OUTBACK GOLD IN MENINDEE, NSW

BURKE AND WILLS ONCE STOPPED IN MENINDEE DURING THEIR LEGENDARY EXPEDITION, AND TODAY MAIDENS HOTEL REMAINS THE PERFECT PLACE FOR MODERN TRAVELLERS TACKLING THE DARLING RIVER RUN

- WORDS AND PHOTOS GLENN MARSHALL

After a few hours battling the dusty tracks of the Darling River Run, I always enjoy pulling into Menindee and parking in front of one of my favourite outback haunts, Maidens Hotel.

It’s the kind of pub every 4x4 tourer hopes to find but rarely does anymore — historic without trying too hard, rough around the edges in all the right ways and packed with enough country charm to make you instantly forget how much dust is in the back of your camper.

The first thing you notice is that it feels authentic. This is a genuine bush pub that has been serving locals, travellers and thirsty explorers since before Australia was even a country.

THE PUB WITH A PAST

The history of Menindee runs deep. This is one of the oldest European settlements in inland Australia, and long before GPS units, rooftop tents and YouTube influencers, explorers were using the Darling River as their highway into the unknown.

Burke and Wills famously spent three nights here during their ill-fated expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Imagine that for a moment. The same dusty country you’re driving through today once hosted one of the most famous expeditions in Australian history.

But the pub itself has an equally impressive backstory. The first European settlement here was undertaken by Tom Pain and his family, who built the Menindee Hotel in 1853. Today, known as Maidens Hotel, it’s reputed to be the second-oldest hotel still operating continuously in NSW.

That’s no small claim. Think about how many floods, droughts, dust storms and wild outback characters these walls would have seen over the years.

Maidens Hotel feels like it has absorbed generations of stories, arguments, celebrations and probably a few questionable decisions after midnight. Which, to be fair, is exactly what a good country pub should do.