The opening of the much-anticipated Gympie Bypass will see traffic diverted around the Queensland town. How this will impact businesses there is still unknown.
Among those businesses in Gympie is the popular Gold Nugget Truck Stop on the Bruce Highway, which has been a mainstay of the town for over 30 years.
Just hours before the bypass opened late on Tuesday night, Big Rigs spoke with roadhouse manager Ken Lavender about how it could impact business.
“There are of course some concerns, but we’ve known this was going to happen for quite some time, so we have put plans in place,” he said.
The Gold Nugget incorporates an old-school restaurant, service station, truck parking, truck driver facilities and caravan park.
“With the road network the way it is, we’re hoping that trucks can still come off the highway and continue heading north to us, and we’re hoping they’ll be able to easily access us when coming from the south too,” Lavender added.
“If we don’t get the support, there may need to be changes to staffing and operating hours but we’re hopeful that it will all be okay. The Gold Nugget has been around a long time, and it’s well known and loved by the trucking community.
“Most of the truck drivers we’ve spoken to over the years have said they still plan on stopping here – but we won’t know the ramifications until the bypass opens.”
Lavender says the charm and character of the roadhouse, coupled with the old style home cooked meals, have kept customers coming back.
“That’s what makes us unique in the market and unique to Queensland. We’ve supported the trucking industry and we hope they’ll continue to support us too.”
Hi. I have spent many nights and enjoyed more meals at the Nugget between 2006 and 2019 when the company I worked for closed down. My wife Tracy often came along for the ride into the outback of Qld. I met Tracy at the Caltex Benaraby in 2009. She was the cook and kitchen hand. Her mum Cynthia was the morning cook. Tracy has also worked at the little Matilda, Benaraby, Calliope Crossroads, Caltex Ilbilbie and the Hamburger Hut at Kalarka. The truckies loved all the staff at Benaraby and and they often helped clean up the tables when they were run off their feet. Often there wasn’t enough room to park all our trucks lining both sides of the highway! When Darrel sold out Tracy was the first to be ‘removed’. No drivers were allowed to make their tea and coffee like they always did. An urn was installed in the restaurant and was completely forgotten about. It was either empty or burnt out! Not long after Tracy was ‘removed’ her mum walked out too. And within a few weeks there were no trucks pulling in anymore!!! Don’t upset the truckies.
The Gold Nugget is one of the few old school roadhouses left. I urge drivers to continue to support it otherwise you will lose that one to ‘progress’!
I am retired now and Tracy should be on a disability pension. They have her on job seeker. She is still a mean cook.
We had a new friend come to our place as a friend of another new friend in Blackbutt. Steve had some of Tracys savoury mince. He tasted it and asked who cooked this? It is just like the savoury mince I used to enjoy at the Caltex Benaraby! It turns out I ended up with Tracy because I had a bigger truck!