Pub of the month: Adavale Hotel, Queensland

Adavale is located in a remote section of outback Queensland around 96km north of Quilpie (with only 23km of that unsealed) and 187km west of Charleville, along a gravel road that is well-maintained.

Be warned – while there are ice cold beers to be found in Adavale, there is no fuel available here, with Quilpie the nearest if you need to top up your rig.

The current Adavale Hotel was developed by chance, only morphing into a pub when the Green Gates Hotel burnt down while the townsfolk were attending a funeral. That was back in 1974 and it made sense that the General Store would take over the off-premise licence immediately after that event, and eventually the on-premise licence sometime later.

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As well as a pub, the Adavale Hotel is the tourist information centre and post office all in one. The pub is owned by Koss Siwers, a former music teacher from Brisbane for the past 11 years, and he bought the place after driving through town and noticing a small cardboard ‘For Sale’ sign nailed to a tree.

Koss is a happy fella and keen historian who has explored this region extensively during his time here. If there is anything you want to know about Adavale’s story, Hell Hole Gorge or anything else, he is more than happy to help out.

Settled around 1865, Adavale was gazetted in 1878 and at one time had a population of 300 residents. Back then they would have enjoyed six pubs, a police station, Chinese market gardens, a bakery, a general store, a school, a hospital and a post office. These days you could transport the residents in one minibus, with the township home to just 15 souls.

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There is an interpretive town walk that offers some insight into what the Adavale was like when it was booming. The locals have developed a quirky Outdoor Mini Museum in an old meat house, and nearby is the Police Museum, along with an outstanding photographic display on the external walls of the Shire Hall.

Free camping is encouraged beside the Shire Hall and offers a coin-operated gas barbecue, toilet and shower, all just a short walk from the Adavale Hotel. Make sure you drop some money into the box for donations that go to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. There’s also free bush camping and fishing holes along Brigalow Creek; just ask Koss for directions.

One thing you’d least expect to find in a place like Adavale is the Elegant Emu, where Christina Zito offers a small selection of handmade and home-baked patisseries, along with a fabulous High Tea Experience. You can also purchase ‘Christina For Fair Trade’ handbags here.

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The locals don’t visit the Adavale Hotel very often but not because of Koss; the story goes that the constabulary used to wait for the locals to finish enjoying some liquid refreshments and then pull them over and breathalyse them. There was also something about a former owner of the pub mucking things up with the locals. This means that these days it’s mostly tourism that keeps the pub going.

In the old days, Adavale was the end of the line for Cobb & Co, and Koss can draw you a mud map so you can drive out to the hidden mail exchange out on the floodplain amongst a copse of gidgee. There are also remnants of the old coach road that can be seen in Adavale.

Grog for the pub comes via Australia Post, purchased through First Choice, as well as supplies from Quilpie or Charleville. Alcohol for the locals also comes via the post and because the pub is also the post office, Koss knows exactly what they are buying.

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While the food menu is limited and made up of items that can be deep fried or microwaved, this is a one-man show and Koss has to disappear into the small kitchen to watch the frier as he doesn’t want this pub to burn down like the previous ones in Adavale. You can enjoy a meal and icy beverage at the bar, in the lounge or on the verandah.

The pub is open every day from 8am to midnight, from April to November, after which Koss returns to his wife in Brisbane and the pub closes. There is someone who looks after the post office while he is away from town.

There are other times that Koss returns to Brisbane, so it is always best to ring the pub to make sure the beers are cold and that the pub is open before dropping in.

Beer

• Cans of Guinness
• XXXX Gold
• XXXX Bitter
• Great Northern Super Crisp
• Great Northern Original

Meals

• Beef Croquettes & Chips: $17
• Fish & Chips: $16
• Seafood Basket: $18
• Outback Pie: $7.50
• Sausage Roll: $7
• Hot Chips: $8
• Coffee or tea

*prices subject to change

Contact info

• Phone: 0408 692 555
• Email: manager@adavalestore.com.au
• Website: www.adavalestore.com.au
• Manager/owner: Koss Siwers
• Address: Shepherd Street, Adavale, Qld, 4474