Lyrics
There's a track through the timber Where the tall gums crowd the sky And the miles are cut on trees there For the traveller passing by
Genoa lies behind you And the daylight's wearing thin There are miles of rough bush country Before Mallacoota lets you in
The horses know the journey They've been walking half the day Then the track runs down beside the lake And the road just falls away
So take the boat to Dorron's Hotel Pull her steady through the swell There's a lantern on the high ground Showing where the travellers dwell Leave your horses by the inlet Cross the dark water well There's a pint by the fire And a bed when you're tired When you land at Dorron's Hotel
The oars dip through the blackness And the little boat slips free Past the shadow of the timber Where the lake runs to the sea
There's a lantern growing brighter And a voice comes from the shore Then the bow runs softly on the sand And you're travelling no more
There's ale behind the counter Fresh fish upon the plate Greens brought in from the garden For the traveller coming late
There's talk of Eden weather Of the road and rising tide And the news that came by cutter From the world somewhere outside
So take the boat to Dorron's Hotel Pull her steady through the swell There's a lantern on the high ground Showing where the travellers dwell Leave your horses by the inlet Cross the dark water well There's a pint by the fire And a bed when you're tired When you land at Dorron's Hotel
One morning comes the camera And they gather by the wall The women take the wooden chairs The men stand straight and tall
There's a bicycle among them Bright and new enough to stare Someone calls, "Now hold it steady" And a silence fills the air
The shutter takes a heartbeat And a century stands still Faces caught in morning light Above Mallacoota's hill
None of them could know it None could see how years would run How the place around their hotel Would one day come undone
So take the boat to Dorron's Hotel Pull her steady through the swell There's a lantern on the high ground Showing where the travellers dwell Leave your horses by the inlet Cross the dark water well There's a pint by the fire And a bed when you're tired When you land at Dorron's Hotel
The years rolled on through Mallacoota And the township found its way To the southern side of the water Where its streets and houses stay
But across there in the east now The bush has closed again Around the traces left behind By those old women and men
No crowded verandah waits there No traveller comes ashore Only scrub and broken memories Where voices rang before
Yet somewhere in that photograph They're living even still Caught beside the Lake View Hotel On that long-forgotten hill
So take the boat to Dorron's Hotel Pull her steady through the swell Past the timber and the darkness To the old Lake View Hotel
Leave your horses by the inlet Hear the oars and evening bell There's a fire on the shore And an open wooden door When you land at Dorron's Hotel
Take the boat to Dorron's Hotel Though no boat takes you today The town lights shine across the lake On the southern shore away
And the old east shore lies quiet Where the bush has cast its spell But the photograph still carries us Back to Dorron's Hotel
The old track's lost in timber And the night lies deep and still But somewhere on that eastern shore A lantern burns there still
Not in wood Not in stone But in the story we can tell
Of the boat To Dorron's Hotel