A famous country pub, much loved by grey nomads, has been completely rebuilt just two years after it was burnt to the ground in a devastating fire.
Back in 2019, there were real fears that the Mucka pub – which lies at the heart of the community of Muckadilla, 40 kilometres west of Roma in Queensland – would simply disappear.
However, with a population of just 60, the community rallied and now the Mucka is back.
“We sat here and watched it burn to the ground and it was horrible. The whole community almost cried,” farmer Christy Coomber told the ABC. “I think we knew straight away that (former owners) John and Sue [McIntosh] wouldn’t be in a position to rebuild because John was a bit ill.”
It took just two days for Ms Coomber and her husband Marty to take on the task of rebuilding.
“We were a little bit stale in farming, sick of the drought,” Ms Coomber told the ABC. “We didn’t want to get rid of the farm … but figured the pub would be a wonderful way to give ourselves a little bit of spice back and enjoy going to work.”
Marty agreed.
“There’s no Muckadilla without a pub … there really isn’t,” he said.
Now, with the new structure built, it’s time for life to return to the pub … and everyone is pretty excited,
“We’ve got harvest coming up, and big wheat harvest around here… so it’s a place for everybody to congregate and have a beer and have a yarn about what’s going on,” Marty said. “I just want to see smiles and laughter … there’s nothing better than tables full of people laughing.”
And the hope is the reopened pub will also put Muckadilla back on the map for travellers … especially when all borders are open again.
“I want it to be a beautiful, relaxed atmosphere, a happy place for people who just want to forget about it for a minute and yeah, it’s a great little town,” Christy told the ABC. “Why wouldn’t you want to come out there? It’s fantastic.”
I have ridden past the old pub, but being a NSWelshman, I doubt if we will ever be allowed in QLD again, if we are it will be late next year or 2030.
It’s definitely one place that’s marked on our travel calendar. We’ll be there once the borders open and things are back to some sort of normality.
Christy and Marty, put my name in your guest book if you have dinner Great Northern on tap. See you before end of October. Reg R from Elimbah
I was a Jackeroo on Mirrabooka Station out at Muckadilla in 1969. The pub was a Godsend with its small pool on a hot summer’s day. Going back there within the next few weeks.
Thank goodness John has gone, the way he spoke to staff and “tourists” was dreadful. He told the young backpacker staff member to, “leave off serving the tourists because these locals [who had just walked in] are our bread and butter”!
Even though we had paid for a site at the pub we did not feel welcome and moved our van to the (donation) free camp down the road which was packed.
Good luck Christy and Marty, We’re sure you’ll build up a thriving business.
Hey Toni, don’t tell everybody about our free camp at Mukkadilla that has a dump point and toilets and is a short walk to the Mukka or every Grey Nomad for miles will set up camp!