Your hosts, Tony & Chris (Sydney rat-race escapees), invite guests to their 30 acre hobby farm nestled amongst grazing land and pine forests, just ten minutes from the quaint riverside village of Tea Gardens and the pristine beaches of Hawks Nest on the north shore of Port Stephens, gateway to the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Only 2 hours north of Sydney and 1,000 miles from care!
Facilities include:
- Solar-heated , saltwater pool
- Open fire for those cool winter nights
- Three comfortable guest bedrooms
- Two rooms have private, outdoor, jacuzzi-style spas
- Acres of gardens featuring extensive native plantings and bird life, roses,
vegetable patches and orchard.
- Hearty country breakfasts made (wherever possible) with organically grown produce, fruit, homemade bread, eggs, tomatoes, sausages, etc.
- Evening meals and picnic hampers available by prior arrangement
- Games room
Accommodation
All rooms at Lavender Grove Farm are tastefully decorated and designed to ensure maximum comfort for you, our guests.
The Lavender Room with its king size bed (converts to two king singles if necessary) private verandah and outdoor spa, is the property's flagship room.
The Callistemon Room is popular with couples. It also has king-size bed (converts to two king singles if necessary) private verandah and outdoor spa.
The Tibouchina Room is suitable for families as it can sleep up to 4-5 in a queen bed and two singles, plus there’s plenty of room for a (BYO) cot.
Meal Time
All meals are a memorable event at Lavender Grove! Tony, a qualified chef, retired from the Royal Australian Navy in 1998 after 20 years service as a cook. It's taken a while, but he has finally adjusted to cooking for breakfast for a small group (included in the tariff).
Breakfast is served either inside or outside ... you choose the place and the (flexible) time.
Those aren't the only choices you'll have to make about breakfast. Each evening you will be given a menu to choose the next day’s breakfast.
Menu selections include:
- Fruit platter using home-grown fruit (when available) with homemade yoghurt
- Eggs from the owner's chooks. Fried, poached, scrambled or in a huge omelette with all the trimmings
- Bacon and/or sausages (from our local beef) with grilled tomato or a serve of mushrooms on the side
- Flapjacks, sweet corn fritters or savoury pikelets
- Toasted home-made bread or croissants with home-made jam, jelly or marmalade
- Oven-baked French toast ... light and fluffy with blueberry sauce or maple syrup
- Juice, tea or coffee
or maybe you'll try the Chef's special ...
- Crispy bacon, a fried egg with melted cheese, all on a toasted English muffin spread with cheese spread and a hint of vegemite. Yum ... no cutlery necessary for this one ... eat it with your hands!
And only brave dare to attempt the chef's DOUBLE special... double the above, add two sausages and replace the muffin with two slices of thick-cut, toasted, home-made bread!!
Things to do
On the Myall coast you can do as much or as little as you like, be it in the local area or in one of the many surrounding areas within an hours easy drive!
Activities include scenic walks along original Cobb & Co trails, beaches, dolphin watching, golf, fishing, boating, bush walking and national parks all nearby. Port Stephens, Nelson Bay, Forster and the Hunter Valley are all close by.
About the local area
The twin towns of Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens are situated on the North Shore of Port Stephens, at the mouth of the tidal Myall River which leads to the Myall, Smith and Wallis Lakes, encompassing the Myall Lakes National Park.
Tea Gardens is nestled on the banks of the Myall River while Hawks Nest is situated on the narrow spit of land between the Myall River and the Tasman Sea. The towns have been connected by the “Singing Bridge” since its construction in 1974.
Boasting nearly 40km of pristine beach, Bennett’s Beach stretches all the way to Seal Rocks with no sign of development anywhere. There is often surf at the southern end which is suited to bodysurfing. To the north are massive sand dunes and to the south the Yacaaba Headland.
This area is host to over 100 resident Bottlenose dolphins, forests of ancient paperbark trees, 280 species of birds including the endangered Gould’s Petrel, koalas (sometimes seen in the trees in near the shops in Hawks Nest), kangaroos, goannas, dingoes and lots of other famous Australian wildlife.
The Myall Lakes National Park provides many bushwalking opportunities, while off the coast, the Broughton group of islands is a scuba-diving paradise where subtropical and temperate zones meet and host both penguins and coral.
Can you believe that all this is within a 25 kilometre radius and there are no crowds?
Mor information on Lavender Grove