Locals look back with fondness on the time when jokers would do almost anything for a laugh. Horses, cows and even a 4m snake found their way into the public bar.

On one occasion a local farmer, who had a bit too much to drink, was doing "doughnuts" on his tractor out the back.

"Ernie (Wagner), the landlord went out and put a shot through the canopy of his tractor," said Marty Drier, a 48-year-old concreter. "That quietened him down a bit."

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There is documentary proof for some of the stories told by patrons.

Above the bar is a photo of a 4m scrub python – merely a baby, Mr Drier asserts – with five or six customers holding the live snake along the length of the bar.

"It was in December 1988," said publican Paul Wagner, 37, who runs the hotel with his wife Evelyn, 34.

"A couple of forestry lads brought it in for a laugh."

The snake was later released unharmed.

Another photo shows a large cow in the bar with a saddle strapped to its back.

Yet another picture shows a man on horseback in the middle of the crowded bar.

The hotel, built in 1912, celebrates its centenary next year and a big birthday bash is planned.

Mr Wagner’s parents, Ernie and Sue, bought the hotel in 1980 but have since passed on.

Over the years, the 11-bedroom hotel, which serves food, has undergone major refurbishment and upgrades.

During World War II, an army base was located just behind the pub. Mr Wagner has maps of the area from that time.

"Even today we have Diggers coming through. I get the maps out and they can locate where they were in the war," he said.

Mr Drier said that in the past, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, it would be standing room only but the closure of the timber mill when the local forests were World Heritage listed saw a decline in the town.

"Now there are probably only half the number of people in Kairi," Mr Drier said.

"Whole families have gone."

Former electricity linesman, Nobby Hare, 77, referred to as the "Mayor of Kairi" by his drinking mates, agrees.

At one time there would have been 20 names on the board for people waiting to play pool. "Now there might be one," he said.

More raucous times but also more trusting.

"Eddie never locked the door," Mr Drier said.

"If we turned up at 1am, he would poke his head out the window and growl ‘Who’s that? What do you want?’

"We would say ‘It’s only us – we want a bottle of rum’.

"He would say ‘OK, take it and settle up tomorrow’," Mr Drier said.

Loud laughter at the corner of the bar testifies that the larrikin spirit lives on.

Pensioner Tim Bream, a retired commercial fisherman and now a hobby beekeeper, spars with his mate Warren Brasch, 67.

"I come here to see my mates and stir them up a bit," Mr Bream said.

Mr Brasch says he comes to the Kairi Hotel because "it is the coldest and the cheapest tap beer on the Tableland".

What higher recommendation could you ask for?