Sarah Marrocco is a 25 year old Barista who owns The Coffee Horse, a mobile coffee caravan based in Alice Springs. Sarah grew up in a small country Victorian town in South-East Gippsland and moved to Alice Springs on the whim of a 24 hour visit! She loves the great outdoors and has travelled extensively around the world. She has put her roots (or caravan) down in Central Australia, loves the beautiful landscape and feels a sense of belonging to the community. Sarah dreams of building an empire of gelato stores ‘Marocco’s Gelateria’!
View some of Sarah’s experiences in this short 30 second television commercial airing on Imparja, GO and GEM.
Get to know Sarah in this extended 2 minute web version and learn about her adventure experiences in the Red Centre featuring camel riding and a helicopter flight at Uluru.
Sarah’s Letter to World Adventurers!
Hello Travellers,
If the big curls and broad smile are unfamiliar, my name is Sarah Marrocco. I am a proud Centralian (Central Australian) of just over one year, the owner/operator of local business The Coffee Horse and a Red Centre Adventurer. 
Growing up in a small coastal town in South-East Victoria, I spent the majority of my adolescence volunteering at the local Surf Lifesaving Club and later employed as the local beach Life Guard (childhood friends still find it difficult to fathom that this salt-water child so happily found her way to the desert!).
In the typical order of events for a young country lass, post high-school saw the move to a slightly larger country town for tertiary studies, completing a Bachelor of Business, and eventually finding my way to the ‘Big Smoke’ where I worked for a few years in a variety of business/marketing/event contract roles.
My initial visit to the Red Centre was a fleeting drive by, on an epic road trip from Melbourne to Darwin accompanying a friend.
Convinced over breakfast and a brief conversation with my waitress at Epilogue Lounge, I shortly returned to Alice Springs for a three month stint in order to work and save pennies with the intention of relocating to Canada.
While I did make the move to Canada, settling into a small artistic community, located alongside one of the province’s largest lakes and nestled between two mountain ranges, my yearning for the Red Centre never subsided.
The relationships, learnings and experiences gained in my short time in Alice Springs were unique and I quickly came to realize that I had stumbled across a special place - a home - in the desert.
I inevitably traded the snow-capped mountains and lake scenery for the beauty of the MacDonnell Ranges skyline and open red plains, returning in February this year ready to tackle my new and first business venture, The Coffee Horse.
The little coffee caravan attracts a daily mix of artists, travellers, professionals, bush and town folk alike. Through the exchange of a latte I am privy to the insights, knowledge and tales of a community of great diversity.
It was through my work at The Coffee Horse that I came to meet the wonderful Tourism Central Australia team who offered me the exciting opportunity to become a Red Centre Adventurer! This entailed an epic three day trip to Yulara, in the wonderful company of long time local lady and also fellow Red Centre Adventurer Heather McIntyre, where I was spoiled with the experiences of a sunset camel ride and scenic helicopter flight over Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
Rocking to the rhythm of the camels strut and highlighted by the setting sun, experiencing Uluru from camel back was a surprisingly remarkable experience.
Perhaps the single most notable adventure experience of my life was the scenic helicopter flight in Uluru. Being in the chopper, seeing the endless palette of warm colours surrounding the majestic monolith, brought on a rush of unexpected emotion. My everyday enthusiasm gave way to a tearful mess of overwhelming gratitude for the country I am so fortunate to live on.
Every day I am immensely grateful to have found myself in the Red Centre, living in this unique community and breathtaking environment – to wander the Todd Mall and wave at the many familiar friendly faces, enjoy a Telegraph Station picnic, clay pans walk, ANZAC Hill sunset, camp-fire dinner on a week night or to sleep under the stars.
How lucky are we as Centralians to have an abundance of natural beauty, activity and adventure so easily and readily accessible? Go on Centralian brothers and sisters, get out and explore our incredible backyard! And to all you travellers from around the world, come explore adventure in the Red Centre - it's a magical and unique place. Then come grab a coffee and we can yarn all about it.
Your Smiling Barista,
Sarah
