Rob Hammink and Janene Perry were looking for a house when they bought Eaglehawk's Camp Hotel.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The pair were looking to uproot their metro lifestyle in Croydon South for a tree change closer to family in central Victoria when they stumbled across the pub.
"We were looking to buy a house and we bought a pub," Ms Perry said. "We basically came to pub for a couple of drinks."
IN OTHER NEWS:
After a chat with the former owner, Mr Hammink sent the books to his accountant and the rest is history.
Despite not having hospitality experience, the couple have taken the ownership in their stride - even living upstairs at the Camp Hotel - and managed through Victoria's fifth lockdown.
"For two weeks we were running alright and then Covid struck us," he said.
"My mentality is you've got to give it a go. And to be the boss for a change, that's something exciting."
Ms Perry has knowledge of the food industry and is hopeful public support will keep their dream alive.
"It's a hard business but if everyone thought that way there wouldn't be any restaurants or anything like that," she said. "This is a country little pub and I think once the doors are open, we need to get the public to support every business.
"We're lucky to have the bottle shop open now and once we re-open I hope people will come back."
The pair hope to make a few changes to one of central Victoria's oldest pubs, but history is at the forefront of their minds.
"This is one of the oldest pubs in Bendigo; there's still the doors from the old era with old locks and numbers on them," Mr Hammink said. "We've heard a few things about this pub and what it was used for with miners coming here when injured.
"From 1855 onwards a lot has happened up here so it would be nice to get it back to its former glory."
READ MORE:
Ms Perry was hoping to find old photographs from the pub's hey-day to hang on the walls.
"There will be a new menu coming out, we're just waiting for everything to open up," she said. "We also hope to get a light little band for people to sit back and relax with a meal.
"We want the bistro back up an running seven days a week and hopefully the locals will support us.
"I love the country and I always have and having the old pub with all this miner's history; we want to get it back to what it was."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark bendigoadvertiser.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter @BgoAddy
- Follow us on Instagram @bendigoadvertiser
- Join us on Facebook
- If you're a subscriber, join our subscriber-only Facebook group.
- Follow us on Google News
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.