Cunnamulla icon restored

Partially renovated but with parts still abandoned and crumbling, Jake planned to use the rambling two-story building to provide budget accommodation for travellers and backpackers as well as office space for local businesses and government agencies.

Fast forward five years and the 70-year-old building, re-named Central on Stockyard by Jake and his wife Emma, is now home to a thriving backpacker hostel that sees dozens of international visitors placed on farms across south west Queensland and north west NSW for work each year.

"We initially had some trouble getting approval to turn it into accommodation because council said we would require a lift to the second floor," Emma said.

"But after a lot of frustration we learned from a private consultant that we wouldn't require a lift if 60 per cent of the available space was on the lower level and once we measured it up we found we fitted that criteria.

"We then had to do a block-style renovation and get it all done in five weeks so that we could take advantage of the roadworks contractors that were here for the flood recovery work in 2013.

"We were booked out solid for the first six months, feeding about 50 people at night in the dining room."

With the roadwork crews now long gone from Cunnamulla, the Berghofers are back to rely solely on travelling backpackers to fill up the 40 accommodation rooms in the old hotel.

After constantly fielding calls from landholders looking for backpackers on outlying properties, the couple launched a work placement service in the hope of driving more business to the hostel.

"After the road contract work dried up we realised there was an opportunity there because we were getting a lot of calls from people wanting backpackers suitable for work on properties," Emma said.

"At the same time you have these backpackers who want to experience living and working in the real outback."

The couple are no strangers to using backpackers, having employed nannies and farm workers at their beef and goat property, Springvale, 10 kilometres south west of Eulo, for many years.

"Jake's family also used to run the Eulo Queen Hotel and they used backpackers on Springvale and in the pub all the time," Emma said.

"This was right at the start when no one was really using backpackers and they just found that they could get really skilled backpackers who wanted that unique experience in the outback.

"We've had carpenters, plumbers, chefs, child care workers and teachers - there is a whole pool of really talented people out there, some with very impressive qualifications."

Emma said it's not just the skills that the backpackers bring that have enriched the district.

"We also get the cultural exchange which is really valuable I think," she said.

"We provide a free barbecue here on a Friday night and a lot of the workers living out on farms come back in and enjoy getting together with the other backpackers and we all eat out there together as a family."

The Berghofers have created a website specific to their backpacker business and are now placing backpackers as far west as Noccundra, north to Augathella and south to north west NSW.

The vast majority of the backpackers come via bus from Brisbane and are collected by their employers in Cunnamulla.

Emma said finding a suitable employee was paramount and she said her staff spend a lot of time informing the backpackers about what to expect when they come to Cunnamulla.

"We make sure they have some understanding about the type of work they will be doing and what to expect from the town," she said.

"We also make sure that once they arrive they have adequate footwear and clothing so they aren't heading out to muster in sneakers.

"We talk a bit about heat and isolation and those conversations start right back when they make the initial contact because if they are informed it just wastes everyone's time."

The Berghofers offer their backpacker placement service free of charge but Emma said the work ultimately drives more business to their hostel.

"We currently have five backpackers living with us permanently who are working with local builders, at the bakery, the servo and the fruit shop," she said.

With two young children of their own, life is now fairly hectic for Jake and Emma.

The couple also run a goat depot from Cunnamulla and Eulo and a contract hay bailing business.

Emma said getting ahead has been about having as many strings to their bow as possible.

"We try to spread our risk but it's been a pretty big sacrifice for our family because we spend more nights apart than we do together," she said.

"It's been really hard and you just have to hope that at the end of it all, it will be worthwhile."