Pretty Pine Hotel .... with locals like Nipper, a host like Denise and a goat named, "Horse", you're pretty assured any visit will be memorable!
In the afternoon light in October, the pub at Pretty Pine looks misnamed – Gorgeous Jacaranda Hotel would be hugely more apposite. Just to the right of the main entrance a beautiful specimen is peacocking its purple display against the lowering sun. In the carpark, beside the Cobb Hwy a pair of John Deere headers, their trays tucked in behind is parked together with the wide-load warning ute. Inside three blokes are chatting to Denise - joint boss of the place with her partner, Twang - who’s behind the bar. They still have to walk the combines another 40kms over to Conargo before heading back in the ute and are hoping they’ll be back in time for tea. They’re from Rowena and they’re another face of the drought that’s ripping into the country: “We’ve all got our own farms carrying wheat, chickpeas and barley but we haven’t sown at home for two years. We’ve come down to try to find some work down here to pay some of the bills. We had a little bit over at...