Putting the van into Diemen’s Land

MOTORISTS visiting the Tasman Peninsula can now refuel at the most ecological of driver revivers.

RETRO STYLE: The mobile solar-powered cafe overlooking Pirates Bay, serving coffee and traditional dishes sourced from a family cookbook. Picture: ANDREW KNOTT

MOTORISTS visiting the spectacular Tasman Peninsula can now refuel at the most ecological of driver revivers, after husband and wife bean-roasting team Laurie Trower and Fabienne Ganz opened a mobile solar-powered cafe overlooking Pirates Bay.

Barista Mr Trower said the decision to open a Cubed Espresso inside a fully restored 1950s caravan was borne out of a desire to provide caffeine-craving tourists with an authentic, environmental product.

“We are located at the gateway to the peninsula, and like anywhere outside a major city it’s hard to find a decent coffee here,” Mr Trower said. “We found the caravan rotting in a Queensland paddock, and it took us a year to restore.

“Everything in the van has been restored or recycled, right down to the 1950s furniture we use outside.

“The whole operation runs completely off the grid, and all our water is harvested from rain. We’d obviously seen the whole movement with food vans, but wanted something with a strong eco-philosophy behind it.

“There are no noisy generators here, and all our food is handmade, gluten-free and organic where possible.”

While Mr Trower pours the coffees at Cubed’s permanent location on Pirates Bay Drive, his German-born wife Fabienne Ganz serves up traditional dishes sourced largely from her family cookbook.

The business has only been running for a month, but early customer feedback has proved their hunch about the market was correct, with a recent short-listing for an EPA sustainability award.

“We’ve had plenty of tourists here, but have also experienced great local support,” Mr Trower said.

“A lot of love goes into what we serve here, because we are passionate about what we do. We like that fact that the converted caravan is a bit of a cool story, but it’s an honest and authentic story too.”