Bermagui’s River Rock Cafe was pumping on 14 June for its 20th birthday celebration. Photo: Supplied.
Bermagui was blessed in 2005 when Jacqui Howarth and Matt Gilder opened the River Rock Cafe.
It is rare for a two-person business to have such an impact on a community. The cafe has fostered musical careers and inclusion and was instrumental to Bermagui getting a skate park.
For many years Jacqui had been singing and playing the guitar and piano semi-professionally. Matt had spent 35 consecutive winters in the snow. “I liked surfing and found this beautiful magic spot and decided to settle here,” Matt said. That was in 1999.
With Jacqui’s background in live music and Matt’s already established surf school, the cafe became a small music venue that offered daytime food service and surf lessons as well. “We started weekly jam nights in 2005, and Jacqui was teaching music from here and people are still teaching music from here,” Matt said.
Howard Stanley, president of the Murrah Committee, said the importance of those weekly jam nights couldn’t be overstated.
“There was literally nowhere to use an audience for professional development and to try things out,” Mr Stanley said. “All the then venues presented finished work for a paying audience, a daunting, high-risk task for the new.”
Jacqui was deeply involved with the community through music, performing at the Murrah Hall and assisting with music programs at Bermagui Public School with Four Winds. She also organised youth music events for the Seaside Fair and having a young son led her to continue the town’s drive for a skate park.
Tracey Reeves and a group of young local kids had tried for 10 years without success. Ms Reeves passed the torch to Jacqui who formed a committee which met to work on the design and funding. It took a few more years but eventually then state member for Bega Andrew Constance approved the grant that funded the concrete, and a local group built it. The skate park opened in September 2014.
Jacqui also formed the Surfing Bettys, a group of young kids who met for years on Saturdays to surf at Moorhead Beach. This group later formed the Bermagui Boardriders.
The first person they employed was Cathy Thomas, granddaughter of land rights activist Guboo Ted Thomas from Wallaga Lake.
Jacqui, Shane and Lisa perform at River Rock Cafe’s 20th birthday celebrations in June. Photo: Supplied.
Back in 2005 there was only one other cafe in Bermagui. Many businesses have come and gone since.
Two big changes were the 2009 opening of the new Fishermen’s Wharf and Cooperative, bringing an influx of restaurants and cafes, and the opening of Woolworths in 2015.
“Those were some of the turning points for Bermagui to become a foodie town, instead of an old-fashioned fishing town,” Matt said.
Over the years, the music offering has included many touring and local musicians and bands, burlesque shows and performances at the weekly Open Mic. Live music enabling people to hit the dance floor has been a constant.
“In the old days people gathered around the piano for a singsong,” Matt said. “That is the vibe that continues. It is an intimate space between the customers and performers.”
In 2019 they expanded into the adjoining shop to create a specific music space. They dedicated a large part of the business to music, understanding that live music has disappeared in so many parts of Australia.
The cafe has held film nights, plus hosted yoga sessions and Matt’s sound-healing meditation. They sublet the space weekly to the Spicy Mamas who offered Indian food. Then there is the canoe and stand-up paddle board hire.
The cafe has a homely feel that is more a hub dedicated to the community where people can connect and relax over food and music.
“Some people say there is nothing like it in the world,” Matt said. “We have regulars who have been coming for 15 years, now in their 70s and 80s.”
Matt said music had kept the business going. “Because music is creative, it is good for the soul and brings the community together like an extended family. Music has been the backbone.”
Mr Stanley said he could not think of any other small local business that had acted as a cultural, social, welfare, educational and hospitality outpost. “Local small business is intensely time-consuming. It is not often that there is space to actively contribute to the local greater good.
“Their service to the community and visitors has satisfied not just stomachs, but ears, eyes, hands, feet, voice and imagination – the full serve.”
The River Rock Cafe is located at 2/3 Wapengo Street, Bermagui. They’re open from 12:30 pm until 8 pm Wednesday and Thursday, 12:30 pm until 10:30 pm on Friday, and from 12:30 pm until 8 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Keep up with them via their Facebook page.
