New pub breaks drink drought

TOOLANGI residents are about to witness the breaking of a 30-year drought with the opening of a new pub in the tiny mountain hamlet.
The township has been without a local watering hole since the original Toolangi Hotel was burnt to the ground in the early 1970s.
The new Toolangi Tavern will open in mid July and will combine a general store, a take away shop and a family friendly bar and dining room.
Tavern licensee Michelle Owen said the imminent arrival of beer on tap and the reintroduction of wholesome pub meals would help put Toolangi back on the map.
“Having a tavern, where you can get a cold drink, good country pub meals, an open fire and mountain views, will make Toolangi even more of a destination,” she said.
Ms Owen, who has run the town’s former general store for the past four years, said the tavern would be a meeting place for local residents as much as the area’s latest tourist attraction.
“This place will become the local information exchange, a place where people come to catch up and find out what’s happening,” she said.
“We are also capitalising on the tourism trade of the area which has grown significantly in the past four years.
“We’ll be providing tourists, travelling the golden triangle between Healesville, Yarra Glen and Toolangi, with a place to relax and take in the surrounding beauty.”
The tavern, which has been built using local Mountain Ash and replicates the style of the original hotel, has a rear deck offering superb views of Mt Tanglefoot, the Toolangi State Forest and neighbouring berry farms.
“Even though we are only 15 minutes from Healesville, it feels like Toolangi is a world away and that’s a huge draw-card,” Ms Owen said.
“People will be able to come and have breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, get warm, or stay cool, and just relax. “
The bar at the centre of the $750,000 development has been given the title of ‘I Dips Me Lid’, a quote from famous Australian writer CJ Dennis who spent his later years living in Toolangi.
Ms Owen said the tavern would help the revival of the township and its community which, when she arrived four years ago, had no pub, no petrol station, and no cricket club.
“The locals have been very supportive of the tavern. They really embraced it and are looking forward to it becoming the local meeting place,” she said.
“We also think the tavern will complement the many other tourism businesses and attractions in the area and help everyone grow together.” – Dion Teasdale