Koumala Hotel sells to new owners but Precious the cat stays

A North Qld couple is handing over their “baby” to new owners, but the grand old pub remains a colourful watering hole complete with the headline-making cat who beat red tape to stay.

Ray and Rowena Colgrave who are handing the keys of the Koumala pub over after nine years behind the bar. April 18, 2025

From her younger “pub grub” days running around her parent’s Eton Hotel, to owning the iconic Koumala Pub, Rowena Colgrave has seen the best and worst sides of the local watering hole.

Now, after nine “bittersweet” years at the helm of the town’s only pub with her husband Ray, she’s handing over the 86-year-old reins.

Rowena Colgrave was “grateful” to the custodian of the hotel during a “small window” of its 86-year-old history. Photo: Rowena Colgrave

“We’re gonna just go back to cows,” she said.

“Nine years was enough time to run a hotel. It’s not something you want to do forever I suppose.”

The new owners, businessman Stephen Wesche and his wife Kerry, plan on keeping the Koumala Hotel as it is.

“It’s a community hotel, that’s what it’s always been. I can tell you there will be no pokies or anything like that.

“Everything stays the same, with the same staff.

“It was a pretty good run business and that’s what attracted us.”

It also means Precious the cat, the unofficial mascot of the Koumala Pub, will be staying too.

Precious the cat has been saved from exile and will be allowed to remain safely indoors at the Koumala pub, as long as she stays out of the kitchen. Picture supplied

Precious found herself in hot water with the Mackay council last year after reportedly being seen in the kitchen.
But thanks to support from then Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and Mirani MP Stephen Andrew she escaped forced rehoming will all of her nine lives intact.

Stephen Wesche says nothing will change, including rules around having Precious the cat onsite.

“She can stay there as long as she wants to. It was a walk-in walk out basis,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ms Colgrave said she was excited to swap roles and have a change of pace.

“We’re just going to be on the other side of the bar, we’re still staying here,” she said.

“I’m gonna enjoy the fact that I don’t have to be the stickler and the hand breaking and, you know, having to make sure people are behaving themselves.”

For the Colgraves, the pub - the only one in town - has provided memories that will stay with them forever.

“The best thing about the hotel is the people,” she said.

“In a small pub like this, it’s just so heartwarming to see a grandfather and a father, a son and a grandson sitting at the bar with a beer together, you know, after a hard day’s work.

“It’s just lovely when you have a one pub town and everything is involved around community.

“It is the hotel, but more than anything, it’s the community centre.”

Originally published as Koumala Hotel sells to new owners but Precious the cat stays