FOR Matt Young, owning a pub in a tiny community that mostly live underground was never a life goal.
But he said it’s become one since he and partner Sarah Ker took over the White Cliffs Hotel three years ago.
“It was a tree change, but it’s a bit of a life goal now,” he said.
Mr Young first came to White Cliffs for work six years ago, pouring beers at the hotel before working as a rural contractor.
When the pub came up for sale he decided to throw his hat in the ring, and hasn’t looked back since.
The White Cliffs Hotel is one of the few above-ground buildings in the town, and since Mr Young and Ms Ker have taken it over, it’s won the Australian Hotel Awards’ Best Bush Pub accolade two years in a row in 2023 and 2024.
On Friday night ahead of the local rodeo and gymkhana the pub saw over a hundred punters visit to watch a band perform or try their luck on the mechanical bull.
Ms Ker said though many tourists come through to visit the opal mining town, locals also haunt the bar and beer garden and it’s become a hub for the local community.
Mr Young and Ms Ker first met half a decade ago at the very pub they now run, when the former was pouring beers.
He said the pair had a five-year plan for their stint at the hotel, but they might stay a little longer than they initially intended.
“We did have a five year plan and then end of that five year plan is not far away,” he said.
“So we’ll probably push it out a few more years.”
