Something
changes in my brain in between leaving Canberra
for the South Coast
and driving back home again. The change is most evident in my driving
behaviour.
On the outgoing trip, I’m fanatical about what other drivers are doing
on the road. A driver overtaking me on double white lines at more than
120km/h can send me into a screaming tirade. A driver that refuses to go
1km/b over 90km/h on a straight stretch of 100km/h zone can elicit the
same response.
No one’s heard me say those kinds of words since the Giant Drop ride
at Dream- world.
But on the way home, I’m happy to potter along at whatever speed and
marvel at the great blankets of sand-coloured grasslands.
What happens in the middle?
I arrived at Giba Gunyah Country Cottages on Saturday evening, after a
full two-hour drive from Canberra. Giba Gunyah is in Bemboka, the
“village in the valley” at the base of Brown Mountain.
My host met me on the driveway and directed me towards a tiny stone
cottage, nestled among a garden that reminded me of fairytales.
Inside, the fire crackled happily, spreading warmth across the red
brick floor.
There were gourmet chocolates on the table, fresh eggs from the
chickens outside, and freshly baked bread in the bread bin.
Giba Gunyah is Aboriginal for stone shelter. The cottage, set aside
from the main house, was built in the l98Os by watercolour painter Ray
Bamett and his wife Beatrice. The stones came from the Bemboka River,
which lies across
the bottom of the
propertv. Owners Ros and John Raward have worked to make the cottage
homely and inviting, adding candles, flowers, pretty pictures and a
well-stocked book shelf. I imagined Goldilocks traipsing through the
doorway with three bears, which reminded me of my grumbling tummy.
I headed out to dinner to the seaside town of Merimbula with hubby. It’s about 45 minutes’ drive from the cottages and being a popular holiday spot, offers a variety of quality restaurants.
We stopped at Zanzibar Café on the main stretch. The menu included a variety of treats, but I had no trouble picking out king prawns and ravioli with sage and burnt butter and the eye fillet of beef. The spinach and ricotta ravioli had a lovely lemon tang and the eye fillet, although chewy in some spots was matched well with mushroom ragout and red wine jus.
The lovely rolling hills of the Bemboka countryside invite you to go walking and the cosy cottage lounge room, below.
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But hubby’s entrée, a goat’s cheese and leek tart, surpassed them both. The creamy cheese and delicate pastry were just sumptuous and I plan ongoing back just for that tart. Although we’d had enough to eat, we shared a Baileys-flavoured creme brulee. The dessert was delicately flavoured and almost as silky as creme caramel, so it slipped between the cracks easily. In the morning, after sleeping like a dead person I sat in the garden to write. I listened to the orchestra of chattering birds, the lazy hum of a bee and chooks crooning in the hen house.
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Kookaburras cut in, chortling over everyone else. Giba Gunyah encourages its visitors to reflect and enjoy their surroundings. Garden chairs dot the property in pretty nooks and crannies. Pets are also welcome to stay. |
Cottages Bemboka
Where:
224
Polacks Flat
Road, Bemboka NSW.
I admit I spent more time stopping, looking and taking photos than actual walking but there was so much to see. |
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There are numerous walking trails, some which stretch for hours through the Bemboka National Park. I took one behind the Giba Gunyah main house. It curved through the bush, offering peeks of the patchwork valley through the trees.
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The great gum trees around me, some blackened by past fires, bristled with life. A kookaburra swooped past me, landing on a nearby branch. He regarded me haughtily until taking off again when I crept too close for a photo. On the drive home, I sat behind a 90km/h offender for 45 minutes before reaching an overtaking lane. I sang along to Sophie B. Hawkins and enjoyed the sun beaming down across the rolling paddocks. There was not a foul word to be heard. |
