Jervis Bay Guest House, Huskisson review: Relaxed, on a knife edge

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This was published 13 years ago

Jervis Bay Guest House, Huskisson review: Relaxed, on a knife edge

On a day of high drama, Kelsey Munro escapes to a media-free zone in a beachside guest house.

Dolphin watching ... the garden at Jervis Bay Guest House.

Dolphin watching ... the garden at Jervis Bay Guest House.

On a day of high drama, Kelsey Munro escapes to a media-free zone in a beachside guest house.

The chill is still clinging to the air around the gentle bay at Huskisson, keeping the crowds away from the popular south coast tourist hub. It's the end of winter, the election weekend, and the town is at its best: cloudless skies, pristine waters - albeit too cold to swim.

Jervis Bay Guest House is on the quiet southern fringe of the town, well away from the commercial strip with its fibreglass dolphin statues and real estate agencies. It occupies a generously proportioned double-storey house with four upstairs guest rooms, all opening to a wraparound deck and decorated in soft coastal neutral colours and shabby-chic furniture. The result is something like a magazine's idea of a gracious farmhouse transplanted to a lush, pretty garden just across the road from the beach.

But it still feels as if someone's home - a fire burns in the living room at night; there are help-yourself home-made cupcakes under a bell jar on the dresser; books and the day's newspapers around the room. You hear the water running in the pipes as the house wakes up in the morning.

We arrive late on Friday night and co-manager Mikey offers us tea. When he returns with a perfect pot on a tray with a jug of milk, my busy week at work starts to melt pleasantly into the background.

Our room - the Surf Room - is spacious, with a queen-size bed and a single. It has double glass doors that open to the upstairs deck, white walls and yellow-cream wainscoting, sisal on the floor and blue-and-white-striped bedside lamps. There are terracotta tiles on the bathroom floor and a generous wardrobe.

In the morning, we wake up and from our pillows spy dolphins arcing through the glassy bay. We're almost lifted from bed by the sight of their dark silhouettes against the glittering water.

Later, we wander back from the beach through the guest-house garden, full of purple daisies, lush ferns and native trees. It's election day but we are a long way from Canberra, metaphorically speaking. There are no televisions for guests and no wireless access. When we ask where we will be able to vote, the answer is, "Oh, is that today?"

After years spent working at Hugos in Kings Cross, managers Mikey and Daniel took a sea change to run the guest house, bringing with them their dogs, Blaze and Bondi. Their extensive experience in hospitality shows in the many classy touches around the place. Not to mention the spectacular breakfasts, cooked by Daniel and served in the dining room, its glass doors open to the garden and the morning sun. After strawberries and yoghurt and freshly baked muffins, we have perfect eggs benedict and more cups of that good tea. It is worth staying a second night so you can sample the french toast and maple syrup, too. The only minor drawbacks are those of every B&B: it's more like a home stay than a private getaway and checkout is at 11am, so your Sunday is rather shortened - especially if you want to shower after a swim.

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After breakfast, we amble into town to vote. We wander into the trading post and spend some time amused by the second-hand books. Slim and Trim - with Gelatine! is my favourite but it's in close competition with Frost Dancers: a Story of Hares and Geri Halliwell's autobiography. The place is overflowing with beach-house kitsch: miniature lighthouses, fish platters and toy boats with striped sails.

We toy with the idea of taking a whale and dolphin cruise but instead drive to nearby Booderee National Park. We visit Summercloud Bay, today a mess of white peaks and cross-shore squalls. At beautiful Cave Beach, we are the only people walking along the silky sand except for some people on the far rocks, who vanish suddenly. When we reach the end of the beach, we realise we've stumbled on to abalone poachers - dozens of the prized shellfish are stacked dead in a rock pool. It feels like the start of a Famous Five mystery but our mystery-solving skills are found wanting. We want to report it to the rangers on the way out but the station is closed, so we leave a message on the fisheries hotline. No one calls back.

Then it's back to the B&B to play with the dogs. We make a cup of tea and scoff a couple of Daniel's giant cupcakes. At dusk, we walk into town for beers at the Husky Pub, which has decidedly not been decorated by South Coast Style, and quietly hijack a television away from the football to watch the election coverage. We are consumed by the knife-edge poll, following it via mobile phone through dinner later. There is no conclusion that night and we realise we would have been better switching off and enjoying the sea air and the peace. In the morning, it's another great breakfast - though with no dolphins - and a feeling that we might not have a government but we've really had a holiday.

Weekends Away are reviewed anonymously and paid for by Traveller.

VISITORS' BOOK

Jervis Bay Guest House

Address 1 Beach Road, Huskisson.

The verdict Gorgeous, friendly, professionally run bed and breakfast with great breakfasts in a pretty waterfront spot.

Price Rates range from $195 (low season) to $265 (peak season) a night, including full breakfast and afternoon tea.

Bookings Phone 4441 7658, www.jervisbayguesthouse.com.au.

Getting there Huskisson is about 185 kilometres south of Sydney along the Princes Highway, about a 2½-hour drive.

Perfect for A quiet, romantic weekend at the beach.

Wheelchair access No.

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