Noojee's famous dinosaur returns
Built in 1925, the Noojee Hotel catered for the growing timber industry in the area, providing accommodation and beer. Then in the early 1960s, a series of dinosaur sculptures were made by local man Jack Kelly. Their reputation preceded them and after much wear and tear, they were thrown out to waste. Now two locals have reignited Noojee's love affair with the prehistoric animal.
Darren Christie and Dereck Barrett can't help beaming at the sight of the newly resurrected tyrannosaurus rex.
"For almost 20 years people have been saying they'll fix it up, and one afternoon Darren and I were out on the deck at the pub and said 'let's try it'," Dereck said.
"So we came with a trailer six months ago, loaded the decaying one on the back and took it to Darren's shed."
However the old dino was past repair.
"It couldn't be repaired, it was too far gone so we decided to build a new one," Dereck said.
After hundreds of hours of hard work and $6,000 spent on materials, the infamous T-rex was resurrected.
"The original one was made from shaped and sculpted tree ferns, and stood outside the pub for around 15 years before it was coated with black tar, then paper mache, chicken wire then fibre glass," Darren said.
"We built ours with an aluminium frame coated with fibreglass - 250 metres of it - then covered with five drums of resin and filled it with hemp and expandable foam.
"So it should be here for another 100 years."
Publican Simon Duck is thrilled the 'dino' is back.
"It's amazing - everyone has said how exciting it is to have it back - not just locals, but people far afield and even people from interstate come to see it," he said.
Dereck's father Dave remembers seeing the original one 40 years ago, and says it's something that's stayed with him.
"I've seen the dino in my head ever since - the novelty of it stuck with me," he said.
"So when Moose rebuilt it, I was very excited - he's done a good job of it and it will last a lot longer than the first."
Simon says he's excited to see visitors flow in to see the returned attraction.
"It's been here for so long and is so peculiar that people remember it - it's a talking point and I'm sure we'll get lots of visitors now," he said.
"And hopefully they all buy beer when they come to have a look."
Source: ABC News, Zoe Ferguson, 30th September 2015
Originally published as: Noojee's famous dinosaur returns
