It has stood since 1851 and remains the oldest licensed pub in Queensland. Built as a single-storey inn to "provide a resting point for invalids and families" travelling to the bayside holiday destination of Cleveland, the Grand View (originally the Brighton) has undergone numerous remodels and extensions, taking its final and present form around 1897.
Arm yourself with a coldie – there’s local and imported beers on tap – and wander through the labyrinth of repurposed rooms, hallways and additions made over the years. Expect no frills or flounces here. Amazing old architecture hides behind slot machines and pokies, and makeshift panels dating back 50 years cover handcrafted timber fretwork and architraves. Eye candy, too, is the yellowed collective of signed photographs of visiting VIPs: actors, politicians, sports stars and singers. Famous. Infamous. Some no longer with us, some no longer sought after.
Have a stickybeak upstairs at the original guest rooms (one too many beers and you can stay in one for 120 bucks) and walk the fully enclosed wraparound verandah that offers 300-degree view of Moreton Bay and the wetlands.
An hour or two here could be dedicated to simply exploring.
The Grand View runs a rocking Sunday arvo session with a jampacked dance floor. You won’t find a better representation of a true Aussie weekend than here. A trip to the all-day kitchen for a cold beer and good old-fashioned pub meal ($30 for a kilo of mussels, $35 for steak, bugs, squid and chips) and a picnic table in the football oval-sized beer garden gives a bonza view of the ’80s cover band. Sausage and a fruit cup for five bucks keep the kids busy, as does the bayside shoreline so close, it’s practically lapping at your feet.