A HORSE walks up to a pub and pokes his nose through the door.
Don’t bother trying to find a punch line – this is just a standard day at the Grand Hotel Kookynie as Willie the horse makes his afternoon rounds.
Situated 70 kilometres north east of Menzies, Kookynie was a bustling hub during its gold rush heyday.
The iconic Grand Hotel was established in 1902 and was one of 11 hotels in town during that period, sustaining hordes of eager gold diggers.
These days the scene is a little different, the population of Kookynie is about 10 and there’s just the one pub, which also acts as the post office, general store and occasionally offers a marriage counselling service according to its charismatic owners.
Kevin and Margaret Pusey have owned and run the pub for the past 18 years but they’ve been proud Kookynie locals for much longer.
Willie the horse has been a patron for the past three and a half years.
The hotel has thrived since the Puseys took over and according to Mr Pusey they have tripled the turnover after making changes to make the business more viable.
That included diversifying to offer everyday services and grocery items that locals and visitors may need, as well accommodation with eight rooms available.
“There’s always been an aura around Kookynie and the hotel reflects that,” Mr Pusey said.
“It’s like a little oasis in the middle of the desert.”
Much of the town’s history is displayed at the pub, which, amazingly, has maintained its liquor licence since it was first issued in 1902.
The building itself has been maintained to preserve the original architecture, which includes beautiful high ceilings with pressed tin.
Mr Pusey has called Kookynie home for almost 40 years, working nearby in mining and contracting, while his wife came to town 27 years ago, to manage the hotel for its previous owners.
She took on the leasehold but leased it to others for a number of years before the couple decided to purchase the pub and run it themselves.
“It needed a good boost and we decided to buy it and that become our life,” Mr Pusey said.
“It was good because we worked together, I didn’t have to travel away for work and the missus couldn’t growl at me for being at the pub every night, because it was the job.”
Due to their isolated location, Mr Pusey said it wasn’t unusual for their accommodation to be booked out at short notice, usually by mining exploration companies and railway contractors.
He said that side of the business, combined with meals, was the most profitable.
“I guess you could say that it’s like a monopoly out here, because we’re all there is for at least 70km, but that has helped us to keep prices realistic too,” Mr Pusey said.
“We also get a lot of people doing day trips, annual outings and family groups and a lot of repeat customers.
“We’ve got quite a good following.”
It seems people will happily travel for a cold beer and a good steak and the Puseys pride themselves on doing both, well.
They source their steak from Cape Grim Beef, Tasmania and offer Swan Draught on tap, from a short three-foot pull off the keg, over an ice plate and straight into a chilled glass.
“Not much sense buying stuff that isn’t top quality,” Mr Pusey said.
“We get people come a long way just to have a steak here, people rave about it and that’s been going on for a few years actually.
“When you’re on a good thing, stick to it.”
And then there’s Willie, who wandered into town three and a half years ago, turning up on the Grand Hotel’s verandah distressed, thirsty and hungry.
“He said to me, well, you don’t mind if I stay here for a couple of days, do you?” Mr Pusey said.
“So we showed him where the water was and gave him all the apples, carrots and wholemeal bread he could eat.
“He looked and acted very appreciative of all that and he hung around, so we fed him up and then found out a bit of history and where he had come from.
“We told him he could stay and he did.
“He loves it, although he’s been through a couple of stages where he thought he was a wild bush brumby and took off for a few weeks, but he came back with his head down and his tale straight.
“We’ve built his confidence up again and he’s found some good friends here, he’s a bit of a tourist attraction – he’s quite a character and visitors love him.
“We’ve got a pretty good understanding, he’s a beautiful-natured critter and he’s one of the family.”
While the bar can see anything from two to 40 patrons on any given night, during Kookynie’s centenary celebrations in 1994, Kevin said they had 3000 people through over one weekend.
Mr Pusey said Saturday nights used to be quite big during mustering season and often used to host 300-400 people in the beer garden for a New Year’s Eve celebration.
Liquor licensing restrictions have seen some changes and these days they don’t employ any additional staff, but the owners are quite content.
“Quality rather than quantity is how we operate now,” Mr Pusey said.
“You make just as much money making 20 people really happy, than if you have 300 people here for a big whooped-de-doo party.
“It’s also easier and we get a lot more enjoyment out of it.
“Things can change very quickly though, we’ll think it’s quiet and sit back, then a convoy of 15 caravans will come around the corner.
“We treat the hotel more like our home – we invite people in and that works well.”
The Grand Hotel Kookynie is currently for sale, but the Puseys have no plans to leave town.
Once the sale is complete, they plan to return home – which is an old set of historic shops that they lovingly renovated 20 years ago – about 300m due east of the hotel.
