Anne and Troy McNaughton have travelled the country, exploring the most beautiful and remote locations, especially around the Kimberleys, Arnhem Land, Torres Strait and Cape York.
But when they decided to sell their motor home and put down roots again, it was Lake Leake that won them over in every way.
The adventurous couple from Newcastle are the new owners of the Lake Leake Inn and while they had a baptism of fire when they walked in the door on February 7, they’re now settled into the tiny lakeside community and have embraced it wholeheartedly.
Of course that’s not a hard thing to do when you’re fishing crazy like Troy and you’re living in the midst of one of the world’s best trout fishing destinations.
A butcher by trade, he has worked extensively as a fishing guide throughout northern Australia, towing his custom-built fishing boat with him wherever he went.
Anne’s background is as a social worker, parole officer and child protection case worker, and she worked closely with police in NSW, SA and the Northern Territory for more than 16 years before taking to the road.
“For the past eight years, from the time we decided to take the kids on the road, we’ve basically travelled, worked, fished,” Troy said.
“Two of our four children, Noah and Paige, were in primary school when we first set off, but we all received an education along the way.”
From running pubs and fishing lodges to caravan parks and doing all kinds of odd jobs, the McNaughton’s were always building on their skills.
“We just didn’t want to get to retirement age and feel like we were too old to do the kind of travelling we love and we wanted the kids to see Australia – we’ve kind of lived our life in reverse,” Anne said.
“I reckon we’ve been to 99 percent of the pubs in the country and we’ve explored places most haven’t been – some places don’t even have a name and are a four or five day drive from civilisation or only accessible by boat or seaplane.”
Highly qualified and experienced in the marine industry as a skipper, Troy said he was always confident about where they were going before they set out, making sure they had the right supplies and a satellite phone and respected the culture and rules of traditional land owners.
The avid fly fisherman’s love of trout fishing was spawned on the tablelands of New South Wales around New England, where he was taught at a young age how to fish by his father.
“Ever since then Tassie has been on my bucket list and we’ve visited often – we always seem to have some of the happiest times in your lives when we’re here and we almost pulled up stumps here 14 years ago when we lived in Sheffield for a while.”
Some inside knowledge from their Tasmanian friends alerted the McNaughtons to the sale of the Lake Leake Inn by the former owners, who had only been there for 10 months.
At the time the couple were managing a caravan park in the Snowy Mountains on Lake Eucumbene and they knew they wanted to be somewhere similar, surrounded by mountains and fishing and the country lifestyle.
Before they knew it they had sold the motor home and boat and surprised their children with the news last Christmas.
Without any real handover they hit the ground running at the Inn, grateful for the support of former owners (2014-17) and current Lake Leake residents Jan and Walter Milner.
Family and friends rallied and visited to help get everything in order, work the bar and serve meals.
Fellow pub owners at Campbell Town assisted with setting up deliveries and offering knowledge and support.
Now that the dust has settled the McNaughton’s are working hard to target tourists and RV campers to get them turning off the main road and staying overnight.
With his butcher’s apron back on Troy is sourcing and butchering his own meat to make steak a feature on the menu and as interest builds he’ll be employing a full-time chef.
In the vein of a popular Longley establishment, Anne can envisage regular live music gigs.
“We’ve got a huge yard but we will organise to increase capacity even further to accommodate fly fishing groups and tournaments, bigger summertime events and parking for around 50 vans,” she said.
With 73 shacks at Lake Leake and only four permanent residents, the key to being viable will be getting more visitors.
The original part of the Inn was built in 1875 to provide accommodation for workers on the dam.
These rooms are still comfortable, heritage-style bedrooms with a shared bathroom offering a good, budget-friendly place to stay and there’s plans to upgrade them further down the track.
Eventually the bar was added in the 1970s and the premises became the Lake Lake Chalet with the emphasis more on providing a base for fishing and hunting.
Still full of heritage charm and country character the Lake Leake Inn will be ramping up its social media, organising new and better road signage and targeting visitors on the Spirit and other entry points with brochures.
“At no point will we be ignoring our core businesses – catering for the fishers and hunters,” Troy said.
“Lake Leake was one of the first lakes in the State to be stocked with trout from England, fish eggs that were brought in on ice and kept alive covered in moss.
“It really is a pioneering trout fishery and it’s still stocked each year with rainbow trout and has a self-supporting head of brown trout.
“I’d like to think that because we’re so well travelled we understand what visitors want from the experience and we can connect with them.
“We’re really grateful for the community support so far, from Coles Bay, Swansea, Triabunna, St Helens, Oatlands, Campbell Town – it makes all the difference and I know they want this place to succeed because it will help everyone working in tourism in the region.”