Benambra Hotel: Erin Tomkins returns from overseas to run town’s pub

The Benambra Hotel has emerged from Covid hibernation with a well known name at the helm.

The Benambra Hotel has emerged from Covid hibernation with a well known name at the helm.

Erin Tomkins spent the first three months of the pandemic stuck in Guatemala when she was travelling from the Arctic to Antarctica.

She grew up in the high country town before heading off to travel the world.

But after safely making it back to Australia from Central America in late 2020 and initially working on the family’s Benambra farm, the chance to buy the town’s pub was an offer too good to pass up.

Benambra Hotel publican Erin Tomkins. Picture: Supplied

Her dad, Doug, originally bought the hotel in the late 1990s and after two subsequent ownership changes he is playing a key support role in his 33-year-old daughter’s latest venture.

“I never thought in my wildest dreams I would end up back in Benambra,” Erin said.

“Life takes you in strange directions, but it’s where I need to be at the moment.

Benambra Hotel gets a boost from mountain calf sales and other events.

“I like being able to offer something to the local community because for so long the doors of the pub were closed.

“There are people I knew as a kid and now they’ve got somewhere to go to have a chat, have a beer and just socialise.”

The pub’s rebirth was strategically timed for the town’s two biggest events, the Mountain Calf Sales and Hinnomunjie picnic races, in early March.

The pub’s kitchen and accommodation have also returned in recent weeks.

Doug said his daughter was off to a flying start in her new role.

“She does the majority of the work and is doing a great job,” he said.

“When we took it over there was a lot to do.

“But we’ve put a pizza oven into the kitchen and they’ve been popular.

“People can come in and eat them or take them away.

“We’re starting to get the groups back that used to come through like the trail bike riders.

“Most importantly the locals have got a place to go because it’s not too pleasant over winter up here.”