AUSTRALIA
ROADTRIP

South Australia
Western Australia
& Northern Territory

Start Location Victoria

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MUNGERANNIE ON THE BIRDSVILLE TRACK

Mungerannie Hotel

After an overnight stop at the Mungerannie Hotel on the Birdsville Track, and more than halfway down the track, our vehicle came across a few people pedaling mountain pushbikes towards Birdsville. A few at first, then more strung out further back and followed by a backup 4WD vehicle and an empty mini-bus.

The backup vehicle driver pulled over and recognised our driver, Howard, from other Outback tours driven over the years. He said a group of twenty-four pushbike riders were riding Gulf to Gulf. They called the bike ride Bike and Wheels, a take on Burke and Wills' Gulf expedition. All riders in their sixties. The ride greater than 2,200 km in length. The full ride to take not less than a month. The next overnight stop for them was some kilometres further up the track beside a creek bed. Hopefully reaching Mungerannie late the next day. We wished them good luck and continued south.

Mungerannie Hotel is the only rest stop on the Birdsville Track that offers accommodation, food, and cold drinks. Mungerannie Station and Homestead is behind the hotel and further back.

Sammy, the friendly dog, often greets weary travelers off the Birdsville Track. Loving a game of fetch with a stick, Sammy retrieves thrown sticks non-stop and enjoys a friendly pat inside the Mungerannie hotel bar area.

The Mungerannie Hotel Publican

A previous long-gone publican and owner of the hotel, residing in the remote location of Mungerannie on the Birdsville Track, grappled with the challenges of solitude and isolation. The emptiness of the surroundings often weighed heavily on his spirit, prompting occasional bouts of eccentric behavior. In moments of extreme quietness, when the absence of visitors stretched for days on end, the publican's frustration would manifest in peculiar ways. It was not uncommon for him to resort to using his gun as a means of combating the monotony, firing shots that echoed through the desolate hotel. The sound of bullets piercing through the silence, creating holes in the ceiling and walls, served as a stark reminder of the publican's struggle to cope with the profound sense of isolation. Perhaps fueled by a mixture of loneliness and the numbing effect of alcohol, these actions provided a temporary release from the oppressive stillness that enveloped the establishment. Gunshots reverberated through the hotel, a testament to the lengths one would go to in order to stave off the encroaching solitude of the outback.

Accommodation units are on the left and down the side of the hotel. A wooden floorboard walkway guides visitors to their units. Some units are double berth, others are two singles. Fairly small and no room to swing a cat, so to speak. No chair, no table, no TV, no fridge. A window and an AC unit. Communal showers and toilets are across the dusty yard. All clean and tidy. There are available good hot cooked meals in the hotel. Staff are friendly and talkative, and of course there is, Sammy the friendly dog.

Traveldriven