‘It’s ours now’: Locals snap up Crocodile Dundee pub

Angus Brodie and Jo Cranney in front of the Walkabout Creek Hotel with their two kids. Picture: Supplied

The iconic Crocodile Dundee pub in outback Queensland has been snapped up by a young family who also own a cattle property up the road from the 125-year-old watering hole.

This week Angus Brodie and Jo Cranney of Wolseley Downs cattle station became the new owners of Walkabout Creek Hotel.

The couple, who have two youngsters and a third on the way, figured owning the only pub in the tiny town of McKinlay was a good investment.

“It was a good opportunity for us to diversify, so we don’t have to be so reliant on rain and cattle prices,” Mr Brodie said.

“And it’s a vital part of our community, so we wanted to make sure it continues going as strongly as ever.”

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Paul Hogan in a bar scene from the film ‘Crocodile Dundee’, 1986. Photo: Paramount/Getty Images

Props used in Crocodile Dundee at Walkabout Creek Hotel. Picture: Evan Morgan

Mr Brodie said it wasn’t an easy decision to take on the pub while running a 36,000-acre cattle station, but it felt right.

“It will be a big change, it’s been a hectic time already, but it’s exciting for us for the opportunities it creates,” he said.

“We currently have a paddock-to-plate business, Horizon Grazing, (so) we will have our beef on the menu and for purchase at the pub one day.”

Sitting about an hour from Cloncurry and eight hours west of Townsville, the pub began its life 1900 as the Federal Hotel.

Following the success of Crocodile Dundee in 1986, the fine establishment was renamed Walkabout Creek Hotel after the fictional NT watering hole the pub portrayed in the movie.

The original movie set, where Paul Hogan brought Mick Dundee to life, sits in the pub’s beer garden and the Never Never Safari truck is parked out the front.

However, the nearest living crocodile is about a four-hour drive away.

Inside Walkabout Creek Hotel. Picture: realestate.com.au

Angus Brodie and Jo Cranney in front of the Walkabout Creek Hotel in 2018. Picture: Supplied

“I grew up locally and the pub is meeting hub for the town and all the surrounding properties,” Mr Brodie said.

“I’ve been going there from when I was a kid.

“And to be honest, it’s probably where I bought my first beer once I turned 18.”

Mr Brodie said the place attracted a decent amount of tourists just by being a “cool little country pub” on the main highway and the Crocodile Dundee connection was an added bonus.

“(Patron numbers) swell from not every busy this time of the year, we might get 20 or 30 people, to easily having 100 people in the tourist season,” he said.

The Walkabout Creek Hotel in McKinlay.

Walkabout Creek Hotel when it was on Middleton St in McKinlay, before being moved to its current location.

The couple have began settling into life as both graziers and publicans, already pouring beers and serving up food while their kids explore their second “home”.

“It’s cool we can say it’s ours now,” Mr Brodie said.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the response to us buying, especially from the locals.

“Everyone has been excited.

“The media attention has been crazy as well.

“Our first main event will be a New Year’s party and next year we’re doing something for the 40th anniversary of the Crocodile Dundee movie.”

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