StoneRidge Cottage, Balingup
"For your next escape: tranquillity, valley views and country comfort"
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The Cottage Like your country air served with country comforts? Our timber and iron cottage has all you need for a luxurious escape from the big smoke. If you like what we like, you'll appreciate the country experience all the more when the accommodation is comfortable. At StoneRidge, you can be confident of excellent quality, cleanliness and amenities. You can enjoy lovely views of the Balingup Brook valley and surrounding hills from all the living areas. Nestled on the valley side, secluded and self-contained, the cottage offers you a world of your own. The two bedrooms, equipped with Queen-size double and twin beds, have natural timber furnishings and spotless linen, doonahs, electric blankets... and even hot water bottles. There's a fold-out futon bed for a fifth guest. The main living area has polished timber flooring, a cosy wood fire, comfortable furnishings and a stereo radio/CD/cassette player. Reverse-cycle air conditioning helps smooth out the crisp winter mornings and warm summer afternoons. The living area gives onto a verandah, angled to catch the winter sun and summer shade, with barbecue and outdoor dining setting. The verandah and main rooms all look across the valley of the Balingup Brook. The living area also catches the morning sun in winter, as the sun climbs from behind one of the rock formations that give StoneRidge its name. This is a perfect time to watch the mist in the valley over a leisurely coffee or tea. An indoor dining area comfortably seats four, while the kitchen is fully equipped with under-bench oven, cook top, microwave, generous fridge/freezer, and a full range of utensils, cutlery and crockery. The water supply is our own pure rainwater. The bathroom is separate from both laundry facilities and toilet. With a full-size bath and separate shower, and a large timber-framed mirror over the vanity, there is no need to cramp your style! You'll find a hair dryer if you forgot yours. An American laundry provides a trough and washing machine, plus iron and ironing-board. Whether it's the sunlight through the trees, the rain on the roof with a fire in the grate, or a glimpse of the kangaroos feeding at dusk, we're sure you will have magic moments in the cottage. Like the sound of this? Please E-mail us with your enquiry or call us on 0407 382 527 (International +61 407 382 527). |
  
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The StoneRidge Property The scenic drive between Balingup and Nannup has been called the best road in Western Australia. Nine kilometres out of Balingup, a little beyond the historic Ferndale homestead, is the 6ha (15 acres) we named StoneRidge. Private, secluded and tranquil, StoneRidge is 200m (220 yards) from the winding Blackwood Valley Drive, and looks along and across the valley of the Balingup Brook. Our slopes, facing north and west, climb quickly from the valley bottom and the road, to form a ridge that runs back into the hill. It's distinguished by beautiful rock outcrops - so, StoneRidge. We know little of the pre-European Aboriginal heritage of the area, although Balingup itself is named for a local Aboriginal man. His people moved along the water courses, but it seems they didn't often venture deep into the ancient eucalypt forest that covered the slopes. In pioneer times the whole hillside became part of the Ferndale estate, settled in the mid-19th Century by the Padbury family; but our block was not separately surveyed until 1922. It may have been intended for part of a returned soldiers' "group settlement" scheme - there were ambitious plans for what is still sometimes called Lower Balingup. In time, the valley of the Balingup Brook became some of the richest dairy and beef cattle country in Western Australia. The "Old Cheese Factory" on the edge of Balingup really was a cheese factory. In the 20th Century, Ferndale, including the StoneRidge block, was farmed by the Vitali and Somerset families. Remains of the dairy can still be seen outside our front gate. However, since the 1950's the block had actually belonged to a prospecting company. It was thought to hold another deposit of the Greenbushes tin-tantalum mineralisation, but it turned out not to be commercial. The cows were allowed to graze in peace, except for occasional exploratory digs and geology students on field trips. So the name StoneRidge also reflects an aspect of the property's heritage, and we have the world's only outcrop of the Ferndale pegmatite. In the 1960's and 1970's the then Forests Department bought several of the farms in the valley, including Ferndale, for Pinus radiata (Monterey Pine) plantations. But StoneRidge did not change hands, and was never planted. Today we have restored much tree cover while preserving our views and some grazing land. We have the beautiful rock outcrops, and a few wild pines that we leave in peace. Kangaroos and emus are regulars, and over 40 other species of birds come to visit, forage, and sometimes nest here. Like the sound of this? Please E-mail us with your enquiry or call us on 0407 382 527 (International +61 407 382 527). |
  
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Balingup & The South West The South West of Western Australia is one of the world's premier biodiversity regions. If you draw a line from Perth to Albany, and then come back along the coast, that's the South West for our purposes. It's roughly 24,000 km2 (9,300 square miles) of forest, farmland, vineyards, orchards and small towns. The climate is Mediterranean, with warm dry summers and cool wet winters. The diversity of the seasons is one of the joys of the area. You can drive across it in a day, or you can spend as long as it takes. The Blackwood Valley is in the heart of the South West - rolling, fertile, timbered country with rich pastures and historic towns. The Blackwood River itself rises in the open farming country to the east, and comes to the sea at Augusta, but the Blackwood Valley heartland is considered to include four beautiful towns and their surrounding country: Balingup, Boyup Brook, Bridgetown, and Nannup. Our catchment and our community also include such smaller towns as Greenbushes, Hester, Kirup and Mullalyup. Balingup is a compact, pretty village on the Balingup Brook, a tributary of the Blackwood. It's a comfortable 3 hours from Perth, roughly half-way between Donnybrook and Bridgetown, on the South-West Highway (also called the Harvest Highway). Balingup is known for creativity: artists, craftspeople, herbalists, architects, religious communities and musicians have all found their home here. It annually hosts the famous Small Farm Field Day (with scarecrow competition!), the Mediaeval Carnivale (or Fayre), and the Jalbrook Concert, as well as contributing to wider-ranging events such as the Festival of Country Gardens. Balingup is also convenient for nearby events such as the annual Bridgetown Blues Festival, the Blackwood River Chamber Festival, and the Nannup Music Festival. The Golden Valley Tree Park, on the edge of Balingup, is a vast arboretum of Australian native and exotic species. A peaceful and inspiring place. The renowned Bibbulmun Track walk trail, almost 1000km from Perth to Albany, passes through Balingup - one of the very few towns on the route. There are beautiful day walks in both directions. The Blackwood Valley is an up-and-coming wine region, its soils and slopes giving a character distinctively different from Margaret River. And the official border with the Geographe wine region runs a few kilometres north of Balingup. One very local winery is Wattle Ridge Wines, just down the road at North Greenbushes. The Birdwood Park Fruit Winery has a cellar door on the main street, selling delicious wines, ports and liqueurs made from local fruits. Of course, with so many of the good things in life, Balingup has great food. Check out the Taste of Balingup, the Balingup Bronze Cafe, and the Taste of the Blackwood festival for starters. Like the sound of this? Please E-mail us with your enquiry or call us on 0407 382 527 (International +61 407 382 527). |
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Selections from the Guest Book...
Really enjoyed our stay - TB |
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Like the sound of this?
Please E-mail us with your enquiry or call us on 0407 382 527 (International +61 407 382 527).