Bamboo Down Under owners Rick & Lisa Warwick to celebrate 21 years at their nursery in Wongawallan
A soon-to-be 21-year-old Gold Coast business say they are still waiting on insurance money from the cyclonic Christmas Day storms which cost them “several” months in income.
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A soon-to-be 21-year-old Gold Coast business say they are still waiting on insurance money from the cyclonic Christmas Day storms which cost them “several” months in income.
Wongawallan nursery Bamboo Down Under owners Rick and Lisa Warwick will celebrate 21 years since they opened their business on June 29.
The couple in their 60s said they have battled through floods, droughts, the Global Financial Crisis, Covid-19 and most recently the Christmas Day “tornado”.
The nursery boasting display gardens, a bamboo maze, tunnel sensory garden, rainforest walk and more was destroyed when winds of 150km/h smashed through the Gold Coast on Christmas night last year.
“It looked like a bomb had gone off, with carnage everywhere,” Ms Warwick said.
“There was lots of heartache and many tears.”
Ms Warwick said they went back to trading as soon as possible but had to battle 13 days with no electricity.
“It was important to be up and trading as soon as possible because we needed the income.
“We fortunately have business interruption insurance, as the roads up and down the mountain were closed pretty much for weeks.”
Ms Warwick said they were still waiting on insurance money to help fix parts of the nursery blocked off from the damage.
“It’s a long process and business is still a bit slow,” she said.
“But since the storm we have mass planted and the grounds are looking much better.”
The couple reminisced back to when they opened the business in their backyard while living in Cedar Grove, on the opposite side of Mt Tamborine.
“It was such a brave and optimistic thing to do. To take a risk and move forward with putting your passion and finances on the line and starting a business from scratch.”
Ms Warwick said they had overcome many challenges over the past two decades.
“We have had our fair share of weather events. Cyclone Yasi was a doozy,” she said.
Ms Warwick said soon after they opened their second nursery in Mudgeeraba the Global Financial Crisis hit in 2007.
“We faced tremendous financial pressure during that period and were fortunate enough we were able to keep the doors open.
“We hope we don’t face another financial crisis like that one, it was a long time before we recovered from that.”
Ms Warwick said they had seen the Gold Coast grow over the years and loved still having acres for people to “wander and explore the gardens”.
“We love that we offer an alternative place to visit,” she said.
“We hear people say all the time ‘this place is great, we didn’t know you had all this’.
“We are much more than a plant nursery.”
Ms Warwick said they would be celebrating their anniversary on June 29 and 30 with 21 per cent discounts, a sausage sizzle, family activities and live music.
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