Bag a Barra — 22 December 2023

And now, it's back to the camping and off-road radio show. With the dark, thanks to Oz off-road, Uniden, Hipcamp, Spitwater, OCAM 4 by 4 accessories. Great Divide Tours. And Club 4 by 4 insurance. And welcome back to our Christmas edition of The Camping and Off-road radio show as we broadcast right around Australia on your weekend wireless and of course, on podcasts and a big Merry Christmas to everyone out there listening to us this weekend.

It's certainly my favourite time of the year, and I'm sure it is yours as well. You can get in touch with us, duck 4 by 4.com. Click on them, other duck, or, of course, say good day to us on the duck Facebook page. Last hour, we had a bit of a Christmas chat with Vic Woodman, and he was supposed to give us a couple of suggestions for some last minute holidays.

He didn't come up with much, did he? Anyway, you can catch that on the podcast as well. Rico had a fantastic camp spot. thanks to hip camp there on the in northern New South Wales, just inland from Byron Bay, which was also, which is also a fantastic part of the world.

Not only this time of year, but all year round as well. We also play a bit of Christmas music, which why not? We love doing that as well. Now, this hour, a little bit to get through very, very shortly.

I'm going to catch up with Ollie from the Hotel Yurumo up in Cairns. Now, for those of you listening to us on 4KZ, and up there, you know exactly what I'm talking about what's been going on there, and you'd have to be living under a rock anywhere in Australia. In fact, if you haven't seen the effects of the rain, up in North Queensland, a lot of that recent cyclone. It's certainly bucketed down some, and it's caused a lot of damage and a lot of heartache as well, but let me tell you, Australian, Australian cheer, an Australian, you know, the character of this country was on full display at the Hotel Yuromo through the week, and we'll catch up with Ollie to find out just what it was like to see.

The car park being turned into a marina. In fact, I think they were going to change it to the name from a pub to a yacht club. We'll find out about that. But certainly it was Aussies at their best, facing, you know, whenever we face hardship, geez, we rise to the occasion.

We'll talk to Ollie and find out how the pub's faring up there. We'll also have a couple of Christmas chats with Watty, who's down on the family farm, not up in the Top End, but I'm sure he knows what's biting up there. Woodsy, who I'm pretty sure is on a beach in Western Australia somewhere, and we'll find Dom, who I know, for a fact, would be cheering on somewhere, being Christmas time. It's pretty close now and this is Dom's favourite time of the year as well.

In the meantime, though, you can get in touch with us. duck 4 by 4 dotcom. Click on him, mother duck, or of course jump out of the Facebook page. We certainly do love all the feedback there, and of course, we reply to all emails and messages.

And now, on the Camping and Off-road radio show, it's time for the Ducks, Town and Country Pub crawl. Well, I just mentioned the Hotel Yurumo up in North Queensland. Now, I saw some videos doing the rounds on social media, and then obviously it made mainstream media as well on a lot of news coverage of a pub up there where any other day of the week it'd be a pub that a lot of people may not have heard of, but in light of the cyclone and all the rain and the water. Well, now I think everybody in Australia knows this pub because the car park was turned into a marina, and there were tinnies pulling up and rubber duckies, and there was, look, it was fantastic.

It looked like everyone was having a great... This is what it sounded like. Oh, how good is it? Welcome to Australia.

And that was everybody on the veranda of the pub enjoying a cold bevvy, and I've got Ollie who runs the pub up there on the line. Ollie, how you going? Hey, good afternoon, Duck. How are you going?

Mate, I'm going all right. Now, tell me, how is it up there now? The water's getting away. The water is gone now.

It's high and we're now high and dry, and the sun has come out, so it's come out with a vengeance, so it's getting nice and humid. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure it would be I've seen some, some, some disturbing videos too.

I'm not far away from you and plays like Innisvar with big lizards with big teeth swimming through parks and stuff. Yeah, that's correct. Down in Ingham, there was a crocodile in the main street. Um, and I'm sure, which is uh, Ingham's about an hour south of us.

We are about an hour and a half south of Cairns. So about 150 K south of Cairns, just to give you a rough, rough dynamic of where we are. Exactly. And obviously, Cairns copped it, you've copped it.

What was it like? I mean, I mean, down here, I mean, they're saying that you copped, you know, Sydney, Melbourne, annual rainfall in 2 days. What was that like? Correct.

So we had approximately about 950 mils of rain in a matter of days. But it's, it's quite common here. We live in the wetest part of Australia. Just, we don't often get it in such a short space of time.

We are lucky where we live. Our ground is designed for that type of rain. So it disperses as quick as it comes. So we're pretty lucky that we're not, we're all flooded in for.

Yeah, yeah, it's easy to prepare for it because yeah, you are. That's right. I mean, you look at, I mean, I saw some footage of, you know, the lines den a lot further up there just south of Cooktown where it had a big, it was a massive weatherfront rule. That's a lot of lot of kilometres between you and them and they copped it as well.

I mean, it's incredible, really, just how big of a storm it was and what a big rain event it was. What was it, what are the locals like? They're obviously a great bunch. I mean, they would have been all locals on that veranda having a beer when they shot that video.

We have got a fantastic bunch of local people that frequent our hotel. It is a bit of a bucket list item up here. When we get a flood on an average about, once every 5 years, and people look forward to, oh, let's go to the mow in our pinny when it floods. And that's what they do.

So they just love it. Oh, mate, it's typical of how we handle things in this country. I reckon I reckon that it's probably now. on a few bucket lists for people that aren't locals.

