Australian pubs serve up a story

In 1836 explorer Major Thomas Mitchell set off from a valley near Mount Canobolas near Orange, NSW, to seek new grazing and farming land and sites for new settlements.

Accompanying him were 25 British men, all but one of whom were former convicts, and six Aboriginal men.

The party trundled off with 11 horses, 52 bullocks, 100 sheep, 22 carts and a “boat carriage” carrying a boat to traverse rivers they expected to encounter on their journey and headed south into unchartered territory.

After crossing the Murray River, they followed the Loddon River and turned south-west into what is now Victoria.

Mitchell dubbed the region he explored in western and central Victoria Australia Felix — Latin for “fortunate land” – describing “green hills, soft soils and flowery plains”.

The importance of Mitchell’s seven-month expedition was soon proved by the rapid occupation and development of settlements across Australia Felix; about 90 per cent of his route through western Victoria came into productive use, mainly for wheat, sheep and cattle.

Not much has changed in this picturesque, sparsely populated region today: driving country roads you’re likely to see plenty of utes and tractors as you cross undulating countryside dotted with huge, gnarled red gums.

Rural settlements have names such as Kadnook, Wombelano, Coojar, Brit Brit, Gritjurk, Bulart and Carapook, and in this tourist-free region you come across historic homesteads, old bridges and train lines, the ruins of the humble homes of post-World War I soldier settlers, 1840s shepherd’s huts and tiny timber churches.

Local pubs were often the epicentre of remote communities long before houses of worship were built, and plenty of them are still serving cold beer and hearty fare. Meandering around Australia Felix is a delightful way to discover some of them.

Apsley, situated on the Wimmera Highway about halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne, is nestled among red gums, native bushland and wetlands.

Just 10km east of the South Australian border, the tiny town, established from 1849, is about as far west as you can get in Victoria.

Apsley’s Border Inn had been the social centre of town since it was built in 1850. But disaster struck in 2011 when its old doors closed indefinitely.

In 2014, 23 farmers from 12 local families banded together to buy and run the much-loved pub, which they did until 2020, when they put the Border Inn on the market in the hope of finding a long-term owner.

Melbourne couple Shane Burke, a truck driver, and Catherine Warke, a carer, were looking for a change when they stumbled on Apsley and the Border Inn.

In early 2022 the couple sold up their city life and became the pub’s licensee and owner respectively.

Then disaster struck again in November 2022 when a car smashed through three walls of the hotel, coming to rest 20m inside the Border Inn.

Following almost 18 months of renovations the epicentre of Apsley reopened in June this year, much to the relief of Shane and Catherine and the exuberant locals of Apsley — all 300 of them in town — and farming families from the region.

Beer is flowing again; wines are sourced from local wineries; the kitchen is back in action cooking hearty meals with locally sourced produce, and the welcome for visitors in this quaint old town is genuine.

From Apsley it’s 50km south-east, passing wide expanses of farmlands and several wildlife and bushland reserves, to Dergholm, a dot on the map that is home to the aptly named “Pub In The Scrub”.

Well, that’s what the locals call their watering hole, which is really the Menzies Dergholm Hotel.

Menu dishes at this down-to-earth pub may include peri peri pork Wellington, beef or chicken feta parma, and honey mustard chicken, and on Thursday nights the Dergholm Social Club hold a meat tray raffle.

But it is the “Pub In The Scrub’s” legendary woodfired pizzas on Sundays that attracts locals from far and wide for the delicious pizzas that emerge from the oven.

Six kilometres north of Dergholm, deep within the 10,000ha Dergholm State Park, is Bailey’s Rocks, a collection of giant green granite boulders formed some 500 million years ago.

Bailey’s Rocks Campground has free camping, walking tracks wind among the amazing rocks, and wallabies and kangaroos galore thump through the bush.

Prolific wildlife throughout Australia Felix includes emu, wallaby, echidna, koala, kangaroo, wedge-tailed eagle, masses of cockatoos, and you often see brolga.

From Dergholm it’s 65km north-east to Harrow, one of Victoria’s oldest inland townships: the first business, a store, was established here in 1840.

Nestled amid rolling hills along the banks of the Glenelg River, Harrow is the burial place of Unaarrimin — Johnny Mullagh — a star of the Australian Aboriginal cricket team, which toured England in 1868.

A member of the Jardwadjali people, Unaarrimin was born on Mullagh Station, about 16km north of Harrow.

Not to be missed is the Johnny Mullagh Interpretive Centre/Harrow Discovery Centre, which celebrates the achievements of Australia’s First XI. The centre also houses a Sir Donald Bradman exhibition.

Harrow’s colonial buildings include the general store, built in 1881, where the walls are lined with shelves containing groceries. Original spice drawers and flour bins take pride of place, and merchandise is sold across a long wooden counter as it was a century ago.

Sleepy Harrow has three churches, a mechanic’s institute, and the grim Harrow Log Goal, constructed of rough-hewn logs in 1859. Another jewel in the town’s colonial crown is the Hermitage Hotel, built in 1848.

This wonderful old pub, constructed from bluestone, is reminiscent of ancient English taverns, with its low-slung ceilings, wood and stone walls and polished floorboards. The Hermitage has an ever-changing menu; there might be Thai chicken curry, crispy flathead tails, schnitzels and local steaks, and Sunday night is pizza night.

Staying here is a treat too, with no-fuss rustic rooms, period furniture and comfy beds making one of Victoria’s oldest pubs a charming place to rest your head.

From Harrow it’s 69km south-east to Cavendish, another small and historic town amid the rich pastures of Australia Felix.

The Wannon River flows through Cavendish, which has four churches, a memorial hall, a general store and The Bunyip Hotel, a Cavendish institution since the 1840s.

The Bunyip was established as Waddell’s Inn in 1842, and like many country watering holes originally traded at a river crossing. The hotel you see today was built in 1938 when the old hotel was demolished.

The hotel’s award-winning chef James “Jimmy” Campbell grew up in the Cavendish area, where his family has farmed for generations, before heading to the bright lights of Melbourne and Sydney to hone his skills at multi-award-winning MoVida Restaurant.

Campbell returned to Cavendish in 2017, and with business partner Matt Nettleton has transformed The Bunyip Hotel into one of regional Victoria’s top foodie destinations, with menus highlighting the best of local, seasonal produce. The five-course Chef’s Table, held on Sundays, is splendid.

fact file

For opening times at The Border Inn, Apsley: borderinnapsley.com.au

The “Pub In The Scrub” is at 3527 Casterton-Naracoorte Road, Dergholm, Victoria. (03) 5583 3240

Harrow’s Hermitage Hotel accommodation is $100 per double, per night. hermitagehotelharrow.com

For opening times at The Bunyip Hotel, Cavendish, bunyiphotelcavendish.com