Once upon a time I was the proud owner of my very own Cafe. It was originally known as the Bluebell Cafe in Deepwater which is a part of the New England High Country. A region stretching from Tenterfield to the North down to the Armidale area in the South and out West to Inverell.
Due to a change in financial circumstances, because my then partner had quit his job; I was given no option but to forego my dream of semi-retirement and figure out a way to support myself. I’d gone back to doing casual part-time work at the local NAB in Tenterfield but it wasn’t enough to pay the Farm Mortgage and feed us.
Job options are kinda limited in a small country town so it was time to try and think outside of the box.
It was during one of our exploratory trips discovering the local countryside that we came across Deepwater and this charming little old building that was home to The Bluebell Cafe. After purchasing some caffeinated beverages and sampling one of their signature lemon tarts we’d jokingly asked if there were any jobs or business’s for sale in the local area? Was rather gobsmacked when the ladies who owned the cafe said that it was up for sale.
The Ex. had previous experience in running his own cafe/business with his previous partner. I figured my banking background would be enough for me to be able to handle the administrative/financial side of the business. So we organised a time to meet up again and talk figures etc and work out if it would be a viable option. The ladies, who were actually twins; and their husbands sat down with us and we negotiated a deal. Since it was an existing business and zoned as a Commercial Property I was able to use my Superannuation to purchase the property. Settlement went through and suddenly I was the very nervous new owner of a cafe.
I altered the name slightly to put our own stamp on the business so “The Cafe Blue Belle” was born. It was similar enough for the locals to know where we were located. Minor renovations and a new paint job later we were nearly ready to go.
It was during the painting process that we met one of our first locals. I’d taken the horsefloat in to carry painting supplies and materials as we didn’t have a Ute at that stage but Old Mate’s commodore had a tow bar and god knows my little Mazda had a snowballs chance in hell of doing the job. The neighbour across the road from us noticed the horsefloat and decided to come across and ask us if we wanted some free livestock as they’d heard on the grapevine that we’d bought a small farm and they needed a new home. Mind you this was around 10pm at night as we were frantically trying to get the painting finished prior to opening. I was like sure – what the hell, why not?
I didn’t realise that she meant that very night.
About 10 minutes later, my youngest who was 11 at the time, comes down the driveway looking for me saying that there is this lady out the front with some sheep. I was like what the? I follow him up to investigate. Sure enough, there she is. The lady from earlier stepped out of the shadows with 4 sheep in tow. Old Mate came out to investigate and obligingly began helping me herd them down the driveway towards the horsefloat parked in the back yard. I lowered down the tailgate and proceeded to try and convince them to walk up the ramp. To make things interesting, the weather decided it was time to start raining. So the next 10 mins was spent with Old Mate and me chasing sheep around and around the horsefloat. They would avoid the ramp, circle the float, jump the towbar and circle around the float again. I nearly turned towards the kids and asked Who Can Guess How Many Times Sheep can Circle and Jump Over The Towbar. By this time Old Mate was creatively swearing in Dutch. My youngest two were standing in the driveway looking on in stunned amazement. The sheep then decided enough was enough and made a break for freedom up the driveway. I yelled at the kids to block them off as we didn’t have gates on the driveway at that stage. My kids being city kids naturally freaked out and flattened themselves against the building wall allowing the sheep to gleefully escape and head up the highway towards home.
I’m off in hot pursuit in the pouring rain thinking to myself – How is This Even My Life?
I can’t even remember how we did it but we eventually managed to round them up and direct them back down the driveway get them loaded into the Float. We also inherited a Jersey bull/cow and a billygoat from the same lady. That was the start to our ever-increasing menagerie.
Welcome to Deepwater!
We opened Deepwater Race Day in 2010. Figured it would be a good jump off point as there would be a lot of visitors in town. Old Mate was in charge of the kitchen and I was to handle customer service and learn how to make the coffee. We inherited an old single grouphead, self contained coffee machine. Old Mate showed me the basics and I had to cope as best I could on the job.
Those early days were a constant blur. Me, slowly learning how to cook our Menu, making interesting caffeine based creations with mixed results to stunned patrons who tactfully kept their verbal responses to themselves. However the raised eyebrows should have been a clue. In those days our cappuccinos had their own signature look – the foam rose formed into a mostly conical shape perched precariously above the lip-edge of the cup or mug. We used to proudly declare The Higher the Foam: The Closer To God.
Yes, I was completely clueless.
The local farmers were kind to me however and never mentioned that wasn’t quite the way a cappuccino should be presented. Old Mate, despite his faults he was an amazing cook being able to churn out amazing food in an insanely short time. Our hamburgers were made using his own secret recipe and we had our rolls especially made by the bakery in Glen Innes. Our reputation steadily grew on the strength of our Hamburgers, reasonable prices and fast service.
Made friends with some locals who became loyal customers. Tenterfield locals even heard about us and travel the 50kms down the highway for a feed. We knew we were finally doing something right when the Truckies also started to become regulars whenever they happened to be passing through. Business was taking off and things were going well. The 13 hour days were a killer but you do what you have to do to make it happen. Custom kept improving to the point where our Tenterfield friends would ask When Were We Going To Open Another Cafe Blue Belle in their town?
Blinded by the success happening in Deepwater and deluded by visions of creating our own chain of successful cafes we did just that.
That was our first mistake.
Hiring our own staff was a new experience for me. Our poor Barista nearly had a heart attack the first time she watched me make a cappuccino and I finally learned how to make a commercially acceptable coffee. We leased a proper commercial coffee machine that had two groupheads. From the sales rep I learned a lot about the art having the correct grind needed to create the perfect crema. I also learnt what crema was. It also clarified the response from a particularly snooty customer I’d once served in Deepwater. I’d made him a short black. He took one look and disdainfully declared that he couldn’t possibly drink that as the crema was broken. I had no idea what the hell he was talking about at the time. I still cringe when I think back on what I used to make back in Deepwater in those early days. I guess it’s all just a part of life’s learning curve.
We’d spent money we really didn’t have to renovate/revamp the new premises. The rent we had to cover (as we didn’t own this building) plus the staff we needed to hire to actually manage running two businesses ate away at any profit we made. Oh and by that stage we’d also accrued an insane amount of livestock at the Farm that needed extra feed as well.
The stress, both emotional and financial from trying to run two businesses and manage an insanely overstocked farm slowly took its toll.
Highland Dreamer 