Every day at 3:00am, Rosco Leeson gets up to start the fire that will feed the locals heading to work in his tropical north Queensland town and he has been doing it for more than 40 years.
The 84-year-old took over the Sarina pie cart and diner in 1978. But he says it is a mystery why he stayed for so many years.
"I'm slowly fading away, overworked and underpaid," he joked.
"At 3:00am I come down every morning to light the fire, to get everything ready for open at 4:15 in the morning.
"If someone came along and gave me a couple of million dollars, I would retire. Till then, I'll have to keep working."
But, jokes apart, Mr Leeson says he still loves cooking for his community and retirement is not on the cards yet.
Mr Leeson says his diner is not only a favourite of residents but tourists love it too.
"They're surprised that a building of this style is still operating, not like modern places where everything looks like it's laid out for the Queen to come sit instead of a passer-by," he said.
"They enjoy it because they have never [seen] anything like it before."
Everything tells a story
There are reminders of the past everywhere. The radio on the wall was a payment from a customer who could not pay for his feed and said he would be back.
"I haven't seen him since, that was about 35 years ago," Mr Leeson said.
"It still works too!"
Cooking with fire
The heart of the place is the old AGA, that Mr Leeson says takes a lot of work to run.
"You haven't got much time, and then the day's half over and you've gotta go cut more wood for the fire," he said.
Some things stay the same
The cart started off in the main street and then settled into its current spot next to the rail line in 1937 to feed the hungry railway workers.
The building has not changed much since it opened, other than closing the cart in to get a bit more room.
These days slap-up meals are on the menu with bacon, eggs and the works, but back in the day it was just pies.
"In those days you'd only pay two bob [20 cents]," Mr Leeson said.
"Back in those days we would get a lot of railway employees.
"All passers-by and all the local constabulary, now it's known all over the world."
