King Studio B&B, Milton review: Animal kingdom

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This was published 14 years ago

King Studio B&B, Milton review: Animal kingdom

Inspired ... original art in King Studio B&B.

Inspired ... original art in King Studio B&B.

Even an ageing labrador can find her niche in a bushland studio, writes Bruce Elder.

Compared with many of the world's travellers, relatively few Australians take their pets with them. Travelling with pets is a right protected by the US Constitution – or at least it seems that way, so popular is the practice. The US-based internet site petswelcome.com lists a staggering 25,000 hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, ski resorts and campgrounds that welcome pets, including more than 1800 Best Western hotels and motels and more than 2000 establishments in the Marriott chain.

There are similar websites for Australia but the accommodation tends to be self-catering apartments and holiday homes, with relatively few motels and B&Bs. So trying to find a chic place with service where we can gambol with our ageing labrador is no simple task.

At the age of nine, Suki has graduated from a wave-bashing, thong-devouring adolescent to a pearls-and-twin-set older girl whose idea of bliss is to sit and gaze over the Pacific Ocean while meditating on – let's be realistic – precisely nothing. She's not a traveller. Her one and only great journey was from Canberra, where she was born. So this weekend is an experiment to see if she can happily travel more than 100 kilometres and adjust to new surroundings.

The initial phone call to King Studio B&B allays any concerns. Yes, they are happy to have a dog. The hosts own three, including a blind and deaf poodle, a feisty maltese terrier and an ageing male labrador named Spot.

Later we discover that a query about Suki's age and breed resulted from a false claim by a previous visitor that a six-year-old Irish wolfhound was benign. On arrival, the wolfhound did what wolfhounds are supposed to do; with unrepentant hunting instincts it chased the three resident geese and a gander and dived into the pond.

Although located only 100 metres from the Princes Highway, King Studio B&B is rustic and idyllic. In 1997, artists Malcolm King and Julie McKenzie bought two hectares of bushland between Milton and Ulladulla and built a huge timber house that included an art gallery, a B&B guesthouse, a long veranda with a narrow lap pool and gardens, which now include a substantial pond, interesting outdoor sculptures and trees inhabited by more than 100 species of birds.

There is also a large chook yard with a rooster whose self-timer seems to have gone awry. In pitch darkness at 2.30am, he decides to announce the imminent arrival of dawn. Suki, who had been deep in doggy dreams in the lounge room, comes rushing into the bedroom declaring, in dog language: "There's a strange monster outside going cock-a-doodle-do. I need protection."

The bonus of the chook yard, of course, is fresh eggs. McKenzie's excellent breakfast – a superb homemade muesli, bacon, tomato, eggs, toast and homemade lime marmalade – more than compensates for the rooster's raucous, periodic and defective alarm clock.

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This is a single-occupancy bed-and-breakfast. The cottage-like accommodation comprises a bathroom with a bath and an artistic mosaic floor, a simple bedroom with a comfortable queen-size bed and a lounge room with couch, table and chairs, television and kitchenette with fridge and microwave. The guest accommodation lies at the eastern end of the large house and has a private entrance and veranda. Not surprisingly, there is plenty of original art on the walls. I will, rather sheepishly, admit that an original screen print by David Boyd on the lounge room wall left such an impression that we bought it, thus making this the most expensive weekend away we have ever undertaken.

It is hard to imagine a more pleasant way to spend a few hours than wandering through the garden, listening to the birds in the tall gumtrees that surround the house, watching the old dogs pretending they are still foolhardy puppies, admiring the sculptures and feeling the peacefulness of the country. Or, for those who want to stay indoors, there's the vibrant artwork to view in the bright and breezy King Studio Gallery at the other end of the building.

It is hard to imagine we are so close to the bustle of Ulladulla – a five-minute drive away.

Here we find an excellent Thai restaurant named Yes I Am, order a very classy takeaway – try their duck salad – and enjoy it on the veranda overlooking the garden and the pond. How perfect is that?

Weekends Away are reviewed anonymously and paid for by Traveller.

VISITORS' BOOK

King Studio B&B

Address 328 Princes Highway, Milton.

The verdict Superb garden setting creates the feeling of a bushland retreat with a laidback ambience.

Price $175 a night, $500 for three nights — breakfast included. Rates rise to $210 a night during peak times and holidays.

Bookings Phone 4454 2214 or see kingstudio.com.au.

Getting there Milton is 219 kilometres, or three hours, south of Sydney via the Princes Highway. Continue two kilometres beyond Milton and turn off the highway at the clearly signposted flags.

Wheelchair access Yes.

While you're there Walk on Mollymook beach; spend time in the King Studio Gallery, which has excellent paintings and pottery; eat at Bannisters Restaurant at Mollymook, soon to be known as Rick Stein at Bannisters; browse the shops and galleries of Milton.

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