Hotel Coolgardie: The most disturbing Aussie doco ever made comes to DocPlay

Coopers Crossing this ain’t.

Sure Coolgardie’s Denver City Hotel might look like a typical two-storey Aussie country pub, but the publican is more EastEnders’ Dirty Den than The Flying Doctors’ Vic Buckley. It’s Pete’s way or the highway.

The locals say it’s a place where the flies are friendly and somewhere they are more than happy to regularly frequent, even if they pretty much have to provide their own entertainment.

One of the town’s highlights though, is the arrival of new barmaids every few months. Chosen by Pete through an agency (“If they look good, they don’t need experience,” he leers in one of the first of the doco’s many disturbing  pronouncements), each new pair of backpackers faces a warm welcome that includes outside chalkboard top billing.

Finnish backpackers Steph and Lina’s