Sweet Wayfaring

Royal Hotel Caragabul We had a rest day at Swan Hill, so this is the perfect day to show you the Royal Hotels I collected throughout the trip. A big boost to my collection . I don't do any advance research to know if there is going to be Royal Hotel in the town. It's such a good reason to explore every country town we pass through. Many had wonderful colonial hotels and the Royal turned out to the rattiest run-down pub down the bottom end of the main street but I decided to stay true to my mission and not be lured by the Imperial, Crown, Commercial, Railway and Bridge hotels which also frequented these towns. Royal Hotel Boorawa Royal Mail Hotel Jerilderie Royal Hotel Berrigan Royal Hotel Kerang Royal Hotel Wentwort h Royal Hotel Euston Royal Hotel Temora Royal Hotel West Wyalong Royal Hotel Grenfell Royal Hotel Blayney

Royal Hotel Canowindra We swung back east from Parkes to the town of Canowindra. True to form, most of the towns we visited have a Royal Hotel, allowing me to add extensively to my royal collection. I still haven't figured out the reason behind the large number of Royals. I thought for a while it might have been something to do with them being Royal Mail Coach stops ... but the architecture shows them being built over such a wide spread of years that seems unlikely. Royal Hotel Parkes Royal Hotel Orange Royal Hotel Manildra Royal Hotel Cumnock Royal Hotel Cudal

We have the New Year off to a good start with three new contributions to the Royal collection. I have also started a new road Bee Farm Road over at Blue Mountains Journal so you can go visit there or come back next week when I will start a new road here at Sweet Wayfaring. Royal Club Hotel-Motel, Inverell contributed by Mark from Clarence Valley Today This one has to be up with the Royal Hotel in Casino for general ugliness of architecture. Former Royal Hotel, Glen Innes Contributed by Mark from Clarence Valley Today It's a Fergie. Royal Hotel Sutherland Contributed by Julie from Sydney Eye To my eye the city versions just don't have the same style as those in the country.

Royal Hotel Capetee Why does nearly every town have a Royal Hotel? Here are four from my recent soujourns ... and I have already shown two more in this blog. And I missed photographing the one in Blayney! I'm wondering if collecting pictures of Royal Hotels is wierd like train spotting Royal Hotel Carcoar Royal Hotel Mandurama Royal Hotel Cullen Bullen

Here we go, the Royal Hotel in Guyra.  We passed through here last year and missed it.  Wasn't going to do that again.  Between us we must be getting close to exhausting the list of Royals in New South Wales. [Update] Julie asked on my last Royal Hotel post "Would it be your assessment that this would be the numerically paramount pub name in Australia? With perhaps Railway Hotel coming second?" My gut feeling was that Royal Hotels are the most prevelant with Commercial Hotels also being quite high on the list. I found the stats below here http://publocation.com.au/facts  which confirmed my instinct but still leaves us way short of getting them all given that we are still under 100.  I think they include Royalish hotels (i.e. ones with the word Royal in the name) but nonetheless we have a way to go even with pure Royals. Royal 242 Federal 31 Farmer 11 Commercial 137 Criterion 29 Telegraph 11 Club 107 Albion 23 Metropolitan 10 ...

Royal Mail Hotel, Braidwood As you know I always have my eye out for Royal Hotels, I found one here. Apparently it was the Royal Hotel but was renamed the Royal Mail Hotel for the filming of the 1970s film of Ned Kelly.  This is a heritage town, perfect for a film set.

Royal Hotle, Murrurundi Royal Hotel, Scone Diane has been on holiday from Queensland down to Tamworth and the Hunter Valley and picked up two Royals which are new to our  Royal collection .  Thanks Diane! I spotted a wikipedia entry recently which lists all the Royal Hotels and claims there are over 150 of them so we still have a way to go.  I am in two minds as to whether to use the list or to stick to my current method which is to just go explore towns to see if there is one there.

