CRUISING along the Bruce Highway after an Easter weekend away, a welcoming little country pub appeared along Marlborough's Railway Street.
Our mouths were parched and suddenly a frosty beverage was in order - and what better place to satiate our thirst than to pull in for another Pub Crawl visit.
The Marlborough Hotel is country. Walking around the little Queenslander, my eyes travelled across the endless scrawls of patrons who have also visited the pub in their travels or as regulars.
Owner Bob Jeffries stands behind the bar, with a friendly, warm welcome and a prompt schooner delivered to us weary travellers.
We talk politics, country living and our mutual acquaintances - it's funny how small the world can seem when you're in a country pub, and the Marlborough Hotel is no different. It's like kicking back in your entertaining room and trading yarns as your eyes travel across cheeky cartoons or NRL memorabilia.
I set up my laptop and worked away, completely relaxed and feeling at home as Mr Jeffries chatted from his own office. And what an office it is - bar stools instead of cubicles, friends trading barbs and jokes over beers instead of small talk at the water cooler, the backdrop of music and chatter instead of clacking keyboards and humming fluorescents. Not a bad gig.
Mr Jeffries and his wife Annie bought the pub 14 years ago, selling up Richmond's Mud Hut Hotel when the Marlborough came on the market.
"This is like my retirement place," he said.
Mr Jeffries has spent most of his life in the hospitality game - starting out in Brisbane where he ran a sports club, then onto St George, the Crown Hotel in Charters Towers and then Richmond.
"I wanted to get out of the desert (and) get near the coast...so while I love being in the country I can also go fishing if I want to," he said.
The 112-year-old pub has a wealth of history within its walls - not just in its abundant signatures.
It was originally built at Marlborough Station, but when the railway was installed, it was moved by logs and horses to its current location, with the trip taking four days.
"When you come in there is a nice atmosphere. It's a classic old country pub, they're a dying breed," Mr Jeffries said.
"People love coming to an old fashioned country pub...and they love reading (the writing on the walls). The little stories everywhere.
"They spend an hour reading all the stories. One of my favourites is...'Sydney might be the jewel of Australia, but here lies the true heart of Australia'."
Some familiar names immortalised across the pub belong to Clive Palmer, Ian Healy, Harry Butler, Slim Dusty and James Reyne.
"(Around five years ago), James was driving his kids back to Brisbane...and his bus broke down. He stayed three or four days," Mr Jeffries said.
"We had a few beers and he got in the bar and started singing. People came up to me and asked 'is that James Reyne?'.
"(Clive Palmer) had a bit of a chat with the locals. He flew his (maroon and gold) helicopter in...and landed it on the helipad. He had a mixed grill, but he couldn't eat it all."
A heater stands sentry in the corner, with the brim of its 'hat' bent down across its 'face'.
Hanging over it reads a sign 'Slim was here' - and you can't miss the uncanny similarity. It's a fitting tribute to the country legend himself.
"That heater got blown over in Cyclone Marcia because all the doors and windows were open when the cyclone came through. It fell over and when I picked it up, it looked like Slim's hat," Mr Jeffries said.
Heading into grey nomad season, the pub will soon be abuzz with travellers, but on the day to day it's frequented by locals, including graziers.
The pub's kitchen is open every day for lunch and dinner - with food orders going up 220 per cent and beer sales also going up thanks to the installation of new gas and beer lines.
Regular meetings including camp draft and show meetings are held at the pub, with musicians playing on the occasional Friday night.
While Mr Jeffries has re-stumped the pub, renovated the bathrooms and rooms with new beds and air-conditioning to the 10 rooms, brought in new furniture and put in Keno, he said you can't change too much and lose the country charm.
"Our goal is that everyone who comes in is happy," he said.
"The people are friendly. I've trained all staff to say 'g'day' and talk to people. In the big cities, even in Rocky, they don't talk to you, they don't like sitting at the bar and some pubs don't let you sit at the bar.
"(Whereas here), people like to sit at the bar and talk. You'd be surprised how many people talk to each other."
For the experienced publican, life behind the bar is never dull.
"Every day is different. That's the best thing about it. You don't know what's going to happen and who will walk in. You meet different people every day," he said.
And I'd be remiss not to mention an elusive but well-known local who spends an eerie amount of time stalking the old pub. With every country pub comes plenty of history - and some history remains.
"We have a ghost that runs around here. It's a woman. You can see a glimpse out of the corner of your eye...she turns the lights off...(and on Good Friday) I heard someone walking down the hallway," Mr Jeffries said.
"Every day I think someone is in the women's toilet (after I lock it up). I go in and go 'you got me again'."
"Someone...was murdered here in the early 1990s. The staff say (and experience) the same thing. Everyone gets a glimpse and says 'who is that?'.
"'That's just the ghost'."
