Courtney Newman knew what she was getting into when she took a job at one of the famous pubs of the Australian tropics where, just two years ago, it took a daring helicopter rescue to save more than a dozen lives.
The Lions Den Hotel, at Rossville in Far North Queensland, was almost completely inundated by floodwater in December 2023, when ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper dumped metres of rain over the surrounding rainforest.
Stranded locals took refuge on the hotel roof, before a heroic pilot named Magoo saved the day.
This week, as another tropical cyclone barrelled toward the coast, the crew at the Lions Den took no chances.
Publican Judy Fry was not taking any chances ahead of Tropical Cyclone Narelle. (ABC News: Christopher Testa)
“I like a challenge and I like adventure, so it didn’t scare me,” Ms Newman, originally from Gloucestershire in England, said.
She signed on as a bartender about nine months after the 2023 flood, having seen video footage of what the powerful Annan River could do.
But as Cyclone Narelle approached on Thursday night, the hotel shut its doors.
Still getting the mud out
Publican Judy Fry and three of her staff spent the night in relative safety an hour away, only to wake up and realise the pub — and all southern Cape York — had been spared.
Having rebuilt from disaster once, that relief was palpable for the Rossville locals who rely on the pub as a home-away-from-home.
Judy Fry will never forget how high floodwaters reached in the torrential rain that followed Tropical Cyclone Jasper in December 2023. (ABC News: Christopher Testa)
“I wasn’t worried about the water, but I was worried about the trees,” Ms Fry said.
“You never know how things are going to turn out.
“I wanted to stay here but my family said ‘nope’.”
The 151-year-old Lions Den Hotel, pictured before the devastating flood of December 2023. (Supplied: Tourism Tropical North Queensland)
There was a joyous mood as the doors reopened and the taps resumed flowing.
“We’ve had a lot of locals come through, but they’re still dodging trees on their block too, to get out,” Ms Fry said.
“It’s their pub, actually, I’ve got to do as I’m told.”
Judy Fry (centre) with Scott the Cook and Daigo Kwik at the Lions Den Hotel. (ABC News: Christopher Testa)
Well over a century old, the Lions Den is famous for the memorabilia, caps and thongs its thousands of visitors leave behind.
Meet ‘Magoo’, the hero chopper pilot of the Queensland flood
“We saved a lot of them, but people are putting more there, it’s good,” Ms Fry said.
The December 2023 flood left new decorations, including a flood marker on the wall and a green plastic chair still hanging from a tree.
“We had to replace all the dongas but the pub itself just needed a clean and we’re still cleaning it,” Ms Fry said.
“We’re still getting mud out of the cracks.”Open for business
There is hope that the wild weather will now give way to a steady flow of visitors as peak season approaches.
A flood in the Daintree River earlier this month damaged the Daintree Ferry, a critical part of the coastal route from Cairns, through Cape Tribulation.
However, Ms Fry does not think it will deter too many from their plans.
“[If] people want to get somewhere, they’ll go,” she said.
A mark high on the wall serves as a permanent reminder of the disaster of December 18, 2023. (ABC News: Christopher Testa)
Kate Fraser, owner-operator of the Seaview Hotel in nearby Cooktown, said she was hoping more people from North Queensland would choose to holiday locally, instead of forking out for expensive airfares amid rising fuel prices.
She said the “biggest stress point” was the need for improvements to the flood-prone McLeod River crossing on the Mulligan Highway, the sealed inland route from Cairns.
“I watch that like I am a meteorologist myself because that can cut us off,” Ms Fraser said.
“We can’t be at the mercy of one little bridge that brings the whole northern part of the country to a halt.”
Courtney Newman hopes to remain in Cooktown permanently. (ABC News: Christopher Testa)
Despite the challenges of northern life, Ms Newman, who previously worked in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, hopes to stick around.
She has sought sponsorship with her partner at another Cooktown business.
“And after that, I’ll consider myself a local,” she said.
“I know I’ve been here longer than most other backpackers would stay but the locals do invite you in.”