Historical Pubs & Breweries of Bourke
Sawing and hammering at the embryonic settlement on the Darling River near Fort Bourke in 1860 heralded construction of its first building – American William Sly’s Tattersall’s Hotel. Pioneer drover John Kelly’s Old Fort (Royal) Hotel soon followed and by the time of the big 1864 flood, the small settlement boasted three more pubs.
2
Pub STOP | Port Bourke
The grand old lady of Bourke, the port of Bourke (originally called ‘the Royal’) is one of the finest buildings in town, and also one of the finest pubs. A large, double story building with deep verandahs on both levels, the pub faces Mitchell Street and is close to the popular wharf precinct, and the newly paved and landscaped park areas around the river.
Car
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163km
Pub Spot | Carrington - Four Mile Hotel
Alfred Eccles’ Four Mile Hotel was located on the eastern approach to town on the road to Brewarrina. First licenced in 1880 to George Warren, the hotel was later renamed the Carrington and it carried on trading until the mid-1890s.