In fact, and I reckon you'll end up with a few people calling into the pub on their way north, especially... We offer free camping here. We have camping for overnight stays. So everyone is more than welcome to pop in.

We've got plenty of room out the back, but they can stop in and have a camp. As long as they're self-contained. How good's that? So for people heading to Cape York next year,

And they're always looking for those little camp spots overnight. And I just camp out the back and go in and have a feed and a feed. and a beer and have a bit of a yarn and we'll, we'll tell you a few of the local tourist attractions along the way. Yep. And, um, yeah, you get to have a bit of a yarn to the locals. They're always characters.

Oh, yeah, absolutely. And look, for me, you can't, it cannot be North Queensland hospitality. I just think it's how, you show the rest of the country how, it should be done. I know that much.

I've spent a bit of. Yeah, unique up here. Oh, look, 100%. and I've spent a lot of time up that way and not at your pub, but I'll tell you what, it's now on my list. I'll definitely be stopping.

Have to be on your bucket list now, duck. Oh, for sure. I mean, I'm not sure whether I'll get there on the tinny, but I'll definitely pull up out the back. absolutely.

What was it like when people started pulling up, though, on the boat? Like, I guess you just expected it anyway. Well, we figured that we would get a couple then. We ended up with 18 kinneys in total.

Yep. At the one time, there was a few that came and left. But at the one time, we had 18 chinnies there. The locals were, were fantastic. The 1st boat that come along, um, were a couple with a couple kids, and then the next boat come along. They were people that had been flooded out of their home, a young couple and their 3 dogs.

They ended up staying with us for a couple of days. here at the hotel because they couldn't get home. Yep, yep. But, you know, we had plenty of food and plenty of beverages.

Everyone was well looked after. We made sure everyone was safe. Everyone had a sober driver in the boat. When they went home and they just had a ton of fun.

Yeah, look fantastic. And look, and well done to you too. putting people up and looking after your locals. And that's what pubs, you know, in places like yours are like, aren't they?

They're not just a pub, are they? They're a king... They're not just a pub. They're a community hub, but they tend to be the centre of the community.

We act as counsellors sometimes. We act as psychiatrists sometimes. We act as doctors sometimes, you know? They come up there myself.

I got a few issues. Mrs. Duck Reckons, I've got, someone, someone's down and out and we do a lot of fundraising this year. Yeah, but this year you'll see when on the photos of the hotel with the boats out the front, you'll see up on the roof where it says Hotel Euromo. We have a great big moustache on the O.

Yeah, I saw that. Because we just recently did November for men's mental health. And for that particular day. We ended up raising just under $4000 for men's mental health. You know, from a little community.

We did really really well. We're really pleased. Yeah, well done. You should be commended.

How good is that for a little, like you say, a little regional community and the local and the local pub pulls off that. fantastic. Look, I think what you're doing I think what you do there is great.

How long have you been there, Ollie? I've only been here for 2 years. I've lived in the area for a long time, but we bought the purchased a pub on the 9th of December 2 years ago. So we just celebrated our 2nd anniversary. Many more to come.

Oh, absolutely. And what happens, what happens for you at Christmas time? You live on site or you live close by? Oh, I don't live on site.

So we live about 10 kilometres up the road. Yep. We will clearly on Christmas Day, we will be closed. I'll be spending Christmas with the family and then we'll be reopening again on Boxing Day ready for trade again. There you go.

Well done. All right. Well, look, I'm glad you're safe and dry and well done for looking after the locals. Look, it looks like a really good community and I have been through there.

I know exactly where the pub is. I was there this year, actually. I was earlier in the year we were up at the Keynes Caravan Expo and went through there and actually drove in and had a bit of a look around, but then kept going. We put up a quick, quick coffee and kept going because it was in the morning, but definitely next time I'll be camping the night and I'll pull up behind that pub for sure.

And you pop in and have a little beverage with us? Might even have a big, have a big beverage. We might have a big beverage and I'll show you some other photos that we took on the event. Yeah, well done mate.

All right. Well, Merry Christmas to you, your family, and all your locals there, and we'll talk to you soon. Thanks very much, duck. take care

Good on you, Ollie. Well done. And how good is that? And look, look, there's a pub there.

And all these regional pubs are all the same. They're more than just a pub. They are the community hub of the actual community. It's, it's amazing what they do and what services they provide and uh, and look, Terese, 4 grand, on a little pub, in a small community like that.

Um, well, for November and for men's mental health, I just think that's outstanding. If you're travelling in that part, be sure to go and camp out the back. A free camp and go and get yourself a feed and a beer and say g'day to Ollie there at the hotel, Yurumo, up there. 150 K south of Cairns.

And I know exactly where it is. We called in there on our way back from up there earlier in the year. So, well done, Ollie, everyone there. And look, if you haven't seen the video.

Look, just jump on Google. you'll find it. Just, just, just type in Hotel Euro, and all these videos will pop up, and they made the mainstream use down here and, and all over the country as well, and I'm glad that they're high and dry, and they'll slowly get back to normal and get through Christmas and then get stuck back into it again. That's what they're like up there and uh, and I did mention that the North Queensland hospitality is, whether it's pulling into a workshop to get an emergency job done or pulling into a pub, it's just outstanding and they show the rest of the country how it should be done.

Let me tell you, they are a great bunch up there and well done to Ollie, everyone there. It looked like a bit of fun on that veranda as well. See me and Harry, or maybe not Harry. Harry, you'd be driving the boat I think.