The Middleton Hotel

We left Boulia and headed towards Winton, stopping along the way at Cawnpore Lookout which gives amazing 360 degree views of the surrounding hills and flatlands.  It was amazingly green with patches of purple wildflowers which were blooming thanks to the recent rains.

A rare shot of all three of us, thanks to a random solo traveller we met there.

We looked on the map to see if there was somewhere to stop for an afternoon snack and we saw that the Middleton Hotel was not far ahead.  The town of Middleton was a rest stop on the old Cobb & Co mail route between 1895 and 1915 but over time had shrunk to the point that the hotel was the only building left.  It is one of the most remote pubs in Australia and is a genuine taste of the Aussie Outback.  We pulled up out the front of the run down old building and saw 4 local guys sitting on the verandah out the front.  We greeted them as we walked in and went into the bar area where there were 2 more guys at the bar and 2 bartenders having a chat.   

The Middleton Hotel.  Awesome place!

The bartenders, Carina and Jeannette are the daughters of the owners, Lester and Val.  They are the nicest people you’ll ever meet and in no time we were having a beer, chatting with them and the 2 guys, Aaron and Greg.  Aaron and Greg are local opal miners who are currently contracting in the area filling in an old mine site.  They were obviously well known to the owners and had been downing beers for several hours.  They told us about opal mining and some of the history and people of the area.  When Jeannette heard that Ben collects bottle tops she brought him over a small bucket full and dumped a couple of hundred onto the bar in front of him.  When he gets home and shows off his collection we are going to look like total alcoholics.

Jeannette giving Ben a zillion bottle tops.

There were 4 dogs at the hotel and Ben loved playing with them.  Carina also took him out the back to help her feed their calf.   We had such a great time that when we looked at the time, 3 hours had passed and dusk was approaching.  

One of Ben's buddies.

They have a free camping area across the road from the pub called the ‘Hilton Hotel’ so we moved the van over there and came back to the pub for dinner.

Our camp spot for the night.

While they were cooking, the generator died a couple of times because someone had a shower but it was all ‘business as usual’ and they just flicked a few switches and then the lights came back on.  The four guys out the front had gone a couple of hours earlier and just before dinner Greg and Aaron bought a slab and drove off down the road back to their campsite.  We watched them go, glad we weren’t on the road!

We spent the rest of the evening chatting with the family, helping Val with the word search in her "That's Life" magazine and had a great home cooked meal before heading back to the van for sleep.  The only issue we had with dinner was the mozzies!  We have never seen so many mosquitoes in one place.  They swarmed around us as we ate but luckily we had covered ourselves in repellent so not many landed.  It was still unbelievable how many were flying around.  

The dinner table.

We dropped in again in the morning before we headed off and had another chat and a coffee while Ben fare-welled his canine friends.  We loved our short stay here and highly recommend it as a true Aussie outback experience if you’re ever passing through this way.