When Happy Hour conversations run along the lines of ‘which do you think is the most grey nomad friendly town in Australia?’, you can pretty much guarantee that Julia Creek in Queensland is going to get plenty of votes.
With McKinlay Shire offering visitors free camping for four days next to Julia Creek, as well as the free use of push bikes, the welcome mat is very much rolled at the Outback settlement, 660 kilometres west of Townsville.
For the legions of happy campers that have stayed there in recent years, the town has pretty much got everything … and now it’s finally going to have a bakery, as well.
After 27 years without one, Corrina’s Café is about to open just in time for the grey nomad influx.
Owner and operator Corrina Sollitt said that with most of the caravans set to begin rolling into town in June, she is expecting plenty of custom.
Ms Sollitt is now getting ready for the tourist season to start,
“It’ll be mad, that’s all I can say,” she told the ABC. “Last year I was making cheese platters for them tourists and we were making hundreds.”
Ms Sollitt has been operating a catering business in Julia Creek for many years, but decided the time was right to build a storefront.
“Bakeries are coming back in fashion,” she said. “Everyone is happy that we’re doing this; it’s another place for them, another venue they can eat at.”
The ABC reports that the shop was built from the ground up, transforming what had been a scraggly piece of empty land on the town’s main street into a beautiful attraction.
With the only options to eat out at night in Julia Creek being the two local pubs, the bakery is planning to offer evening meals in a few months’ time.
So far, the bakery has employed 11 people, including one apprentice.
We will be out there for the Dirt and Dust. We used to go to 4WD rallies out there many years ago and know Chris Sillott from them. Hope to be able to catch up again. Congrats on your bakery Corrina.
Always visit bakeries during our grey nomad travels and found some beauties in Tassie!
Fantastic Corrina, another notch in the belt for Julia Creek also including empolyment. Well done & wish you well, see you when we’re next up there.
This is a must stop town, great butcher also & as for the council being forward thinkers it’s a credit to this town.
Loved our stay by Julia Creek last year, yummy CWA scones and coffee, good butcher shop and an impulse spend at the drapery! A welcoming country town with a very interesting information centre. Looking forward to returning to Julia Creek. Good luck with your new venture. “Make hay while the sun shines”
Love Julia Creek from the free camp spot to the caravan park with the unique artesian bathing experience. Plus the free bikes that you can borrow to pedal around the town and out to the free camp. Well done Julia Creek you are on our list again this year.
We will be heading up that way in the next couple of months and will be making Julia Creek one of our stops this year. Congratulations on all at Julia Creek that make it the most talked about and best free camping town in Oz.
All the best Corrina. Hope it goes well.