Now its owners have decided to call it a day and have put the property on the market, with a successful bidder expected to offer up to £4 million.

“Sometimes you’ve got to know when enough’s enough,” said Jo Fort, who has owned the Birdsville with her husband, Kym, for 27 years. “You just have to know when you’ve done your bit.”

Located on the edge of the Simpson Desert in far western Queensland, long considered the gateway to the Outback, the Birdsville is a popular rest stop for travellers tackling the Birdsville Track. About 45,000 travellers visit the hotel every year.

Birdsville, which dates from 1884, was named by a cattle station owner who was amazed by the diversity of birdlife which inhabited the area including seagulls on inland lakes. Brisbane, the nearest city, is 870 miles (1,400km) away.

Mrs Fort said that there had been considerable interest in the sale, given the hotel’s legendary status. “People who don’t even drink beer have a beer in the front bar here,” she said.

The first European explorer to venture into this lonely area was Charles Sturt, after whom Sturt Stony Desert to the southeast of the Birdsville is named. Sturt was unambiguous in his response to the terrain, describing it as a “desperate region having no parallel on Earth”.

There has been anxiety among Birdsville’s 100 residents about the future of their only watering hole. The next- closest hotel is 124 miles away.

“There’s a little bit of anxiety because it’s their pub, their image, their icon, and a lot of [the locals] have grown up with us,” Mrs Fort said.

She hopes that the hotel will be bought by someone with a passion for the Outback. “It’s a big responsibility there to make sure that the image of the Outback is retained,” she said.

“I really hope it’s an Australian with the enthusiasm and energy and the guts — because they’ll need them — to take on this challenge.” She warned prospective buyers not to be under any illusions as to what they would be taking on. “Obviously you don’t just live in Birdsville — it takes over your life.”

Mrs Fort said that she and her husband, along with co-owners David and Nell Brook, would probably lease the pub if they could not sell the business.

She said that the family had fond memories of Birdsville over the years, and of memorable occasions in the hotel’s front bar. “Most of the time you just had to be here,” she said.

The hotel, which includes 27 rooms and two residences, is being sold by tender through Melbourne and Adelaide broking firms.

Expressions of interest close today.

Peter Moore, whose brokerage firm, MCG, is one of three working to seal the deal, said that four-wheel drive companies and syndicates of small investors had shown interest in the pub.

He estimated that the hotelcould attract a price of between $4 million and $10 million (£1.6 million to £4 million).

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