Dream becomes reality as couple takes over outback pub

Posted Sun 16 Aug 2026 at 4:30amSun 16 Aug 2026 at 4:30amRob Williams has the taps flowing again in Yunta. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde)You've heard a pub with no beer, but what about a town with no pub?That's the situation locals in outback South Australia were facing after the doors to the Yunta Hotel closed a couple of months ago.That was before Jacki and Rob Williams moved to town.The new publicans had been working at the Peterborough Caravan Park for the past six years.Jacki Williams said they've already enjoyed the first of many late nights with locals. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde)Before that, Jacki had been at the North Kapunda Hotel, claimed by some to be Australia's "most haunted" pub.So while she had some historic hotel experience, for her husband, taking over the 127-year-old pub in Yunta was uncharted territory."I always had the dream of doing it," Rob said."I've had no experience at all and I'm learning the hard way."But it was something the couple had spoken about doing for sometime."This one came up and we liked it," Jacki said.The couple say they have been embraced by the community since moving to Yunta, roughly 320 kilometres north of Adelaide.There was plenty of work to do before the Yunta Hotel was ready to reopen. (ABC News: BIll Ormonde)"We have been welcomed with open arms," Jacki said."The community are just wonderful … [on] Saturday night I got teared up because everyone's going, 'It's great to have the local back up and running', because it had been closed."The pub is now open seven days a week for the first time in months."She's an old pub, she was built in 1899 so some of the plumbing needed to be replaced," Jacki said.Both Jacki and Rob say they've been flat out since reopening."It's a great little town, very busy with trucks and trains and travellers coming through," she said.For Yunta Post Office manager Melanie Hampel, having the pub back up and running has meant a lot.Yunta hasn't been the same with the pub closed, according to Melanie Hampel. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde)"Nearly every day I will have someone asking if the pub's going to be open," she said."It is a very important part of the town, a very important business not only for us but for tourists as well and our image."Local grazier Ros Breeding from Teetulpa Station agrees."As with most country pubs, it is the meeting place … and it's just a great place to catch up and keep up to date with the local news," she said."I'm looking forward to some good old fashioned pub grub like we always used to get and that will be on the agenda in the coming weeks."