Gascoyne Junction pub re-opens doors ending outback town's six-month dry spell
For residents of a small town in Western Australia's remote Gascoyne, a cold pint of beer has — until now — required a near-350-kilometre round trip.
After a six-month dry spell, locals in Gascoyne Junction, 1,000 kilometres north of Perth, were overjoyed to see the doors of the local pub reopen on Monday this week.
Resident Jarrod Walker said it had been a long wait for locals and visitors.
"Everyone's pretty excited to get there and have a beer tonight," he said.
"It's the social hub, it's the fabric of the community.
"It just really lifts the whole community and gives everyone another reason to come to [this] beautiful part of the world."
The pub closed its doors in December, when the previous owners decided to retire.
The six-month hiatus left people facing the 174km drive to Carnarvon if they wanted a beer or a pub meal.
The Shire of Upper Gascoyne took the opportunity to complete renovations, as well as mulling and abandoning the idea to re-open the pub under a cooperative model.
Despite the delay, Mr Walker said he always remained optimistic.
"We always knew that we'd get [the pub] up and running again, but we didn't think it would take this long," he said.
As in many regional towns, the Junction Pub serves as more than just a place to have a drink.
Upper Gascoyne Shire tourism and development officer Ainsley Hardie said the pub played a crucial part in keeping the town connected.
"It's our roadhouse, coffee shop, supermarket, takeaway, it's our restaurant, accommodation, pub … it's the place where we come to be social," she said.
"It might be the first time you've had a conversation in a week for some of our pastoralists with another person."
Ms Hardie noted while the pub's doors were closed, the lack of accommodation had also affected tourist numbers in the community.
"We are definitely seeing a drop in visitor numbers," she said.
"But we're spreading the word that we're open again and we've still got an amazing area to come and visit."
The town is home to 65 people, with a further 105 scattered across the Shire as a whole.
But it is familiar territory for the pub's new lessees, Daniel Bond and Evangelitsa Cartwright.
"My dad's side of the family owned Edmund Station, and mum's side of the family were on Jimba Jimba," Mr Bond said.
"The pub actually resides on Vivash Way, which is my mum's maiden name.
"We have the old shearers table out the back, which was donated from Edmund station years ago to the Shire to be put in the pub by our family.
"It's sort of full circle now that we've come back to town."
Mr Bond had worked on cattle stations around the town, before breaking his leg and training as a chef.
He moved to Canada where he met Litza, his partner, before moving back to Australia and taking over the pub together.
"In these towns, sometimes they don't get people coming back once they leave," he said.
"It's good to come back with experience and a willingness to get it done for the community. That makes me smile at the end of the day."
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