Omaroo, Kangaroo Valley review: The far side of the room

The glorious open spaces of a Kangaroo Valley pad bring Elicia Murray and friends to a squealing halt.

THERE is an underrated upside to cramped apartment living: the instant euphoria that occurs whenever you visit somewhere with oodles of space.

For people who measure the floor space of their regular digs by the hundreds, not tens, of square metres, the most impressive thing about Omaroo, a sleek, modern three-bedroom house on a rural block in Kangaroo Valley, might be the view through the living area's floor-to-ceiling windows to the rugged ridge line. Or perhaps the solar-heated lap pool just beyond a wide timber deck.

But the feature that elicits squeals of delight from three grown women familiar with sharing very confined spaces with other humans is the sheer, blissful space.

To describe the proportions of the three-year-old house as generous is an understatement. Obscene is more like it. Nowhere is this more true than in the master bedroom, which could swallow my entire Sydney flat and still have room for dessert. It would be churlish,

I suppose, to describe the room as too big, though the king bed is dwarfed by a sea of carpet.

In reality, it feels deliciously decadent to have a space bigger than an average classroom - including deep tub, twin sinks and rain shower - all to myself. Likewise, it's a luxurious touch in a holiday house to have en suites attached to each of the smaller bedrooms, though a better tiling job would have prevented puddles forming during showers.

My fellow squealers and I are on a girls' weekend. Tradition dictates that one of us be pregnant, so Narelle has kindly stepped up on this occasion. If we'd had more time after the drive, we could have cooked dinner in the enormous kitchen - or on the barbecue - and sat down to eat at the 10-seater dining table. As it is, we're more than happy to stretch out on three long couches in front of the open fire and graze on deli treats we brought from home. And anyway, sensible meals are overrated on weekends away.

The next morning, we fire up the coffee machine before driving through lush dairy country to Kangaroo Valley township, where we poke about the gift shops and galleries. Wire sculptures of mice aren't really our bag, so we head to the beer garden at the Burrawang Village Hotel. With its pretty blossom trees and grassy slopes, this is the perfect place to laze away a sunny afternoon.