Outback Bars, Pubs with Character & Characters

August 2015
I was quite tired due to the lack of sleep over the weekend but I came to life again when Daly Waters pub appeared at the end of a little side road. I arrived just in time the sun had gone down and at the end of the road I could see shades of purple in the sky, to my left a little hut with a helicopter on top, beside that a little shack with two fuel pumps and across the road the bar. The outside was covered in beautiful flowering plants and inside had so much character, it appeared that everyone who had passed through over many years had left a little bit of themselves behind. Between T-shirts, underwear, flip flops, ID cards and photographs the walls were covered. Nice atmosphere, I was told it was a quiet night as there were only about 60 sites booked out. They have live entertainment everynight. I left Daly Waters the next morning and at I travelled through Larrimah curiosity got the better of me and I had to stop in at the Pink Panther Hotel. Again another outback pub with character and characters as I was about to find out. In here I met an Aussie guy riding around Australia on an electric trike with a trailer which is where his dog sat. Then there was the Swedish guy, who was on the final leg of his journey walking from Stockholm to Sydney. He spent the last few days walking with an Italian guy who is walking around the world. They push prams/trolleys which have been altered to carry there kit and supplies. The Italian guy had blew a tyre so I didnt meet him as he was taking the bus to Katherine to get parts. Then a Japenese guy turns up on a bicycle, he was in his seat less than five minutes when he had fallen asleep, he was cycling Darwin to Adelaide. We laughed as we joked we have it all now, one walking, one cycling, one on a trike and one on a bike. I had to get everyone together for a photo. (which will be added when I can get use of a good PC)
We chatted and debated about travelling the country, which is the best way to travel around oz, clockwise or anti clockwise, the guy on the trike reliablly informed us, travelling anti-clockwise is 24km shorter. It took a second for the cogs to turn but then i realised you have the inside line lol. We had a good laugh about it. The Swedish guy (Mat) said you wouldn't be too worried about 24km when your circumnavigating the whole of Australia. Mat had already toured Oz on a motorbike, we talked about the pros and cons of the different methods. For people who like to travel and live life on the road, most of us have the same problem sooner or later the money runs out. You read about people on the road for several yrs and we all wonder in envy how they fund it. So this was a big part of our conversation. Motorbike is an expensive method of travel with fuel consumption, parts, insurance and rego not to mention carnet de passage if you dream of a round the world trip etc. Then we have walking and cycling, walking is good but you will not cover as great a distance in a day, for Mat in the outback this poses many problems. In some places there are over 250km between roadhouses. He averages around 40km per day, so sometimes it takes him around a week to get to the next shop for supplies, he also has to carry all his water for 6/7days. He has to find a safe place in the bush to sleep and he tells me he goes through 1 pair of shoes a month. We agreed that cycling is probably the most effecient way to get around, you can cover a decent distance, which eliminates the issue of carrying supplies for days and it doesn't cost too much. Mat made the decision to walk as he wanted it to take along time and did not want to travel quickly. His blog is a fantastic read: The-Walk.se
The guy on the trike can travel at a maximum of 40kph, he covers about 150km per day then him and the dog pull up and find a spot to sleep. His story is interesting, sad and inspirtaional. I didn't learn this until my return through here and had a bit more time to chat with him.