Bushcraft Cafe Sydney Street, Girilambone NSW

ABOUT

WELCOME TO THE BUSHCRAFT CAFE!

Our Story

The Fanning family moved to the Nyngan area in January 2010. This was in time for one of the wetter harvests on record. It was an unusually lush introduction to the area.

Since then we have seen floods, locust and mouse plagues, drought and dust storms to illustrate Dorothea Mackellar’s poem. Ben has worked in agriculture across the district from the red dirt ridges of the Five Ways to the blacker country along the old Cobb & Co route along the Duck Creek towards Carinda.

13 years and 5 children later, we ended up in the village of Girilambone, on the Mitchell Highway on the route to Bourke. “Giri” (Pronounced Jerry ) as the locals term it, is an old settlement that was once a major rail depot and is still a thriving mining and agricultural community.

The underground copper mine provides a stable backup for the village. The patronage to the lively local pub, the “Hog & Billy”, is evenly balanced between thirsty miners, dusty farmers, and travellers passing through.

The “Bushcraft Cafe” opened its doors September 1, 2021 after renovations to the “Girilambone Country Store” which had been closed for some time.

The cafe is situated opposite the Girilambone railway station, which is currently under restoration with the assistance of a grant from the NSW state government.

We offer good home cooked food and delicious coffee, as much as possible sourcing our ingredients locally.

In addition to this we also stock the "Nungar" brand of shirts. (half button workshirts and polos) local craft items including scented candle, embroidery, crotchet and local honey.

The mechanics workshop out the back has been turned into a canvas and leather workshop a large part of our business is providing these goods from fine plaited belts to heavy duty trailer tarps to the local community and beyond.

Rachael is a qualified massage therapist and offers treatments on site. 9 years of practice have enabled her to build up a long list of clients, and her services are always in high demand.

There are many and varied facets of this business that have contributed to it having such a successful start but mostly due to the support of our local community and customers- both the regulars and those travelling through. Where else in Gods country can you get a decent coffee, good food, an amazing massage, bags, swags and so much more?!

One of the non edible perks of the Bushcraft Cafe business is our supply of handcrafted leather and canvas goods, ranging from small and fine to heavy and industrial.

Ben developed an interest in leatherwork as a young man, nearly taking on a saddle making apprenticeship in his mid teens. Playing around with belts and whips, along with other bits and pieces making a mess of his mother’s laundry trying to tan kangaroo hides.

This developed over the years into a busy hobby selling products or making special gifts for friends and family as well as supplying hobble belts to the Nungar Trading Company.

Gradually Rachael started to take an interest in the leathercraft also. She has particularly worked on the plaiting and braiding side of things, and enjoys creating some beautiful belts, hair-on hide bags, and many other things.

She has run belt making workshops during school holidays for children, where they can get hands on and make their own belt - travelling to Nyngan, Warren, Bourke, Brewarrina, the Marra, Nevertire and Coonamble.

In his earlier years, Ben kicked and screamed as his mother insisted that he learned the basics of a sewing machine, but something must have stuck because when Rachael bought him an old singer industrial sewing machine for his birthday in April 2020, he started experimenting with canvas and PVC. Another twin needle Seiko sewing machine has been added to the workshop, as well as a lighter Brother machine, and now the list of projects ranges from bags and swags to custom made covers, truck and grain bin tarpaulins and just about anything else you can think of....