Tranquil ...Walls Court is 12 kilometres outside Dubbo.Credit: Bruce Elder
Bruce Elder enjoys creatures and comfort at a rural B&B.
Visitor books are such an integral part of the ritual of guest houses and bed and breakfasts. Entries are recorded, often with considerable passion and enthusiasm.
("It was our first holiday without the children and we revitalised our marriage," was a memorable entry I recall from a romantic destination just beyond the Blue Mountains.) They are read carefully by the hosts and browsed by new arrivals.
I cannot recall a visitor book with such unanimity of response as that atWalls Court Bed & Breakfast near Dubbo. Everyone, it seems, loves its peace and quiet and every child writes enthusiastically about the animals. "Thank you for letting me feed the chooks, geese and ducks," is a typical entry and many children make much of the fact that they actually get to hold the animals.
The comments were so overwhelming, whenever we stayed at a rural retreat in the next few weeks, I would exhort the owners to acquire a few pets and farm animals as a means of dramatically increasing business.
Walls Court's animals are a standard collection of farm creatures – three sheep, a fat, ancient kelpie named Tess, a few "chooks, geese and ducks" – but enough to have visitors, particularly young visitors, eulogising.
Mind you, Walls Court is authentically rural. Located 12 kilometres outside Dubbo, the house and the bed and breakfast sit on 10 hectares with a cleared area around the house.
The owners, Neil and Nancy Lander, are a fascinating mixture of "timeless rural" and "modern country town". He grew up on a property at Darlington Point in the Riverina. The couple spent most of their lives farming land beyond Dubbo and saw this venture as a way of moving closer to the city.
In his spare time, Neil works as a volunteer guide at Taronga Western Plains Zoo and is consequently a mine of information about the zoo; Nancy, a teacher-librarian by profession, works part-time at Dubbo's TAFE. She has an interest in Aboriginal issues and shows an impressive knowledge of local indigenous history and culture. This knowledge makes the Landers ideal dinner hosts.
Eager not to have to travel back into Dubbo for an evening meal, we accept Nancy's offer of dinner at a modest $30 a head. It is a smart combination of modern and traditional Australian cuisines: an excellent plate of antipasto, followed by Aussie roast beef with peas, beans, baked potatoes and squash, before finishing with panna cotta and berries.
Walls Court is a typical modern country dwelling – long and narrow – with a single, selfcontained cottage, known as the Studio, at one end, which sleeps two adults with the possibility of additional beds for two children. There is another, larger, family-style option, called the Stables, across the back garden and near the chook yard. It sleeps up to six.
The Studio has a bedroom-sitting room with a comfortable queen-size bed, a bathroom and a kitchenette. It is themed in pewter blue, with blue walls, blue couch and white pillows, blue throw on the bed, blue-patterned curtains and blue tiles in the kitchen and bathroom. The colour scheme lends the cottage an ambience of coolness that seems to heighten the tranquillity.
If you are looking for a destination where simple farm pleasures are central to the experience – big, fresh breakfasts, nights ablaze with stars, birds' nests in the trees, an old dog, farmyard animals, hearty dinners and relaxed conversation – then Walls Court Bed & Breakfast is about as good as it gets.
Weekends Away are reviewed anonymously and paid for by Traveller.
VISITORS' BOOK
Walls Court Bed & Breakfast
Address 11L Belgravia Heights Road, Dubbo.
The verdict A quiet rural retreat only a few minutes from Dubbo's zoo.
Price The Studio and Stables are both $160 a double ($30 for each extra person) with cooked breakfast.
Bookings Phone 6887 3823, email nlander@bigpond.com.
Getting there It's 12 kilometres south of Dubbo.
Perfect for Those wanting to stay close to the zoo and families who want to commune with farmyard animals.
While you're there Spend a day at the zoo and visit the Old Dubbo Gaol and theWestern Plains Cultural Centre.
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