Fresh local Subs!
It’s been almost 39 years since Captain Nemo’s floated the Submarine to the surface in Rockhampton. One unconfirmed source suggests the Captain mistakenly took the wrong turn and came up the Fitzroy River. Talk to any Rockhampton local or diner that has enjoyed a freshly made sub from Captain Nemo’s and there’s no regrets for that navigational mishap. Since 1978, Captain Nemo’s has been tantalising the taste buds of thousands of people with their delicious subs made from local fresh produce.
The business was originally the creation of 3 local Rockhampton ladies who dreamed to “make a million in five years” based on the popularity of filled rolls in the Unites States. The ladies would often host “sandwich parties” with family to critique their culinary creations before putting it on their menu. They were serious about making submarines and creating a taste so good that it would be programmed into your brain as a memory best served with addiction. But that’s about the only thing they were serious about. Their personalities were all so tongue and cheek. Slogans like “A river may divide us but Nemo’s unites Rockhampton” were often printed in the local newspaper.
As time got on, three became two and two became one. It was time for a new Captain to take over the Submarine. 12 years ago the telescope was downed and taken over by new owners, Captain Juanita Weston-Wright (pictured below) being one of them.
Captain Nemo’s previous owner Anita meets the new owner Juanita
In early 2016, Juanita got to finally meet one of the first ladies, Captain Anita. For many hours over lunch, a submarine off course, the girls got to share some of their experiences at sea. Even though Anita hasn’t been in the business for quite some time, she says people still walk up to her and recognise her. “They often ask me if I’m still selling Sunshine Subs. They were by far the best seller. I think they still are. We would often sell out daily.”
To this date, Captain Nemo’s is considered to be one of Rockhampton’s longest serving speciality shops.
The original A team, Anita and Cindy
“I reckon we could make a million in five years” was the prediction of three Local ladies based on the popularity of filled rolls in the United States called by many names heroes, grinder, hogies, baguettes, Italian sandwiches and submarines to name a few. This May 1978 edition of “tourist” notes the first year in business for this true Rockhampton icon and the picture below of the first crew the original proprietors (left to right) June Appleton, Suzanne Baitley and Anita Fitzgerald.
By their own admission these women were novices in the business world but they had great fun choosing the name, ‘Captain Nemo’s Submarine Sandwich Base. From the novel by Jules Verne “ Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea.” In fact our Nautulis sub is the name of Captain Nemo’s submarine. The proprietors however did have very firm ideas on the type of take away food outlet they were offering the people of Rocky as evidenced by the original mission statement below.
After three decades Captain Nemo’s continues to deliver on those basic principles of freshness quality and efficient personalized service. The hospitality of the crew at the sub is well know and regarded as the subs themselves even the mayonnaise.
The ladies commenced trial batches of their proposed fillings at ‘submarine sandwich’ parties for friends and family to test the acceptability from these humorous gatherings a short list of five subs was developed with all taste ‘experts’ chipping in with potential sub names. Opening the first shop on 20/03/1978 at Carnaby Arcade, East St (next to the CEB for those who can’t remember) the offerings were:
This list of subs grew over the years as customers chose or requested alternate fillings. This gave rise to the Captain’s competitions for our customers to choose the names. Two that spring to mind are Boneparte’s Bounty and Tandy Torpedo.
The founding crew lost a wo(man) at sea in the first year of trading when Sue had to depart due to family commitments. June and Anita navigated the seas of trade together for another 12 years during which time they “had some wonderful times and experiences with our customers.” One notable feat was catering for the Capricorn Electricity Board (CEB now Ergon Energy to our younger customers) annual picnic on Great Keppel Island no small feat in the 30’ x 8’ shop with 1150 rolls to be ready by 10 00 hours sharp. Needless to say the families and crew were press-ganged into service, packing and labeling while June and Anita turned out subs at a tremendous rate of knots.
June and Anita continued their efforts running the shop on ‘mothers hours’ even closing during the school holidays. Shop closures were advertised in the local paper with some humour, sometimes implying exotic destinations and unusual activities (for two middle – aged women anyway!) on re-opening the sub was inundated with sub deprived customers.
At the very least the crew always tried to stand out from the crowd and have some fun. Have a look at some of these ads run in The Bully.
In 1984 the Cap’t decided to move base so he downed telescope and steamed to 30 William St. (then quickly to 28 William St Next door).
In the same year the Captain opened a second port of call with a seabase on Musgrave St, North Rockhampton.
And yes, the penchant for newspaper advertisements with the spice of the South Seas reflected the healthy happy attitude of the crew.
June purchased Anita’s share of the sub in 1990 when Anita logged off and moved to Brisbane. June continued to navigate the sub through the seas. Little did she realize that the Captain faced troubled waters ahead.
In the mid 1990’s there was a mutiny aboard the sub. One of the crew members pilfered the captains secret logs and opened another seabase in Mackay ( of all places!).
The captains logs were protected by the laws of the sea (i.e. trademark and logo legislation) however the captain need the aid of the naval JAG team to prosecute these pirates. After successfully sinking this rogue sub the Captain continues to this day to chart the familiar waters around Rockhampton.
In 2005, Nemo’s underwent renovations to give “the home of the best Subs in Australia” a newer, fresher feel.
In 2011 Northside Nemo’s moved to a bright new shop with much better parking and a fresh modern approach to the making and ordering of our fresh local subs. This shop is located at 202 Musgrave Street – right next door to ProComputers.
Finally in early 2013, Nemo’s at 28 William Street underwent a major renovation to bring both shops in line with each other.
… a customer ordered a Sunshine Sub on white with salt and pepper. When she picked her order up, she brought with her an esky filled with ice. The Sub was packed in the ice and air freighted to Mt Isa, as a birthday present for a very lucky lady who was having
Cost of Sub $6.50
Cost of Air Freight $150
Total Cost: PRICELESS!
