Day Eighteen - Monday 5th May, 2025
Capella to Bluff Hotel Duaringa Hotel
Today the plan is to head to the Bluff Hotel or an overnight pub stay. Some friends of ours recommended it after staying there themselves, so we'll give it a go since it's in our path now. Emerald, Blackwater then Bluff Hotel, in theory we should be there before lunchtime and it is a public holiday today, so I am slightly concerned that the pub might not be open, so fingers crossed.
Between Emerald and Blackwater is the little town of Comet, the pub there also has camping. It is a pretty pub with about 3 vans out the back but we couldn't really tell if the pub was actually open as we went past. Onwards to our destination........ we pulled up at the Bluff Hotel about 10.30am I think, it really didn't look open but had I think about 2 lots of people camping out the back. We jumped out and had a walk around the pub, tried the doors which were locked. There wasn't any sign to say they were opening late today or anything and Craig was not impressed with the place overall. We came across a local gent who didn't seem to be aware that the pub was closed as he asked if we were going in for a drink. Craig informed him the pub was closed, which he didn't seem particularly happy about and informed us he would sort that out 🤣🤣
Craig said it was un-inspiring and didn't want to stay here, so once again I jumped on Wikicamps and found about an hour east of us was the Duaringa Hotel, which had camping, was dog friendly and had lovely reviews for the new owner's that took it over about 4 months ago - Sarah and Marcus. Off we go then to Duaringa. I did indeed give them a call to make sure they were open. 👍
The Duaringa Hotel is back from the highway about 2klm, so road noise won't be a problem, it is next to the train line that the coal trains run 24/7 on. We pulled up and I went in to ask where Barney could go, told Craig so he could relax, asked about the camping and Marcus took me out back to show me, then got a beer for hubby 👍We were able to sit on what is like an internal veranda between the bar/dining room and kitchen that has a roof and is protected from the elements, where we enjoyed a couple of drinks and filled out the camping form Marcus gave me.
Camping with power is $20/night. We pre-ordered lunch for 45mins time, while we went and set up camp. Nice big camping area at the back of the pub, a few powered spots. The campground amenities block is currently being renovated, but you have access the the pub accommodation toilet and showers. Lunch was simple, delicious and not expensive. After a post lunch nap as you do, we took Barney for a walk around the grounds off lesh since there was nobody else around.
Yep, it's still raining off and on. Barney was happy when he found a palm tree leaf 🤦♀️ Craig, not so much 😆 We headed back into the pub about 5.30pm. I decided to try the pizza and Craig the pork chops - both were again delicious. Craig had a chat to Marcus for a bit about the history of the pub and we chatted to Sarah a bit s she wizzed in and out. Dinner service became quite busy for her. Not a late night again for us. I can say that even though the train line was right next to the pub, we didn't find the trains disruptive during the night while we were sleeping.
What will tomorrow hold for us........
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