The Homestead at Lotus Creek is open to the public five years on from Cyclone Debbie

The only roadhouse in a historic Central Queensland town was flattened by Cyclone Debbie five years ago. You won’t believe the amazing transformation at the site now.

It’s a small Central Queensland town that was devastated by Cyclone Debbie, and for five years it has been without its roadhouse.

But now a new business is breathing life into the small country town that is Lotus Creek, between Rockhampton and Mackay, which could soon become a tourism hotspot.

The roadhouse is no more but in its place is The Homestead at Lotus Creek, which opened its doors this month and so far has received a warm welcome from the community and travellers alike.

For more than 30 years the Lotus Creek Roadhouse was owned and run by Sandy Petrie, and was the one-stop shop for locals to get fuel and food.

It was also the only remaining rest stop on the Marlborough-Sarina Rd.

But Cyclone Debbie in 2017 changed all of that.

A “tsunami” of floodwater rushed through, sweeping Mr Petrie’s car and two dogs away and causing extensive damage to the roadhouse.

But after five years, the spot where the roadhouse once stood has been brought back to life by a local family.

Graziers David and Linda Kemp and their family, who own and run the Lotus Park Feedlot, purchased the site and have recently opened the homestead promising home-style hospitality.

The area of Lotus Creek is rich with history.

The homestead is located on the area’s coach road on the old inland highway, and when the coast road opened, the Lotus Creek Roadhouse was the only service station to remain open.

David and Linda’s son-in-law Steve Hart said the family didn’t want to see the old roadhouse site left in ruin.

“They didn’t want to see it fall to ruin so they thought they thought they’d buy the place off Sandy and let him retire,” Mr Hart said.

The Kemp Family who own and run the Lotus Park Feedlot bought the site of the Lotus Creek Roadhouse and have opened The Homestead.

“At first we didn’t really know what to do with it.

“We started cleaning the place up and people in the community asked us to get it going again and caravanners would pull up and tell us they would stop if it was up and running.”

From there the family began making their plans and two and a half years later, the doors opened to the public.

“The response has been awesome, people have been so excited to see it open and it feels so good,” Mr Hart said.

“It was a special thing to do (with the family).

“One of the drivers was to provide a country style hospitality, like what you would if you have someone come visit.”

At the moment the Homestead has petrol and diesel bowsers, a firepit, store and restaurant - but soon people will be able to stay overnight with accommodation under construction.

The Lotus Creek Roadhouse after it was damaged by Cyclone Debbie in 2017.

“We’ll have accommodation, we’re building cabins but they’re a couple of months off still and there will be about 30 camping sites,” Mr Hart said.

“There’s a big water hole about one kilometre long and that’s one of the things we’re going to push when we get our website up and running.

“A lot of families want to go swimming, kayaking or fishing in it, so they’ll be able to come out and do that.

“It’s a beautiful waterhole, we’ve cleaned it right up to the bank.

“We want to bring the place back to what it once was, it was a happening place.”

To find out more about the Homestead at Lotus Creek visit its Facebook page.