ALONG THE MURRAY

FROM THE YARRA AND the Swan, and the Parramatta to thousands of almost always dry, parched courses of inland creeks and streams, to the failed experiments of the Ord, to the water theft crime scenes of the Darling, the Warrego and the Menindee Lakes, our rivers have stories.

Bloody good ones.

And the pubs and people along their banks have tales to match, and… spoiler alert… shameless plug… my new book, just released by New Holland, follows our greatest river, the Murray and documents the pubs and the people along the way.

This is the first of three of articles on the best of ‘em.

Benambra Hotel

Don’t much matter which direction you’re coming from, the ride to this, the highest pub on the Murray, is up there with the best. Up from Bairnsdale (pause at the Bruthen Pub or the Little River at Ensay), south east from Albury (Eskdale or the Laurel at Mitta Mitta), or across from Wang (gotta stop at Bright’s Brewery) you’re going to arrive here with a