The Bounties of Bowraville

Bowraville will always stand out to me for the Coach House Inn, where you can (and should) eat the biggest, best veggie burger that ever existed.

I know. That’s a bold claim, and I’ll defend it till the day I die. Or find a better veggie burger, whichever comes first.

Jared and I stopped for lunch the day we started our house sit, choosing the cafe at random. As soon as I bit into that burgery goodness I knew we were in a good spot.

Over the next month I got to see more of Bowraville than I ever would have otherwise, and I consider myself better off for it. Bowra’s a weird, wonderful place and I’d suggest you stop in should you find yourself in the area.

The Coach House Inn

Let me finish talking about this burger. It was huge, the size of a frisbee. Okay, more like a salad plate, but it felt like a frisbee. Everything is made in-house, from the bread to the patty, and it’s topped with home-grown avocados, lettuce, tomato, and honestly I don’t even know what else. Pixie dust. They do regular meat burgers too but I couldn’t go past the veggie.

You can also buy fresh bread, avocados, and local honey at the cafe.

Tip: Unless you’re real hungry, these are easily split between two. When you’re eating in this incurs a $3 surcharge, bringing the total to about $16. They’ll split the burger and fries onto two plates for you.

Le Maroc Café

I was surprised to see a Moroccan cafe on the main drag of Bowra, which says more about me than it does about Bowra. Why wouldn’t there be a Moroccan cafe there? It’s my great regret that I didn’t chat with the owner, who himself was from Morocco. What brought him to Bowraville? Why a coffee shop? How does he like it here? Questions I’ll have to leave unanswered.

Tip: You can get your coffee regular or ‘really strong.’ I went really strong and wasn’t disappointed.

The Bowraville Folk Museum

On a whim, Jared and I paid $5 each for entry to this museum on the last full day of our house sit. I can’t believe I almost missed this place! As my sister said to me after watching my snaps, ‘you find the weirdest museums.’ (I do. It’s a thing.)

The Folk Museum opened in 1970 in a former general store. It’s a catchall for anything historical that is in some way related to Bowraville: old telephone exchange technology, film posters, penny farthing bicycles, a German mine, farm equipment, anything.

The best/worst parts were the vignettes depicting life as it was in the 1800s. More than once I was terrified by the sudden appearance of a carefully-positioned mannequin.

Tip: There are interactive exhibits scattered throughout the museum. Ask the friendly volunteer staff members where they are and interact; you’ll be glad you did.

Bowraville Theatre

The sense of community in Bowraville is strong, and some of the town’s attractions are staffed by volunteers. The Bowraville Arts Council supplies volunteers to run the local theatre, a historic venue hosting films and local arts events. We wanted to go see ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ but sadly missed the showing.

Tip: Films aren’t shown every day, so check the schedule in advance.

And if all this doesn’t draw you in, Bowraville placed third in ALL OF AUSTRALIA in the 2011 Tidy Towns competition. Take that, Sydney.

Bowraville is in the hinterland of the NSW Mid North Coast, part of Nambucca Shire.