Heart of the Highway

For more than two decades, one woman has turned an outback roadhouse into the social heart of an isolated patch of Australia.

Words + Photography: Em Jensen

It’s 37 degrees, 150 kilometres from Broken Hill in the top corner of New South Wales, and a group of women sits in a corrugated iron dining room painting flowers onto canvas and sipping fruity cocktails. It might be a surprising scene to the uninitiated traveller, but to anyone who’s been here before, it’s just another day at the Packsaddle Roadhouse.

Owner Mia Degoumois has run the roadhouse for 22 years and couldn’t imagine living anywhere but the outback. Her husband Arnie, a Malyangapa man, has been in the region his whole life, growing up two hours north in Tibooburra. The couple met at a bronco branding soon after Mia moved to the area in her early twenties. At the time, Arnie was head stockman at Innamincka Station.

Packsaddle Roadhouse sits on the Silver City Highway, 150 kilometres from the nearest town. For travellers heading north or south, it’s often the only stop for hours.

Arnie is well known throughout the region for breaking in horses in record time - often within just two days - and is considered one of the few remaining original cowboys of the far west. He still spends much of his time working out bush as a contract fencer, with the occasional mustering job, though these days mostly on a motorbike.

When the roadhouse came up for sale, Mia was working in hospitality and Arnie encouraged her to give it a go. “I told her if you want to have a crack at it, have a crack,” he says.

“It’s so different to when we bought it,” Arnie says. “I built a few things but I can’t take much credit - it’s really all Mia.”

Living in Packsaddle meant learning quickly that if something needed doing, there was rarely anyone else to do it. “Back then it was just me, the two kids and the governess,” Mia says. “So the governess would watch the kids and I’d be here at the roadhouse, and when it got busy I’d call up the governess and say: ‘Can you come down and help me at the roadhouse?’”

Over time, Mia upskilled so she could handle most situations on her own. She’s been the unit commander of the local SES for more than 14 years, is a member of the rural fire service, and hosts monthly RFDS clinics at the roadhouse so people in the region can access medical check-ups.

Inside, the roadhouse is lined with old cowboy hats and saddles collected over the years. Tea, coffee and conversation are always on offer.

Perhaps Mia’s most lasting contribution to Packsaddle, however, has been creating a place where the surrounding community can come together. Today, the roadhouse is hosting a hippie-themed paint-and-sip, giving local station owners and workers the chance to gather and make art in the comfort of the air-conditioned dining room.

People have travelled from White Cliffs, Tibooburra and Broken Hill to attend. Marg Symes came from Broken Hill and says she has visited the roadhouse at least a dozen times. “There’s so much to love - the friendliness, the food, but especially the people,” she says.

The roadhouse is always hosting events for locals and visitors, like Melbourne Cup celebrations.

In recent years, when the local Sturt Steps trail received investment, Mia suggested some funding be allocated to building a yarning circle at the roadhouse - inspired by Malyangapa tradition. “Traditionally, a yarning circle has a fire in the middle, and a talking stick would be passed around,” Mia says. “They’d share stories and sort out problems.”

Arnie built a round yard around the yarning circle out the front of the roadhouse, incorporating elements of outback history into the design.

On cooler nights, Mia lights the fire in the yarning circle and travellers and locals gather to share stories from the road and the west.

Inside, the roadhouse serves food from 8am until late every day, with a dining room adorned with old cowboy hats and saddles, free tea and coffee, and a pool table. Outside, the courtyard is rarely empty, filled with travellers, locals and family stopping for a chat. There are affordable rooms out the back and a free campground behind the roadhouse, complete with hot showers.

First-time visitor April Shepherd says the roadhouse is a welcome sight for solo travellers. “When you’re travelling alone it can be hard to meet people, but this place is a solo traveller’s dream. Everyone here is so welcoming and keen to chat,” she says.

Inside the roadhouse feels unexpectedly vibrant. It’s an eclectic space where creativity and hospitality sit side by side.

After more than two decades, Mia and Arnie are beginning to consider stepping away from hospitality and moving back to Tibooburra. “It’s the best community we’ve ever had anything to do with,” Mia says. “We don’t think we would have had this experience anywhere else.”

And while the couple will undoubtedly miss Packsaddle, there is no question the community will miss them tenfold.

Visit Packsaddle Roadhouse on the Silver City Highway between Broken Hill and Tibooburra. Find out more here.