This was published 12 years ago
Spring Hill Farm Stay, Burrawang review: Room to move, views to die for
Spaced out ... Camelot Cottage.
Louise Schwartzkoff finds a cottage stay that's perfect for a group intent on murder.
The guests have barely finished the canapes when we learn there is a dead body in the swimming pool. Only one set of soggy footprints leads to the water but we have reason to suspect foul play.
My money is on the doctor. He is wearing scrubs to a dinner party, so clearly something is amiss. Others accuse the shifty businessman or his glamorous, gold-digging wife.
The real mystery of the weekend, though, is whether any house - no matter how large - has enough bathrooms for a gaggle of 14 women drinking and giggling their way through a "How to Host a Murder" party.
The farmhouse in Burrawang, a village in the southern highlands, does not really have a swimming pool. Regardless, it is a marvellous substitute for the rambling stone mansion described in the game's instructions.
"I want something that looks like an English country manor," my cousin said when she decided she was too old and too sensible to celebrate her hens' party with strippers.
The fields rolling away from Cottage Camelot on Spring Hill Farm Stay are green enough to be in Yorkshire, though the eucalypts framing the view are a bit of a giveaway. Three sets of french doors open on to a verandah with a tangle of wisteria on its railing. In the distance, black Angus steers and dairy cows graze.
Less recalcitrant are the dogs that live next door with property owners Simon and Jacqui Philp. A black-and-white border collie with one brown eye and one blue submits to pats, all the while plotting to skulk inside and steal food scraps from the bin.
A smaller bundle of grey-and-white fluff wriggles onto any available lap and licks anyone who will tolerate it.
The Philps and their three boys moved to Spring Hill from Sydney six years ago, seeking a change of pace after their son, Charlie, contracted meningitis and spent six weeks in hospital.
They lease individual rooms as bed-and-breakfast accommodation but the best way to enjoy their enormous cedar-and-stone pile is to rent the whole place.
It is perfect for entertaining. A small contingent of bridesmaids and cousins arrives the day before the party, laden with haloumi, quinoa, pumpkin, oregano, chicken and wine.
The bright, modern kitchen - with two microwaves and two ovens - has enough bench space for three cooks to bustle without bickering. One oven is large enough to roast four chickens at once.
Once our mothers arrive with their oh-so-well-meaning advice, however, it starts to feel a little cramped. We manage to send them packing. "We really need some extra cheese, mum. We're sure we can cope without you for a little while."
The Robertson Cheese Factory provides distraction enough to keep them away from the house and out of the kitchen.
Established in the 1930s, it was a working factory until 1989. These days, it has a cafe with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking farmland. The shop stocks more than 70 varieties of local and imported cheeses, as well as a range of gourmet products including olives, jams and freshly baked bread. The mothers return with wheels of brie, a crumbly olive-studded cheese and - best of all - strong takeaway coffee. Thanks, mum - that is the kind of help we need.
The rest of the guests trickle in. As they stash suitcases in the four upstairs bedrooms - some with queen-size beds; others with bunks and trundles - their oohs and ahhs float down to the kitchen. The main bathroom prompts the most fervent admiration. A freestanding, claw-foot bathtub draped in white curtains stands before a window that frames the best view in the house.
The hot-water tap is broken (the Philps have left an apologetic note) but the shower above is working. It's an all-girls weekend, so modesty is abandoned and bathers open the blinds and gaze at the dam and hills beyond.
Downstairs, there is plenty of lounging room. As the cooks scurry to finish dinner, others curl up in the sunroom's armchairs, looking out over yet another green vista. In winter, the lounge room would be the most popular spot but for now it is too warm to light the open fire.
With roast chickens and salads finally spread on the long slab of a dining table, we settle in to solve the murder. The solution is predictably silly - something to do with an illegitimate son and a pair of contact lenses. As to the other mystery, it turns out three bathrooms are not quite enough.
But what is a full bladder in such a setting?
Weekends Away are reviewed anonymously and paid for by Traveller.
VISITORS' BOOK
Spring Hill Farm Stay
Address Lot 2, Hoddle Street, Burrawang.
The verdict A large and luxurious farmhouse ideal for entertaining.
Price A two-night weekend stay (Friday to Sunday) at Cottage Camelot costs $1050 for six people; $100 for each additional adult and $50 for each additional child. Full-house rental requires a $500 bond. A surcharge might apply at Christmas.
Bookings Phone 4886 4373; see springhillfarmstay.com.au.
Getting there Burrawang is about two hours' drive from Sydney's city centre. Take the M5 and exit on the Old Hume Highway. Drive through Bowral's main street. At the third roundabout turn left, following the sign to Robertson. Follow Sheepwash Road, turn left onto the Illawarra Highway, right at Church Street, then right into Hoddle Street.
Wheelchair access No.
Perfect for Celebrations with groups of friends and family.
While you're there Sample a local beer at the Burrawang Village Hotel; browse the Robertson Cheese Factory.
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