Arriving in Australia in 1977, Doug Westbrook ‘s journey has wound its way through rugby fields, real estate offices, mountain cliffs, music festivals, and behind the bar of one of Tasmania’s best-known pubs. Along the way, he has gathered a range of funny, painful and wild experiences.
Before he called Tasmania home, Westbrook was a high country fencer in Kaikōura, on the South Island of New Zealand. “We got a big contract on a station and unfortunately after about a year and a half on that station, we had a big accident. We rolled over 400 feet down and I woke up two weeks later in Christchurch Hospital, but I survived,” he recalls. The doctors told him not to play rugby again. But he ignored them.
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Eventually, the mountains wore thin and a conversation with his sister brought him to Australia. “We came to Tassie. I got a job in the first week selling cars and that’s where I met my wife,” he says. That chance encounter led to 47 years together.
His career took a turn in 1987 when a conversation with a shop owner in Sheffield nudged him into real estate. But a barbecue in 2008 would pivot his life again, this time into hospitality. His wife mentioned the Mole Creek Hotel was up for lease. Six weeks later, they were running it. “We thought, oh yeah, three years will be enough. But three years became 17 and a half years!” he says.
Under their care, the pub transformed. From a few hours’ trade a day, it grew into a two million dollar a year business, bolstered by a quirky focus on the Tasmanian tiger. His wife once reported a sighting near Sheffield, and the pair leaned into the mystery. “We got a phone call from the Tasmanian Tourists Association and then we had 15 international documentaries done at the hotel over the years,” he says.
Perhaps even more notable was his passion project, the A Day at the Creek music festival. Though not a musician himself, Westbrook had a deep love for music and the dream of creating a festival. “I grew up in the years of Woodstock ’69. And a couple of guys that played in bands said ‘let’s do it.’” It took eight years before it turned a profit. Just 300 dollars. But for him, it was about much more than money. “It was fantastic just to get 2,000 people there, we were standing on the stage and just seeing all the people. It looked like there were 10,000 people!” he says.
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Throughout it all, there was a strong thread of community. The festival raised money for Rotary-backed causes like men’s health and women’s cancer support. “Without Rotary we couldn’t have been that big,” he says.
After selling the hotel after “17 years, five months and one day,” as he counts it, Westbrook has returned to real estate with zest. “To be honest, I was surprised at how quickly I got listings once I started again,” he says. While the industry has shifted online, Westbrook believes relationships still matter. “It’s about knowing, and I suppose it’s about experience. I’ve had nearly 40 years in hospitality and businesses, but my wife and I have owned two businesses before that,” he says.
At 77, Doug Westbrook is not slowing down and remains focused on the real estate needs of the Meander Valley. “I live in Sheffield so it’s only 20 minutes over the hill,” he says.