Royal Hotel, Ingham I found Ingham to be an awkward town but I discovered its one saving grace. And below is another contribution for the Royal Collection I received when I was away.  Sent in by Anne a friend of Diane.   Thank you Anne, sorry it has taken so long to post. Royal Hotel, Childers

Royal Hotel, Thursday Island I have decided to ignore that list of Royal Hotels and go along the way I have done before, just discovering them as I pass through towns.  But before shutting my eyes to the list, I did see there was one at Thursday Island  (which is way up off the pointy tip of Australia.  I knew I would never visit it and resigned myself to not having it in the collection. So imagine my delight when I found that Diane was doing a tour of the far north, including a visit to Thursday Island.  Thanks Diane!!   Follow her adventures over here . As for me, I will be off the air for a while longer but promise to return eventually with more Royal Hotels and other wayfaring adventures.

Royal Hotel, Mendooran Ah ha, a Royal Hotel. When I was looking up caravan parks in Coolah I stumbled across a reference to the Royal Hotel in Mendooran.  It was only 70kms away so I just had to go collect it.

Royal Hotel, Spring Ridge Royal Hotel, Quirindi We were targeting Quirindi for our next stop because I knew there was a Royal Hotel there that I had not captured, but the one we found at Spring Ridge on the way was a complete surprise.

Bourke cemetery has lots of historic graves, a great place to wander around reading the inscriptions. There are several graves for Police Officers killed while on duty.  There is one, I can't remember which was caused by some ruckus at the Royal Hotel.  The Royal Hotel is now a former Royal having been renamed to the Port of Bourke hotel sometime ages ago.  I have posted it in the Royal Collection as a Fergie. We are moving on from Bourke tomorrow but I will pop back to this cemetery each Tuesday so show you more and participate in Taphophile Tragics .

Royal Hotel, Singleton Royal Federal Hotel, Branxton Two more Royals for the collection.  I am sure there are more in the little towns in this area so I will be back one day to show you more but for the moment our exploration of this area ends here. As we head towards Newcastle the countryside becomes increasingly citylike which does not appeal to my photographic muse.   This is also time to announce that I am opening up my Royal Collection to guest submissions.  I will be posting a contribution from Julie soon.  If you come across a Royal send me a snap and I will include it in the gallery.

We camped the night at Seymour.  I wasn't really thinking Royal Hotels on this trip as there are not a real lot in Victoria.  Then as we were turning out of town the next morning I spotted this one! My Royal collection is sadly not at all up to date.  I have not even added the ones I picked up in Queensland 18 months ago.  I must get back to it.

Royal Hotel, Birdsville Contributed by Gordon Smith I received this photo in my in-box today. Isn't it a ripper.  I am so jealous that is it not one of my own shots and will definitely go to Birdsville some day before this Royal falls down.  Gordon is doing a terrific series of his outback adventures at the moment and I always enjoy his bushwalks. I encourage you to go lookANDsee for  yourself.     

Royal Hotel, Musswellbrook It was so chilly my camera mirror fogged up but by the time we reached Merriwa it had cleared.  It was surprising to find two Royals quite close to home that I had not previously collected. Royal Hotel, Merriwa

It seems like ages since I got a shot of a Royal Hotel so we took the detour to Bungendore to get a shot of this one. But I can't add it to the gallery, Julie has already contributed it. Royal Hotel Bungendore So undaunted we continued on through Queanbeyan to collect this shot. Royal Hotel Queanbeyan

Royal Hotel, Trangie Manouvering through a country town our new passenger squarks “go through the roundabout and take the second exit”.  Taking no heed, we turn left and right looking for the Royal Hotel. (Regular readers will know I collect R oyal Hotels as a way of exploring country towns). The small town of Trangie delivered our first for the trip.  

Royal Hotel Boggabri Royal Hotel Tambar Springs We went via Boggabri so I could pick up the Royal, the one a Tambar Springs was a surprise. Four Royals on this trip, not bad at all.

Royal Hotel Durban South Africa I have updated the Royal Collection at last!  We now have 130 Royals including a recent contribution of 10 Royal Hotels from South Africa .   I have seen 96 of the Royals myself, just a few more to go to reach 100.