Mungerannie Hotel
By Annabelle Homer from Marree , SA
Wednesday, 27/05/2009
You can follow the journey in pictures as well.

The Mungerannie Hotel is the last opportunity for travellers to grab a beverage and bite to eat on the Birdsville Track before you hit the Queensland border.
It's located 210 kilometres north of Marree and 301 clicks south of Birdsville.
The hotel is unique.
As you enter through the front door you're met with a sea of hats lining the ceiling of the bar.
They're not just your average hats either, mostly akubras from stockmen, drovers, station owners and managers that have made their mark in the outback or along the historic Birdsville Track.
(If you pop into the Mungerannie hotel today - you'll also see a Country Hour hat in prime position.)
Phil Gregurke and his partner Pam Farrington have owned the pub for three years.
Originally from the outer suburbs of Adelaide, they heard the hotel was for sale, made the trip up the track and fell in love with the place instantly.
You could say they've experienced a tree change or more accurately described, a treeless change considering they now live in the desert.
Mind you, right beside the hotel is a great artesian spring which is constantly a 28 degrees Celsius, and if you feel like a round of golf - there is also three par golf course, but you would be hard pressed to find it.
Publican Phil keeps all the tourists entertained with his tall tourist tales - the one that was used regularly.
"You must have the camel stew at the Birdsville Pub. But ask the chef to cook the rice really well to stop it from moving."
In their three years as publicans, they've never been so busy, accommodating tour groups every night of the week as more flock to see the filling of Lake Eyre.
We met a lovely couple, 80-year-old John and Margery Thomas, who had travelled from as far as Western Australia in their mobile home to see the massive inland lake.
John says you're never too old to travel.
"What's the point in staying home and waiting to die: you may as well get on the road and enjoy life."
Well that's exactly what we did, after our 24-hour stay we piled into the Land Rover and headed out to the Mungerannie airstrip lined with about five planes, to continue our journey across the desert to the outback town of Marree.