PASTORAL PEACE
Pastoral Peace - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Pastoral Peace | |||||
| By: Lorraine Ironside, Issue 28 – Spring 2006 | |||||
| (Tree-Elle Retreat - Denmark Western Australia, Australia) | |||||
| A CELEBRATION OF COUNTRY LIFE, WA-STYLE. | |||||
| Tree-Elle Retreat, tucked in a pocket of land on the outskirts of the pretty south coast town of Denmark, WA, is a paean to the country life. A gaggle of geese honks at approaching visitors, a squadron of guinea pigs fossick beneath the bushes, while rabbits in the barn, a frisky horse and plump sheep in the adjoining paddock provide the finishing touches to the pastoral scene. The complex, comprising a main residence which once served as a private home plus a trio of purpose-built, two-storey corrugated ironclad cottages, provides a top-of-the-line B&B bolthole for rat-race refugees. Cloaked in 12 hectares (29 acres) of glorious grounds – the owners are passionate and gifted gardeners – and promising tantalising glimpses of the Southern Ocean, Tree-Elle Retreat offers self-contained accommodation for families and couples. Each of the lodges – which sleep six – and the main house, which accommodates eight, comprise fully-equipped kitchens with a well-stocked pantry, quality glassware and crockery, dining area and lounge, plus ensuite facilities. Twenty-first century essentials such as TV, VCR, DVD and CD are on hand, as is a generous stack of well-thumbed tomes for the less technologically minded. Stressed city slickers can opt for a massage which can be arranged with an iron-fisted local; slug-a-beds need not move from a supine position to enjoy glimpses of the Wilson Inlet from the king-size beds. On the culinary front the nearby Nornalup Teahouse offers a favourite spot for dining (don’t go past the local marron) though if guests prefer to cosydown at home, owners Trina Meade and Elle Mackay will whip up a three-course, comfort-food dinner on request. Alternatively, guests may self-cater with the help of a wide range of local produce, supplemented by a fossick in the garden. Visitors are invited to help themselves to the organic produce in the veggie patch – think organic leeks, spinach, beans and potatoes plus a welter of herbs – while the strawberry patch and the fruit orchard provide dessert. Depending upon the season, the owners provide considerate extras such as platters of local cheeses and a bottle of wine from one of the clutch of stellar vineyards in the area. The one-time timber town of Denmark, part of the Great Southern region of WA, is a five-hour drive south from Perth, or a half-hour drive west of the one-time whaling port of Albany, itself an hours flight from the WA capital. | |||||
| Details: | |||||
| Tree-Elle Retreat: www.treeelle.com | |||||
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