A real bush pub experience awaits at the Nerriga Hotel. Photo: Tenele Conway.
Over the past 30,000 years, many factors have drawn people to the New South Wales region now known as Nerriga.
First it was the Wandandian tribe, of the Yuin people, who had songlines through the region.
In the 1840s, it was the need to transport wool from inland farming localities to the deep-water port of Jervis Bay.
Just a little later, when the wool route was superseded, it became a much-needed rest stop on the way to the gold mines, giving cause for the founding of the Nerriga Hotel, formerly the Cricketers Arms Hotel.
For Sarah and Phil Smith, it was the desire for community, connection and a chance to escape Sydney – a lifestyle that wasn’t gelling with them.
“We were living in Sydney and Phil came home one day and said the Nerriga pub’s for sale, and I said, ‘Where’s Nerriga?’,” laughs Sarah.
Having grown up in Nowra, which sits at the coast end of Nerriga Road, Phil was well acquainted with the hotel already. And despite a career tour guiding in the Kimberley, jackarooing in regional Australia and extensive overseas travel, Phil was drawn back to the region, and this time was taking his French-born wife with him.
“I’ve always loved it here and saw the potential with the roads improving; I thought it was worth the risk,” Phil says.
The Nerriga Hotel was built in 1864 to accommodate travellers and gold miners. Photo: Supplied.
Feeling the whole plan was a little crazy, Sarah was surprised that the bank lent them the money. However, the town of fewer than 100 people has reaped the benefits of having an engaged, community-minded family owning what is the only commercial business in the village.
Twelve years on and showing no signs of flagging, Phil and Sarah have built what they call a “real bush pub experience”. It’s resonating with the locals, who come in droves, as well as travellers on Nerriga Road and weekenders seeking out a country destination.
“It’s a genuine, simple and earnest offering. We do our very best with the food we serve; it’s simple, hearty, good pub food. We’re not pretending to be something we’re not,” Sarah says.
Popping by on a Saturday for what I thought would be a quiet lunch, I was taken aback at being greeted by a full house. The town had gathered for a first-birthday party, and a mix of locals and travellers spilled outside as the main floor was full.
“It’s very much a community thing; people get excited when a baby is born. We saw that with our kids as well,” Sarah says.
What happened next on our spontaneous visit is the reason why country pubs are close to so many people’s hearts. With the tables all full, we were huddled in the beer garden on a blustery day when a couple from the South Coast, who regularly stop at the pub on their way inland, took pity on us and invited us to join the table they had managed to nab.
Taking their recommendation of the steak sandwich, we tucked into a lunch that was served exceptionally fast despite the crowds, and it was exactly what it says on the label: good, honest pub food. Washed down with a beer or two, it’s the type of meal that leaves you full, happy and possibly skipping dinner.
A hearty, honest lunch at the Nerriga Hotel. Photo: Martin Conway.
While the real bush pub experience for Sarah and Phil is about simplicity and people, for me it’s also about the surroundings, and the Nerriga Hotel is eclectic in all the right ways.
Out front, picnic tables line the lowline verandah of the single-storey building. The simple facade, with its raw timber posts, indicates that despite being a stop for gold miners, Nerriga never benefitted from mining money like nearby Braidwood with its vast Georgian buildings.
The two main doors lead to the corrugated-iron dining room with its large timber slab bar. An appropriate sign warns that unattended children will be given red cordial and a free kitten, tempting you to abandon your kids at your own risk.
A dusty black paper spider sprawls from the ceiling, a remnant from Halloweens past that’s crying out for an official name to be assigned by the locals, an event that Sarah and Phil tell me has not yet happened but they like the idea.
The requisite Bullshit Corner is designated and signposted next to the fireplace, a locals’ spot that’s an institution in many country pubs, the signage implying much guff and profanity will be discussed in this formalised setting.
For locals who don’t partake in the bar banter, the hotel also doubles as a coffee shop in the mornings and the town’s post office, the multipurpose usage an affectation born of necessity in Australia’s smallest towns.
With a population of 72, Nerriga is indeed one tiny town. Photo: Martin Conway.
Sarah and Phil also use the pub as a platform to raise money for causes close to their hearts, and their annual camp oven cook-off held every August is growing in popularity. The first event raised $14,000 for the Black Dog Institute, and the 2024 campaign raised just short of $24,000, a massive achievement for the tiny town.
“It won the Community Event of the Year awarded by the council a few years back,” Sarah says.
”It brings the whole community together, and for people who want to come for the experience and try the food and vote on their favourites and buy raffle tickets, it’s something unique.”
With the town now being connected from three directions by tarred roads, all bar a small stretch of dirt on the Braidwood side, Sarah and Phil have noted that traffic and visitors are increasing. If others come seeking the lifestyle that attracted Sarah and Phil, the town may experience a growth period.
“Everything takes time; it may happen in time. We enjoy things as they come and adapt to changes as they happen,” Sarah reflects when thinking of Nerriga’s potential.
The Nerriga Hotel is open Wednesday to Sunday. From 9 am until 11:30 am it operates as a coffee shop. The pub doors open at 11:30 am, with lunch being served from noon until 3 pm. Dinner is served on Friday and Saturday from 6 pm until 8 pm.
