A former hospitality training centre for students in the Burdekin, with a particular focus on Indigenous youth, is now flourishing as the Gudjuda Deck Café, while still providing career pathways in hospitality.
When the building became vacant in 2017, mother- daughter duo Noeleen Backo and Seleena Chapman saw an opportunity to foster their passion for baking to open a café, and to also revive Certificate III Hospitality training for the region’s youth.
“That’s really a big part of why we got into it, we wanted to influence them… give job opportunities for kids in the district,” shares Noeleen.
“We found that a lot of kids were having to travel far to do their Certificate III, so we’ve had schools contact us for training for a lot of their students.
“It has been a real family effort, as my husband, daughter, and son have played a huge part in our success, either working in the café or helping out behind the scenes.”
Located along the highway between Ayr and Home Hill, the deck features views of Plantation Park. The ladies pride themselves on providing locals and travellers with fresh, homemade café-style meals and desserts, catering to local businesses and events, and acknowledging their Indigenous culture.
“When customers love it, that’s the most rewarding thing. Customers travelling down from Townsville for the day just to stop in and eat at our café, as well as people travelling along the highway stopping here to eat,” Seleena shares.
“We do a lot of functions here for the Burdekin Shire Council and schools, we’ve catered for weddings, barbecue functions and occasionally we’ll do a high tea.
“We take big orders for cheesecakes, tarts, cakes, and a lot of people come in to order these for events.
“Something we do that you don’t see anywhere else is the caramel apricot tart. It used to be an ‘Ayr’ thing – I mean it’s been around for years – I knew it from my mum and my aunties that used to cook it.”
Pronounced good-juh-da, the walls inside the homely, rustic café are bursting with traditional paintings, flags, and décor showcasing their Indigenous culture.
“Gudjuda means ‘Saltwater People’, pertaining to the Juru People, the Traditional Owners along the coast. There’s a lot to do with traditions like fishing and hunting traditional foods,” explains Noeleen.
“But most people don’t know how to pronounce it!
“During NAIDOC Week, we cook up traditional food, like wattleseed scones, chicken coconut curry, chicken vermicelli, and ginseng.
“Schools bring their students down to Plantation Park, where the rangers take them on the Juru Walk. After this, they come in and show them what we have on display.”
When describing their business in three words, Noeleen says family, hard work, and rewarding came to mind.
“My favourite thing about managing this café is the people we’ve met along the way, as well as the staff. We share a real tight-knit family bond with our employees,” shares Noeleen.
Open Tuesday to Friday, all year round, Noeleen and Seleena plan to renovate the deck with air- conditioning in the near future, ready for the North Queensland summer.
“We think that this will help people still enjoy the deck and it’s beautiful views during the warmer months, and we look forward to the future of the café and seeing all of our regular, and new customers,” says Noeleen.
