Bush pub that inspired Slim Dusty's 'Humpty Doo Waltz' hits the market

Once just a convenient place to pull in for a pint, the Humpty Doo Hotel has become a Northern Territory landmark.

For more than 50 years thirsty travellers have stopped at the pub, about 40 kilometres south-east of Darwin, on their way to Kakadu National Park.

Despite having what are claimed to be the largest buffalo horns in the Southern Hemisphere hanging behind the bar, it is not stereotypical Aussie pub charm that put the Humpty Doo Hotel on the map.

"It's the name," licensee Rod Parry says.

"Where do you find another Humpty Doo Hotel? You'll find a Railway, a Commercial, a Royal, but you'll never find [another] Humpty Doo Hotel."

Mr Parry has decided it's time to call last drinks and is putting the hotel up for sale after four decades of ownership.

"I think it's time I had a rest, let someone else take over the reins," he says.

"Thirty-nine years is half my lifetime."

Horses, crocs and a beer-sculling bull

Established in 1971, the pub survived Cyclone Tracy and is believed to be one of the Northern Territory's longest-licensed premises.

Since Mr Parry purchased it in 1987 the venue has inspired bush ballads such as Slim Dusty's Humpty Doo Waltz and former NT administrator Ted Egan's The Man from Humpty Doo.

Mr Parry has seen plenty of patrons come through the doors in his time, including those with four legs.

"Horses stand at the bar with their riders, their riders have a couple of beers, and the horses stand there very quietly, maybe they watch the TV," he laughs.

"We've had a pig in here. The other day the girls called me and said, 'There's a wallaby in the men's toilet' — and the crocodile, last wet season, out the front of the bottle shop.

"It never stops."

Perhaps most notably, the hotel's Darwin Stubby drinking competition in 1988 was won by Norman the Brahman bull, who sculled a 2.25-litre stubby in 47 seconds, according to an ABC report.

Norman reportedly proceeded to wash that down with "half a dozen tinnies and a meat pie".

In 2016, a tiny donkey, a pony and a cow walked into the premises and police had to ask them to leave.

But Mr Parry says the customers he will miss the most are those with two legs — the generations of Top End locals who have grown up in the venue.

"A lot of those guys have passed away, but their children still drink here and their children's children come in," he says.

"I will miss the locals and I'll miss my staff, because some of them have been here for so many years."

General manager Alex Taylor says the feeling is mutual.

"Working with him for 10 years, he has definitely become more of a family than anything else," she says.

"I don't really see Rod as my boss.

"He's helped me a lot through my career and my development and he's always been there just in general as well."

'World famous' pub

Although the business was "devastated" by the COVID-19 pandemic, in the past year the Humpty Doo Hotel has recorded more than 50,000 visitors.

It says staff turn around an average of 400 lunch meals every day during the dry season.

But the hotel's success can no longer just be purely attributed to its food and beverage sales, with its name recognisable worldwide.

"We send [shirts] to America, England, New Zealand, just in the mail. They buy them online," Mr Parry says.

"My daughter, years ago, was at Mount Everest Base Camp and she had a Humpty Doo Hotel shirt on there and she passed a guy on the track and he said, 'I've been there, that's great pub.'"

The apparel, emblazoned with buffalo horns, has also become a drawcard for Australian holiday-makers such as Perth road-tripper Mel Catchpole, who stopped in for a "nostalgic visit".

"As a child, my uncle lived in Humpty Doo and I was fortunate to travel up when I was very young — 11 — and then again at 18 years of age," she says.

Her husband, Nathan Catchpole, is visiting for the first time and says it's "a bit sad" to hear the hotel is up for sale.

"It's an iconic pub and [it's] sad to see it go to new owners," he says.

"It's an outback pub and we want to keep it that way."

The news has also saddened Humpty Doo local Rowdy, who has been a regular patron for more than 45 years.

"It's handy and a good place to come to," he says.

"You can't change it much. Just keep it going how it is."

Looking for the right fit

Since purchasing the hotel all those years ago, Mr Parry has added a bottle shop, RV park, gaming machines and a bistro.

One thing he hasn't touched is the bar, which he hopes the new owners will also respect.

"It's an iconic pub. You can't change it," Mr Parry says.

"What are you going to do? Put carpet in here? It's not going to be the same.

"It'd just be like every other hotel in town if it's, like, air-conditioned, carpet, tiles — just doesn't work for Humpty Doo.

"We just walk in here with a firehose, hose it out in the morning, squeegee it, turn the fans off to dry the concrete — simple."

Brisbane-based hotel broker JLL put the 2.3-hectare property up for sale on Wednesday.

So far Mr Parry has been fielding interest from people all over Australia, but says he isn't willing to let it go to the wrong person.

"I had a call from a guy who owns a car yard. Mate, I don't think it's your bag to run a hotel," he says.

"You need to have some hospitality experience, because these days you need to have so many licences."

Expressions of interest for the new licensee will be open for a month.