A guide to my hometown Ingham, perhaps the most Australian town in Australia

There’s so much about my hometown of Ingham, in steamy Far North Queensland, that you just can’t make up. Like the Amazonian-size snakes that keep appearing in my parents’ chicken coop, sporting suspicious poultry-sized bumps. The yearly public spaghetti-eating competition in honor of the town’s Italian heritage. And the pub that doubles as a drop-off point for injured wildlife.

If you’ve traveled the length of Australia’s iconic east coast, chances are you’ve driven through Ingham, population 4,455. Maybe you paused for a toilet break at McDonald’s. Perhaps you had the better sense to grab an award-winning meat pie from Mick’s Bread Kitchen over the road. 

However you spent the break, my bet is that it was brief. What could a tiny sugarcane farming community, with more cane toads than people, possibly have to offer a traveler?

I, too, once had the same view. Having been born and raised in Ingham, my teen years were spent dreaming of escaping. I had convinced myself there was Nothing. To. Do. This place was Boring. I was destined to See The World. I was out the door and on the first flight to London once my savings allowed.

But after 15 years spent trying to embrace—but barely tolerating—the seemingly never ending British winter, those sugarcane fields, cool water holes and warm Ingham days are growing more enticing.

Savvy Ingham locals are also tapping into this sentiment. Fed up with being passed by on the highway, they’ve taken up the mantra, “build it and they will come”. And slowly, but surely, Ingham has been upgrading from the pit stop of my youth to a modern paradise.

When you have breakfast over here, you sit on our deck and you look across the Hinchinbrook Channel, Hinchinbrook Island, and Palm Island. On a lovely day, it’s absolutely beautiful.

- Ian Belcher, B&B owner

A good night’s rainforest rest 

Ian and Trish Belcher opened Vista Hinchinbrook three years ago, a bed-and-breakfast in the rainforest at the edge of Girringun National Park. Guests can stay in one of three private cabins set high among the lush foliage, take morning yoga and high tea on the tranquil verandah, or order a—supremely Aussie—barbecue meat pack from reception to cook on their own balcony. 

The B&B has become popular with international visitors, with bookings growing as word spreads about the surrounding, largely untapped, great outdoors. Like Wallaman Falls, Australia’s longest single-drop waterfall and the uninhabited Hinchinbrook Island—just on Ingham’s doorstep.

“People are realizing that where they’re staying is very special,” says Ian. “When you have breakfast here, you sit on our deck and you look across the Hinchinbrook Channel, Hinchinbrook Island, and Palm Island. On a lovely day, it’s absolutely beautiful.”

Ian and Trish moved from the UK to Ingham 30 years ago. Originally lured by construction work, they say they stayed for the relaxed lifestyle. “You don’t have to be in the middle of Sydney to stay somewhere nice,” says Ian. 

Vista Hinchinbrook is a far cry from the accommodation options of my youth, when the only stay available was a sparse room above an equally sparse pub.

The pub’s had a facelift 

Speaking of the pub, the revitalization of a century-old icon has recaptured the hearts of local, domestic and international visitors alike. The Station Hotel, with its imposing façade, large wrap-around balcony and signature white lattice works, has dominated Cartwright Street since 1925. 

Behind its swinging saloon doors, the U-shaped, polished wood bar looks like it’s seen its fair share of Aussie country drama, looked down on by faded 1980s posters of busty football cheerleaders (now appropriately gone) and a regal portrait of Queen Elizabeth (still there, if I recall correctly). 

This pub was once the mainstay of workers coming in for their 5pm beer, but since being bought by local pub mogul Gavin Bacchiella, it is seeing a much deserved renaissance. Pub manager Rebecca Zaghini, who has lived in Ingham for over a decade but is from Melbourne originally, has been intentional about advertising for and hiring international staff, to inject a fresh perspective and energy to the place. Gone is the meat pie menu of my youth. Now, an arvo at the Station might involve anything from Tuscan salmon to a Thai buffet.

Good tucker is back on the menu

Back in the day, Australian pop icon Tina Arena played a rare show in Ingham. What she ate while here is unknown, the options were extremely limited, but I can only assume her Italian heritage led her to our town’s signature dish—crumbed steak with a ravioli topper. Beloved by the Italian community, myself included. 

Nowadays, locally caught seafood is front and center. A new favorite is Slipway Bar and Restaurant, at Lucinda Cove Resort which overlooks the waterfront of Ingham’s fishing outpost, Lucinda. Slipway opened just last year, following the resort’s reopening in 2022 under new management. The menu’s standout feature is its three-tier seafood platter, packed with prawns, oysters and fish, alongside mussels, calamari and the not-to-be-missed Moreton Bay Bugs. At AUD$149, it’s not bad considering you’d be paying closer to AUD$200 in the big cities.

Around the corner is Lucinda Store, the much loved fish-and-chip takeaway, which, after a brief closure, has come back stronger than ever with a menu featuring locally sourced scallops, prawns, a whole grilled squid, and—you guessed it—more Moreton Bay bugs.

“After traveling a little around the area, I believe it’s magical, especially if you like to explore nature.”

- Ajelandra Cortes, The Station Hotel

Magic beaches and wild wildlife 

Back when I was growing up, the great Queensland outdoors only exaggerated my adolescent angst, rather than consoling it. The quiet was like an uncomfortable ringing in my ears. 

Nowadays, I love bringing my own kids to the sandy expanse of Forrest Beach. We don’t brave its waters in the hot summer months when venomous box jellyfish love to wallow, but in the far north winter—when days still clock 25 degrees—the water is cool, clear and mostly jellyfish-free. Or we go rock hopping to the water holes at the bottom of Jourama Falls, or head out to Tyto Wetlands where at dusk you can witness dozens of wallabies quietly feeding on the expansive grasslands. After heavy rains, crocodiles are also occasionally spotted here.

The influx of international expats are also spreading the word of Ingham’s natural wonders. Like Ajelandra Cortes from Spain who now works at The Station Hotel—her traditional tortilla espaňola (Spanish omelet) is even on the menu. 

“After traveling a little around the area, I believe it’s magical, especially if you like to explore nature,” she says. “I can’t believe the country is so full of beaches that you can practically have it for yourself. I feel privileged that I have actually experienced Australia and not only what they show on social media, something many tourists don’t get to see.”

Living in the UK with my British husband and our kids settled in school and daycare, I now spend half my year indoors, with a soundscape of rattling trains and emergency sirens, and significantly less space—a washer in the kitchen is the norm here. In my youth, I chased the noise and couldn’t wait to get away from Ingham. And now, I can’t wait to get back.

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