5 minute read
REGIONAL STORIES: STEAMPACKET HOTEL
Riverside entertainment
The new owners of the Steampacket Hotel have big plans for this community hotspot.
By Caoimhe Hanrahan-Lawrence.
LOCATED ON NSW’s South Coast, Nelligen’s Steampacket Hotel has recently been bought by the Meem Collection, consisting of Ben Johnston and Kalina Koloff. Johnston and Koloff also run the Old Canberra Inn and the Dixson Taphouse, and first became aware of the Steampacket Hotel while driving from Canberra to the NSW South Coast.
“Like a lot of Canberrans, we own a place on the South Coast for holidays. To get to the South Coast from Canberra, you have to drive past the Steampacket Hotel and it’s a beautiful spot just before you get to Bateman’s Bay,” Johnston explained.
Nelligen and the nearby towns are popular tourist locations, with a notable surge in trade over the summer. Because of this, the Steampacket needs to be flexible enough to cope with the summer rush, as well as serve locals throughout the rest of the year.
“In the summertime, you have the Nelligen local community, you’ve got the broader Bateman’s Bay community. You also have across the road, this beautiful campground right on the banks of the [Clyde] river and it is heaving in summertime. The challenge for the pub is in the middle of winter on a Tuesday, how do we make it cosy and inviting for the locals? And then in the summertime, when there’s so many people, how can we really expand and really deliver great service to a whole lot of people,” Johnston explained.
The Steampacket Hotel recently underwent a number of renovations, most notably to the kitchen.
“It’s one of those post-covid things, where these regional areas really got a big boost. There’s a lot of people relocating to these regional towns, and they’re looking for a little bit more from what they can find in their local pub. We really want to enhance what the local pub could provide, so we’ve spent a lot of money to renovate the site, focusing a lot on the kitchen,” Johnston explained.
Live music and other fun
The Steampacket is well known for hosting NelliJam, a twice-yearly music festival that brings a lot of interest to the area. Remarkably, the entire 16,000 square metre venue of the Steampacket is licensed, so liquor can be sold in the carpark space where NelliJam is held. Coming from strict noise limits in Canberra, the ability to hold live music events was exciting for Johnston. Both the size of the venue and the distance between the Steampacket and other houses reduce noise concerns, and the campground is the closest spot to any live music events.
“When we have the events on, it actually helps the business of the campground, for people to attend the event and stay at the campground at the same time. It’s actually a really great match. As long as we don’t have the events playing too late, the local community are very supportive of it. NelliJam has been something that’s received a lot of community support, through sponsorships and volunteer workers that would like to get involved,” Johnston enthused.
As well as large events like NelliJam, the Steampacket has a number of regular entertainment offerings. There is live music in the beer garden every Saturday and Sunday, and there will be jumping castles and outdoor movie nights over the school holidays. Providing free entry to these events has been important amid cost-ofliving concerns.
“The music events that we put on are all free, and we just want people to know that in their backyard, there’s entertainment for free,” Johnston explained.
Johnston wants to continue to improve and increase the entertainment offers at the Steampacket. In particular, he wants to provide some entertainment options for older patrons, as well as diversify the genres of the music events. With some creative assistance from his teenage son, Johnston is also planning to build a putt-putt golf course on the terrace, which he expects to be completed in the next few years.
Supporting the local community is vital for the success of a regional pub, and Johnston hopes to continue the impressive work of the Steampacket’s previous owners.
“The previous owners made the pub the centre of the community. A pub should always be at the heart of the community and everybody should always be welcome. It should be a place for people to meet for all purposes. […] We want to obviously maintain that role, and if anything, expand on it to incorporate a bigger community,” he said.
The Steampacket has also made contributions to charity through fundraisers such as meat raffles and karma kegs, where the proceeds for an entire keg are donated to charity. Considering the impact of the 2019 bushfires on the region, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) are an important cause for Johnston and the Steampacket team to get behind.
“The RFS have got their work cut out this summer. We really want to look after them and for them to know that the pub is at their disposal for anything that they need, in terms of looking after the volunteers and making sure that there’s an air-conditioned space for people to meet in,” Johnston said.
Johnston is more than happy to provide a space for Nelligen locals at the Steampacket.
“It’s just different people coming together at the same place. There’s always people coming in and going from different places with different stories. I really like that,” he concluded.
