62 Lachlan Street, Hay
The light is on here
before it is anywhere else
in town.
We open at three in the morning, Monday to Friday. Coffee, a toasted sandwich, a pie, a homemade cake. Grab it and go, or sit out in the garden and watch Hay wake up.
Do drop in.
Before dawn
Hay sits where the Sturt meets the Cobb, and a lot of people come through it early.
Truck drivers making the Sydney to Adelaide run. Header drivers and shearers heading out to a job. Grey nomads who want to get a few hundred kilometres behind them before the heat comes up. For all of them the trouble with an early start is that nothing is open yet.
So the Black Sheep opens at three. There is a proper machine behind the counter, sandwiches and salads already made up, pies in the warmer and cake under the glass. You can be back on the highway in five minutes, or you can sit down on the verandah with the paper.
“Great little cafe that opens really early. Perfect for the early starters.”
4.4
179 Google reviews
Sleeps 2
Next door at the cottage
10 m
From the cottage door to the coffee
On the counter
A sandwich, a salad, a pie and a homemade cake.
All there for you to grab and go, or to sit and enjoy in the garden. Nothing complicated, and none of it sitting around long.
The coffee
- Flat White
- Cappuccino
- Caffe Latte
- Short Black
- Long Black
- Moccachino
- Hot Chocolate
- Tea and hot water
Extra shot or extra milk if you want it. Almond milk is on the counter too.
The food
- Toasted sandwiches, ham and cheese or ham, cheese and tomato
- Pies and pasties, hot out of the warmer
- Sandwiches and salads made up ready to go
- Custard tarts, jam and custard tarts, slices and cupcakes
- Homemade cakes and muffins
- Cold drinks, ice creams and bagged ice
Off the board
Scones, jam and cream, with a coffee or a tea.
$6.50
And we bottle our own tomato sauce.
Locally grown, made up here and sold on the counter in brown paper topped bottles. It goes on the pie, and a fair few of them leave in the glovebox of a truck.
Tomato Sauce · Black Sheep · Locally Grown
The room
An old weatherboard house with a pressed tin ceiling and a garden out the front.
Leadlight in the doors, a shelf of old bottles and biscuit tins along the wall, bistro chairs on the verandah and geraniums along the fence. It is worth getting out of the car for.
What people say
Mostly from people passing through.
4.4 out of 5, from 179 Google reviews
“Just brilliant. Great coffee and friendly service. Iespecially love the early hours.”
“Worth the stop. Great coffee, a solid selection of pastries. Purchase some drinks for the road. Great start to the day”
“Suzanne was so charming. We stopped for “no breakfast” yet enjoyed a toastie, cake and coffee. Talking with the locals was a bonus. Will definitely return when back in Hay.”
“Great little cafe that opens really early. Perfect for the early starters. Coffee was nice and they have a nice selection of pre-made sandwiches and hot food. Will definitely be stopping in again on the next trip through.”
The sign is still lit long after the last coffee, because the first one goes out at three the next morning.
Next door at 62A
Black Sheep Cottage
A fully furnished one bedroom cottage right in the heart of the town. This perfect escape sleeps two people, ten metres from a coffee shop, a minute’s walk into the CBD.
Same owner, same gate. You walk out your own front door in the morning and the coffee is already on, which is not something many places can say.
Sleeps two
One bedroom, one bathroom, and an open living room with a sofa and a dining table for four.
Your own kitchen
Oven and cooktop, microwave, toaster, kettle and a fridge, with crockery and cutlery in the drawers.
Breakfast is in
A full continental breakfast is supplied, stocked on the counter and in the fridge before you arrive.
Dogs welcome
The courtyard is fully enclosed, so the dog can come with you and still have somewhere safe to stretch out.
A private courtyard
Paved, shaded, planted with ferns, with a table and chairs and a painted field of sunflowers along the wall.
Laundry and air con
There is a laundry, and a split system for the forty degree days and the cold Riverina mornings.
The bathroom door
Every guest photographs it, so we may as well put it on the website.
The door to the bathroom is a blue police box, and the sign above it says Salle De Bain in gold script. Nobody has ever asked for an explanation and nobody has ever been disappointed by it either.
Inside
One room, done properly.
“Absolutely divine!!! The decor was gorgeous, the bed extremely comfortable and the continental breakfast plentiful. The host Susanne was warm and friendly and the coffee from the Black Sheep coffee shop was delicious.”
“We have been travelling between SA & NSW for over 30 years this was by far the best place that we have stayed. Clean and tidy, great location, Quiet the best continental breakfast choice I have ever seen and they allow you to have pets with an enclosed small courtyard couldn’t ask for more.”
“We had two nights here and this cottage is second to none ! Very clean, close to the Main Street, lots of delicious breakfast treats, teas and coffees all waiting when you arrive PLUS the heating was on as it was winter. Our two toy poodles were very welcome and the enclosed yard was very secure.”
Check in from 3:00pm. Check out by 10:00am, and the coffee shop is open well before that.
0428 227 909Find us
On Lachlan Street, opposite the fuel stop.
- Address
- 62 Lachlan St, Hay NSW 2711
The cottage is next door at 62A.
- Opening hours
- Monday to Friday3:00am - 10:00amSaturday and SundayClosed
Give us a ring if you are travelling through and want to be sure we are on.
- Phone
- 0428 227 909
The same number for the coffee shop and the cottage.
Get in touch
Booking the cottage, or ordering something for a crew?
The quickest way is to ring. If it is easier to write it down, leave a message here and we will get back to you.
Call 0428 227 909