The many lives of Nindigully Pub

Nindigully Pub is located (unsurprisingly) in the town of Nindigully, about 45 km southeast of St George. As with many outback towns, the colonial history of Nindigully’s (originally known as Nindigually and sometimes as Nindy Gully) began on the banks of a river. 

Moonie River, flowing across what is now the Queensland and New South Wales border was a natural stopping point for those running the stock route between Goondiwindi and St George. By 1862 it also became a staging post for the mail run between Surat and Yarrowa (a post office 6-7 miles across the NSW border). 

As Nindigully’s traffic grew, so did the need for a public house to offer up a cold beer and soft bed for tired travellers. In 1864, a certificate was granted to Thomas Bradford, to begin operations of 'Nindigully Hotel, Nindigully'. The hotel – by all accounts – occupied the site of former shearer’s accommodation for those working at the nearby Nindigully Station. By the early 1870s, Nindigully had become a regular change over station for Nowlands coaches, and later Cobb and Co, bringing with it yet more business.

Between 1880 and 1911 the hotel was under the stewardship of seven different licensees and held several names, including the Traveller’s Rest Hotel (1876) and the Sportsman’s Arms (1880).  

The first break in the ownership chain appears to have occurred in 1903, when the licence of the Sportsman’s Arms Hotel was cancelled, leaving 'a great loss to the travelling public'. A 1904 editorial in The St. George Standard and Balonne Advertiser bemoans that the closure of many such hotels in the area would mean 'weary trips ... for passengers – Mungindi to St. George and St, George to Surat without a refresher.' 

By the end of 1906, there are mentions of a 'rough accommodation house instead of a new hotel' in Nindigully, which could well refer to the old hotel building. Certainly, we know the old hotel became adjoined to a new Commerical Store which opened in October 1909 by Mr Jack Sternes. The restored accommodation house, overseen by Mrs Sarah Noble, reportedly offered 'clean and comfortable' accommodation.

In anticipation of a rail line extension to nearby Thallon (and an associated increase in travellers), a new premises opened in April 1911: Mary Ann Haines’ Grand Hotel – 'an edifying structure containing 17 rooms' that The Balonne Beacon hoped would 'soon become a popular resort'. 

While some histories appear to merge the two locations, there is evidence from at least April 1911 that both Mrs Noble’s 'old but very favourably known' and Mrs Haines’ 'new comfortable' hotels operated simultaneously. 

In 1921, Mrs Haines transferred the license of the Grand Hotel to Francis Walter Crain. In May the next year, Crain was accidentally killed in a hunting accident (although newspaper reports refer to him erroneously as the 'licensee of the Queensland Hotel').  

Further tragedy followed only two months later. Francis’ 19 year-old daughter Grace returned to Nindigully to assist her mother Amelia in running the hotel. After the apparent desertion of her fiancée Herbert Burgess, Grace reportedly took her own life by swallowing strychnine tablets. 

The hotel’s licence was transferred to Amelia Crain on 8 July 1922. Crain transferred it back to Mary Ann Haines in June 1923. 

In 1927, Ellen Haines sold the hotel to Jack Sternes, owner of the Nindigully Commercial Stores, who brought with him a new name: the Sternes Hotel. 

By this time, the accommodation house attached to the Commercial Stores – the original Nindigully Hotel building – had reportedly been abolished.

Within two years, 'big improvements' had been made to the Sternes Hotel, including 'a new and commodious wing', a 'splendidly ventilated' bar, and a cellar 'electrically lighted and ... free from dust'. A 1935 advertisement even boldly declared 'ALL LIQUORS TRUE TO LABEL'.  

Sternes put the hotel up for sale in 1949, but it appears to have remained in the hands of the Sterne family until 1960, when the licence was passed to Czech-born Charles Karel Kotyza who changed the name back to the Nindigully Hotel on 14 September 1961. According to Balonne Shire Visitor Information Centre, a further 6 licensees followed, including the Burns family, who took over the hotel in 2022 and continue to operate Nindigully Pub to this day.

• Each year the annual Nindigully Pig Races attracts thousands to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. 

• The famous hotel still has only a handful of guest rooms, but a large free camping area on the banks of the Moonie River is a popular spot for caravans and campers alike. 

• The pub’s other claim to fame is the enormous freshly-prepared burgers on their menu, including the Real Big Mack – a 25kg road train burger that comfortably serves 'a bus load of people'! 

• Nindigully was turned into the fictional outback hamlet of Lucktown for the cult romantic comedy Paperback Hero, Hugh Jackman’s first feature film!   

• The iconic rooftop boomerangs from Paperback Hero’s Lucktown Pub now sit as their own tourist attraction opposite Nindigully Pub. 

The Nindigully Pub is a truly Queensland story – a mix of determination, ingenuity, community and the power of a damn good yarn. Here’s cheers to more years of cold beers! 

• Advertising, Balonne Beacon (St. George, Qld. : 1909 - 1954), 19 February 1921, Trove website, accessed 12 March 2025. 
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