SEVENTY kilometres from Tibooburra, along a dirt road in far western New South Wales, travellers are greeted by an unexpected sight: a converted caravan sitting on a clay pan, serving coffee in the heart of the Outback.
This is the Nest Golden Egg Cafe, a quirky roadside stop created by Rachel and Bodie Hill, who live on Waka Station, a sprawling 130,000-acre property between Tibooburra and Cameron Corner.
They opened the cafe a year ago, driven by simple curiosity.
“Our yards are right next to the road, and we’d see people travelling past all the time and wonder, ‘Where are they going?’” Ms Hill said.
“So it’s really nice to now meet them, have a chat, and connect.”
While sheep and cattle keep the couple busy, the cafe is a passion project, run purely for enjoyment.
“It’s so much fun, you never know what kind of day you’ll have,” Ms Hill said.
“This morning we had heaps of cars just drive straight past, but later all these beautiful groups pulled in and stayed for a while.”
The Hills moved to Waka Station in 2008 to manage the property on behalf of the landholder.
A few years later, they bought it, a decision they say they’ve never regretted. Since then, they’ve juggled life on the land with a variety of creative pursuits.
Mr Hill, a keen woodworker, makes handcrafted incense holders and knives from local timber.
Ms Hill travels into Tibooburra every second Tuesday to offer hairdressing services at a small salon beside the National Parks office. She also sells handmade jewellery crafted from butterfly wings, along with natural lip balms, all available at the cafe.
The Golden Egg operates only during the cooler months as summer is simply too harsh for serving coffee on a bare clay pan. But the couple has bigger dreams for the space.
“We’d love to set up a small camping area here,” Ms Hill said.
“It would have a communal campfire, one shared fire so people connect. Kind of a community-building thing.”
They’re also renovating the old shearers’ quarters, with hopes of hosting events or gatherings.
“We want this to be more than just a coffee stop,” Ms Hill said.
“There’s something special about this land. A lot of people never get to see it, let alone feel it.
“We want to give them that chance to get their feet in the dirt and experience all the amazing things out here.”
At its heart, Ms Hill says, the cafe is about connection to place, to people, and to something deeper.
“That’s really why we started this,” she said. “To be able to catch up with people, share a part of our world, and give them something memorable.”
