Hotels of Gympie.

Gympie, like so many towns that came into their own in the gold
mining era of the late 1800s and early 1900s has a proliferation
of Hotels (Pubs), most of the ones I have chosen here are built
of timber and follow the "Queenslander" style.

Mt Pleasant Hotel, features the very wide verandahs that became part
of this style of hotel.

Phoenix Hotel, this is the only hotel I have featured that isn't a timber
clad building, it has a rendered finish, but still features the high
ceilings of a Queenslander for better ventilation.

Railway Hotel, naturally enough alongside the railway line very close to
the station.

Freemasons Hotel, subjected to a huge renovation program recently.

Spare a thought for the roofer/plumber who had the job of building
the roof over this stairway, very intricate job.

Apollian Hotel, more of those big verandahs

Commercial Hotel, this hotel was recently adorned with about 30
reasonably well painted young ladies, while this may be a bit over the
top, it has certainly created some interest.


Closeup of one of the many ladies that adorn the Commercial, I had
intended to use this picture in a Halloween post, but I forgot it.

Jockey Club Hotel, this is quite a recent building, but it has replicated
the style of most of the other hotels shown here.

I wonder how many Commercial, Railway, and Grand Hotels there are in
Australian cities and towns.

Gympie Queenslanders

These houses are among my favourites in Gympie, all are
traditional Queenslanders.

The roof line and timber in this house make it a natural winner.


Showing a bit of the detail that makes Queenslanders so distinctive

There is a superstition that the front steps should never lead straight
from the front door to the street or all your good luck or karma can
run away.

I think perhaps my favourite for many reasons not the least of which
is the magnificent view over the Mary River.

This style of stairway halts the flow of good luck quite effectively.

This is a very large house as can be seen when I included some of the
rear section as seen from the side.

Another lovely house with a spectacular view over the Mary River.


As with most things there is a down side to Queenslanders, they are
traditionally constructed almost entirely of timber, even down to the
interior walls and ceilings, in our semi tropical climate this means a lot
of painting and other maintenance, there is also the concern about
fire, once alight there is no putting out a fire in several tons of dry
well seasoned timber.

Gympie 1888 - 1895

Some of Gympie's beautiful old buildings.

The original Post Office, built in the late 1890s

I don't know the history of this building, but it now serves as the head
office for "The Gympie Music Muster."

The original Gympie Town Hall

The local Shire offices are in a beautiful old building which has had an
annexe added which while quite functional doesn't really suit the
building.

Another one from the turn of the last century, was a gold assayers office.

Houses on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria.

More pictures that blogger has managed to get out of order but
I have finally figured out how to get them back how I want
them, I think!


These two houses have been built to take in the spectacular
views over the Southern Ocean, one of them, (I don't know which)
was built for the Australian opera singer Joan Hammond.
Both are located on "problem" blocks of land which demanded
radical building designs.

This beautiful old hotel is located at Yarra Glen which sits in the
Yarra Valley, a rich wine growing area near Melbourne Vic.
The Yarra river is the much maligned river that flows through
Melbourne and is scornfully referred to as the only river in the
world that flows upside down, (mud on the top!!!) not true it is
a beautiful river and offers some outstanding scenery.

My "Speak no evil, See no evil, and Hear no evil" Frogs

This is the dam on the property I co-owned just out of Gympie
for several years, it was home to hundreds of frogs but we had
trouble getting rid of the Cane Toads that also wanted to call it
home, (and eat the frogs!!) but we finally managed to evict them.

Queensland Pubs

A selection of Queensland Pubs, (Hotels, Bars?) that have caught my fancy.

This is The Exchange Hotel at Cohen, a small town located on the road to
Cape York Peninsular, which is the pointy bit at the top of Queensland.
Please click to enlarge so that you can read the red sign on the roof.
There are comedians everywhere, this is typical Aussie humor.

The Heritage is one of many fine old hotels to be found in Rockhampton,
a bustling city just of the coast in central Queensland.

Rockhampton is the beef capital of Australia, it sits in the centre of some of
the best beef raising country there is anywhere, not so suitable for the
British breeds, but ideal for Australian breeds like Brahman and Murray Grey.

The Three Rivers Hotel is located in the Central Queensland mining area,
It was made famous by two of my favourite people, a song writer named
Stan Coster, and a country singer named Slim Dusty.

These are the two fellas on the banner behind me as I salute them with a coldie.

Another one of Rockhampton's fine old Pubs, The Criterion, this great old
building is on Quay Street, which faces onto the Fitzroy River, it was the
wharf area for the "port" of Rockhampton which even though situated some
50 miles inland, was indeed a very busy port during the early 1900s.

The Lions Den Hotel boasts that it has the longest standing license in the
state, I don't know whether this is true or not, (you don't ask certain type
questions in far north Queensland, it's still frontier territory) one thing sure
is that it's a very old Pub with o lot of history and atmosphere.

I'm under 6 feet tall but still had to duck at the doorway, the old earthern
floor has been paved with old red bricks, probably 40 years ago, it's dimly
lit, and that's praising it, but is friendly and a great place to quench your
thirst, which can be quite large in the hot humid climate.