Last December Susan and I had spent some time with her Uncle Ric near Geelong, and were heading towards Rick (a teacher of mine from many decades ago) and Helen in Pambula/Merimbula. We had decided to make it a two day trip and left our cheap but adequate motel at Lakes Entrance early, intending to find an old fashioned roadhouse for a breakfast of champions.
Twenty minutes later we arrived in Nowa Nowa, a village I must have driven through before but had no recollection of. We were delighted to see an old fashioned roadhouse style eatery called "The Big Root", a perfect blend of traditional roadhouse food served with a modern but not too chi-chi take. We had the obligatory toasted egg and bacon roll, but served on interesting hand made bread, and an enormous mug of coffee. It is obviously a much loved local resource, because the council workers arrived while we were there, and there were obviously locals popping in as well as us transient types.
In the car park are reminders of this part of East Gippsland as an important timber getting area: a steam stationary engine (probably used to power a portable sawmill) and a log cart, which would have been towed by bullocks and used to bring logs from the forest (which is quite mountainous) down to the sawmill, which was on the river and gave access to the sea.
The Big Root not only serves food, but has an art gallery selling sculptures made from tree roots, and is the front office for a caravan park. If you're in the area, it's the perfect spot for a quick meal and a slow coffee.
Twenty minutes later we arrived in Nowa Nowa, a village I must have driven through before but had no recollection of. We were delighted to see an old fashioned roadhouse style eatery called "The Big Root", a perfect blend of traditional roadhouse food served with a modern but not too chi-chi take. We had the obligatory toasted egg and bacon roll, but served on interesting hand made bread, and an enormous mug of coffee. It is obviously a much loved local resource, because the council workers arrived while we were there, and there were obviously locals popping in as well as us transient types.
In the car park are reminders of this part of East Gippsland as an important timber getting area: a steam stationary engine (probably used to power a portable sawmill) and a log cart, which would have been towed by bullocks and used to bring logs from the forest (which is quite mountainous) down to the sawmill, which was on the river and gave access to the sea.
The Big Root not only serves food, but has an art gallery selling sculptures made from tree roots, and is the front office for a caravan park. If you're in the area, it's the perfect spot for a quick meal and a slow coffee.
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