Mangrove Creek Cottage, Central Coast: Warmth, weather and wellies

Sean Mooney and his family escape the city and the rain in a cabin where the home fires are burning.

It's the quickest of Friday night escapes: we bundle our food, clothes and children into the car as the rain buckets down and we head north on the F3. An hour later we're in another world, driving along a deserted stretch of road between the Popran and Dharug national parks in the Central Coast hinterland. We roll to a stop beside a cute log cabin that appears like a beacon in the darkness. Smoke rises from the chimney, signalling that we're expected and a warm living room awaits us.

There's certainly a warm welcome from Tony Ralph, the owner of Mangrove Creek Cottage. He shows us around the two-bedroom cottage heated by a slow-combustion wood heater. After answering our questions, Ralph heads back to the house he shares with his wife, Jenny. At first we're disappointed to discover their house is only 20 metres from our cottage but their respect for our privacy is evident throughout our stay and we soon decide it's not a problem.

The Ralphs lived in this cottage for years while building the main house and it's clear they have a great affection for it. That must be why the place has a nice lived-in feel, despite the fact they only started accepting paying guests at the beginning of the year.

It feels as if someone has eccentrically but not tastelessly decorated a home, using plenty of wood and neutral tones to put you at ease. The decor is what you might call "country comfort", with soft chairs and a couch with dark floral print, thick insulating curtains over the large windows and a decent-sized dining table and credenza. The main bedroom has a queen-size bed, with mosquito net for the warmer months, and the second bedroom has two singles that can be pushed together for a second couple. Sure, the shower is small and the sound of the water pump is startling at first but it's part of living with tank water and a septic toilet system.

The kitchen is well equipped with crockery, cutlery and glassware, plus tea, (real) coffee, sugar and milk. There's a full-sized fridge, microwave, hotplates, plunger, toaster and jug but no oven. We've planned for this and have brought an electric slow-cooker that keeps us in stew for the weekend. Pulling some chairs up around the wood heater, we open its door and toast marshmallows. It's not long before the heat and the sweets have us crawling to bed.

After a sound sleep broken only by the sound of yet more heavy rain, we wake to the calls of magpies and kookaburras.

Stepping onto the wide, covered veranda we survey the field that lies between us and the swollen creek. A couple of horses and some low-line Angus cattle graze between large puddles created by the night's deluge.

Ralph tells us to help ourselves to any eggs we can find in the chicken coop. The children find enough to fry up and after breakfast we head out to explore the 10-hectare property. Blundstone gumboots left by the back door comfortably accommodate the feet of all but our smallest family member but he has come prepared with his own pirate-themed pair. And they're certainly needed, as we squelch through sodden pasture and mangrove mud to reach the creek.