Parked Here Since 2013

Our story began in May 2013, when our very first incarnation – Café de Caravan – rolled into the car park at JC Park. An old-school caravan, eight chairs, and six milk-crate tables marked our humble beginnings. Some days, if the car park stayed empty, we’d simply pack up and head home.

Things shifted in 2015, when we approached the local council with a bold idea: a fully decked-out shipping container café, set on the grass just in front of the caravan’s original spot. That July, the move became reality. Before long, the container became a local landmark, a café inside a shipping container was something worth stopping for, snapping a picture, and talking about with mates.

By 2020, the café officially became Shippy’s Café, a name already well used by locals. Owner Michael had long been known as “Shippy,” and no one ever said they were heading to Café de Caravan; they were always just “going to Shippy’s.”

What started as a one-person operation had grown into a bustling team of five during the week, and up to eight on weekends.

The next chapter arrived with the council’s 2022–2023 redevelopment of the area. While it meant saying goodbye to our much-loved container, it also paved the way forward. In August 2023, Shippy’s Café moved into its current purpose-built home, now proudly part of the Powerhouse precinct – still grounded in where we started, just with a little more room to grow.