After five years at the wheel, Nicole (Nic) Morris has handed over the keys to Gulargambone's community-owned Two Eight Two Eight Café.

The Armatree resident said she wants to spend more time with her grandchildren and finished her lease on June 29. 

She has passed the baton to staff member of three-and-a-half-years Chereese Manaia.

"I've had a few tears," Nic said. "I will still be involved because I just won't be able to help myself to come in and volunteer.

"The advice I've already given her is I'm only a phone call away and the committee are there to support her too. We want to see her have a go."

Nicole became involved with the Bourbah Street café 20 years ago when it was still largely volunteer run, and took over the lease in 2019.

When the cafe’s committee evicted the previous tenants and held an emergency meeting, Nic put her hand up to run it.

"I just knew that it needed some love and was happy to take it on."

She steered the ship through COVID, drought in the late 2010s and the 2021 mouse plague, where hundreds of mice stripped Gular's Friendly Grocer just down the street. 

Nicole Morris (centre) has been a driving force at the cafe for two decades.

Despite the rocky times, Nic has kept her passion for the venue and what it could provide for the local community.

"My passion was giving jobs to people who hadn't had one, and young people," Nic said.

"It's one of the heart and souls of Gulargambone and we really need it." 

Nic has still been running the café during a transition period, with her successor taking the wheel this week. 

Chereese began at the café for extra cash as a dishwasher, her first job since having her first child Madison 16 years ago.

From there she moved into a front-of-house role taking orders and making coffee.

The New Zealand-born Gular resident admits it was an uneasy start to her hospitality debut.

"Nic has taught me a lot," Chereese said. "There was a few glitches. Trying to take orders and stuff like that took a bit of getting used to, but after a while I just clicked.

"When me and Nic worked together, we bounced off each other. It wasn't a 'boss' sort of thing, even though she was my boss. Whatever she didn't know I'd know and whatever I didn't know she'd know.

"I never actually thought I'd be in this position, and I thought 'if she has the confidence to put her faith in me trying to take over, then surely that's got to say something.'" 

The new owner has a few changes in mind from the end of July, including an earlier start and opening for an extra day, although the café's name is here to stay.

"A lot of people in town love their coffee early," Chereese said. "We close the Monday and Tuesday, but sometimes we get a lot of caravans that come through on those days, so I think that opening an extra day might help increase a bit of people coming through.

"I love the name, everyone knows the name. It's going to be a bit hard if you change it."