AUSTRALIAN HISTORY ⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️

It’s a true country pub oasis! If only it had been like this when The Piano Tuner rode through…
Push past the “Warning: Remote Area” sign on the western edge of Thargomindah and drive for a couple of hours following the Cameron Corner signs. That’s where you’ll find everything a traveller needs – riverside campsites with permanent water, shade and water-cooled breezes, good fishing, and a welcoming historic hotel with hearty meals.
The National Trust-listed Noccundra Hotel was built in 1882. Sadly, that was four years too late for The Piano Tuner.
Who was this Piano Tuner, and why did he need an isolated outback pub?
On 9 November 1878, Lewis Thompson, a stockman with the identifying nickname, hung limply from his horse, suffering from severe dehydration as he neared Nockatunga Station. Nine days earlier, station workers had seen him and two others heading into the unknown. What makes this story truly remarkable is not that three men ran into the bush nor that two did not return. What’s impressive about this episode in Australia’s history is why they took that journey and how it came about.
Let me turn back the clock another 30 years to when the famous explorer Ludwig Leichhardt and his six-member team disappeared in 1848, attempting to cross the continent from east to west. To this day, their fate remains unknown*.
Then in 1874 (26 years later!), a colourful chap named Andrew Hume headed to Nockatunga Station to start a new search for Leichhardt. While it had not been built at that stage, Noccundra Hotel is located on what was this property.
This wasn’t the first crazy thing Hume had attempted. Eight years earlier, he’d held up a western NSW pub, claiming he was a renowned bushranger called The Black Prince. That didn’t end well either – Hume was jailed. It was while in prison that he heard stories about a possible Leichhardt expedition survivor living with an Aboriginal group in the far West. Hume then claimed that back in 1860, he had traversed the country (like Leichhardt had tried to do), and during that journey, he’d met a European living with an Aboriginal group. The jail authorities, thinking he was trying to curry favour, said, “Poppycock”.
He persisted with the tale, claiming that the European living with the Aboriginal community told Hume he was the sole survivor of an expedition group. Why hadn’t Hume mentioned this before? Something about feeling embarrassed by getting arrested before he had the chance. Hmm…
Hume finally convinced the right person and was pardoned on the agreement that he’d lead a party back to where he’d seen this mysterious man, and to help him, Hume was given a big chunk of money. So off he headed to Adelaide and north along the Overland Telegraph line, where he got a job, hung around for a few more months, then vanished for a year. At the end of that time, Hume reappeared, penniless, claiming to have found the European – a German named Adolf Classen, who had refused to return with Hume. No matter, as Hume had proof of the meeting, though, in the shape of Classen’s watch! Yes! Ah, but sadly the clock had been stolen.
Hume’s gift of the gab saved him once again – despite all these unfortunate ‘coincidences’, private backers agreed to fund another expedition.
It turns out that there were unverified claims from the west of Thargomindah about a white man. And where is Noccundra? That’s right – west of Thargomindah. So this time, he would go overland from southwest Queensland with companions. It took a while to find the right men. One left after Hume refused to allow him to carry the fast-reducing expedition money, and numerous others followed after Hume became drunk and impertinent while spending that money. Finally, two did accept and stuck with it. One was an Irish military hero named Timothy O’Hea. The other was The Piano Tuner^.
The trio charged up through the heart of NSW to Thargomindah Station, keen to meet the station owner so they could gain valuable knowledge from him about the country to the west. The owner was away, and so Hume pushed on regardless. It was a decision that would cost him and O’Hea dearly.
They passed through Nockatunga Station on 31 October, heading towards Cooper Creek. According to Thompson, the three followed the Wilson River to where they (and we) camped on the Noccundra Waterhole. What a spot! Hume then picked ‘an indistinct track’ that would lead them to Cooper Creek. It did not.
The issue was that Cooper Creek takes a big bend west of here, but maps didn’t show it then. The result was that these three men stumbled through the November heat in the heart of the driest continent on Earth with no water.
On the fourth day, after their water supply had depleted O’Hea was exhausted and unable to continue. Hume told Thompson to head to another water source called Gregory’s Creek. Once again, Hume was wrong about where that lay. Thompson eventually found water, had to leave his horse there, and returned on foot for his companions only to find abandoned pack horses but no people. On 8 November, Thompson made the painful decision to retrace his steps to Nockatunga.
In the end, Hume was found dead, but like Leichhardt, O’Hea was never seen again.
Over the next two decades, a township took shape beside the Noccundra Waterhole. There were forty-two half-acre blocks surveyed in five streets, and while it was never popular, people did arrive. Many conducted business to support the Cobb and Co coaches that stopped at the hotel to change horses and provide passenger comforts. The Noccundra Hotel is the only surviving building from that historic township. It’s a wondrous place!
As I said, this is an oasis – one that has beaten the odds to continue welcoming thirsty travellers for the past 140 years. Thank goodness not many have had to do what Thompson endured to get a drink!
A night at Noccundra has been a fitting way to conclude our Explore Bulloo adventure and say goodbye to The Adventure Way. That route continues to Innaminka in SA, but thanks to ‘Rona’, we can not. Luckily we will continue to Experience Outback Queensland, Australia, though. Yes!

• Theories, and that’s all they are, include that Leichhardt’s party were murdered, drowned, died of thirst, perished in a bush fire – even eaten by a shark after diverting to the sea!

^ Thompson had been a piano tuner before becoming a stockman, and was still in demand in remote areas where stations often sported pianos but rarely had anyone to tune them upon their delivery.

The Grey Nomad Awards recognise tourism and attraction operators, caravan parks, private and permit campsites, pubs, farm and station stays, Councils, and events that provide outstanding experiences for mature-age travellers. 2021 Awards open – winners will be announced at the following Art of Attraction Tourism Summit, 2 – 4 March 2022, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.