Motel With Frong

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday January 30, 1999

BRUCE ELDER

BRUCE ELDER beats a retreat to Wisemans Ferry and finds himself kneedeep in river frontage.

WHEN IS a motel not a motel? Of all the answers to this question, those offered by Wisemans Ferry Country Retreat are the most novel. When it has about 600-700 metres of frontage onto the Hawkesbury River. When it boasts a nine-hole golf course. When it makes the bulk of its money during the week by offering conference facilities including a new complex with five purpose-built conference rooms. When, should you want a drink, you are just across the road from one of the Hawkesbury's most historic inns.

Of course, let's not pretend that this is anything other than a motel. It is, according to the NRMA star rating, a four-star motel. The rooms all have that distinctive motel-room look (drab carpet, standard queen-size bed, TV bolted to the furniture in case you decide to bolt off with it ) and include (is it really mandatory?) that particularly acrid air freshener that ensures you will smell nothing of the previous occupant - even if he had the body odour of a dead skunk.

But if location, as the real estate people insist, is everything, then this particular motel just about has it all. It is positioned on the hill above the flood plain and offers views across the golf course to the cliffs opposite the ferry and to that beautiful bend in the river that characterises Wisemans Ferry.

It has such large grounds that it really does allow the truly lazy to be ridiculously active without straying beyond the retreat. The golf course ($10 a day for unlimited golf with clubs and buggies for hire) is pleasantly flat, with a creek running through it. Some of the holes edge the Hawkesbury while others stretch across towards the Old Northern Road. You can go for a walk along the water's edge and admire the views across the river, the flowering gums and the range of native plants that edge the golf course. The retreat's pool is a full 25 metres long and is surrounded by lawns and chairs for swimmers and sunbathers.

There is a very real sense that this is a place away from it all, designed for rest and recreation. Because the retreat's primary income source is conferences, the weekends are often ridiculously quiet. When we stayed there on a Sunday night we were one of only two couples in residence, although the resort has 54 rooms.

Beyond the motel, Wisemans Ferry, and for that matter all of that area of the Hawkesbury, is well worth exploring. The settlement was named after the convict Solomon Wiseman, a journeyman lighterman, who arrived in Sydney on August 20, 1806. In 1817 he was granted 200 acres (80 hectares) on the banks of the Hawkesbury where, by 1821, he had established an inn, the Sign of the Packet. In 1826 (a date subject to dispute by local historians) he built himself a handsome two-storey residence, Cobham Hall, which he later used as a hostelry, calling it The Branch Inn.

During this time the main land route from Sydney to Newcastle was via Windsor, along to Wisemans Ferry and up the Putty Road to Singleton. In 1826 a new route via Castle Hill gained popularity and, as a result Wiseman built a punt and was granted a seven-year lease on the rights to transport goods and travellers across the Hawkesbury River. This is how the small village got its name.

Over the road is the historic Wisemans Ferry Inn which is the site (the building has been altered over time but much of the original still remains) where Wiseman built Cobham Hall which later became The Branch Inn.

Perhaps the best journey of all is to take the ferry across the river and drive along the shore, and along the banks of the Macdonald River, to St Albans.

The village is a delightful escape and the particular attraction is The Settlers Arms, a historic pub offering good meals and accommodation. It dates from 1848, when it was built to wet the throats of the cattle drovers who waited on the banks at the limit of navigation on the Macdonald River.

The building has been largely unaltered and is full of genuine charm. It also has a delightful local feel with its unpretentious benches and its idyllic setting.

This is really only scratching the surface of this area. There is a get-away-from-it-all feel which has nothing to do with sandy beaches and parboiled flesh. This is a genuine rural retreat on a bend in a very large river.

It is a very unusual getaway which is affordable and original.

The establishments featured in Weekends Away are visited anonymously by Herald staff writers and contributors who pay their own way as guests. We recognise that different establishments cater for different tastes and that they should be judged by how well they cater for the market they seek to serve.

VISITORS' BOOK

The place: Wisemans Ferry Country Retreat, Old Northern Road, Wisemans Ferry; phone (02) 4566 4422, fax (02) 4566 4613.

Prices: $445 a couple for two-night (Friday and Saturday) packages with dinner, bed, breakfast. Weekend rate $130 a room per night.

How to get there: Take the M2 and Old Northern Road. With a good run it is about 70 minutes from the CBD.

Rooms available this weekend? Yes. Both smoking and non-smoking

Wheelchair access: Yes. It has a disabled parking spot in the car park and two purpose-built disabled rooms.

Children: Yes.

Smoking or non-smoking: Both smoking and non-smoking rooms are available.

Pluses: An excess of activities are available. The setting is delightful. Thoughtful approach to disabled facilities.

Minuses: No matter which way you twist it, it is just a large motel.

Rating: 13

RATINGS:

19-20 Outstanding. Can we move in?

17-18 Great.

15-16 Very good. We'd do it again.

13-14 Good. Comfortable, well-run.

10-12 Adequate.

1-9 Stay at home.

ALSO IN THE AREA

The Courthouse

Where: St Albans, NSW 2775, phone (02) 4568 2042.

Type: Historic building, now a B&B.

Tariff: Groups only at weekends - maximum eight at $210 a couple (Friday night till Sunday). Weeknights, $125 a couple, sole use. Supplies provided for breakfast.

The Courthouse is a picture-postcard relic of last century: richly textured sandstone, cottage gardens, high ceilings, fireplaces, atmosphere and more atmosphere. There are four tastefully restored bedrooms, a good kitchen and a gently bubbling spa, in a gazebo with grand views. A short stroll away the Settlers Arms Inn (built 1836) serves an honest meal.

Rating: 19. Reviewed: July 1997.

Halvorsen Boat Hire

Where: Bobbin Head, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park; phone (02) 9457 9011.

Type: Wooden cruising boat.

Tariff: Shoulder season (from Jan 29) weekend rates (two days, one night) from $550. Midweek, from $365. Fuel extra.

Halvorsens has eight wooden cruisers for hire, but restricted to the Hawkesbury River and its tributaries - a vast area to explore, all the way up to Wisemans Ferry. This is a special getaway: you can moor in remote havens and awake to absolute quiet and serenity. There are 56 public moorings for boats in Berowra and Cowan creeks, but you can anchor wherever it is safe.

Rating: 16. Reviewed: January 1998.

BlueGum Cottage

Where: Mountain Lagoon Road, via Bilpin, NSW 2758, phone (02) 4567 1184.

Type: Self-catering cottage.

Tariff: $150 a couple per night, extra guests $40 each, children $20.

Tastefully converted old packing shed whose comforts belie an unattractive exterior. Perched on the edge of Wollemi National Park, less than 100 kilometres from Sydney, it offers a haven in which environmentally sensitive folk can bask at leisure amid eight hectares of parklike garden or laze in front of a wood-burning stove. No bath, sleeps four. Charming hosts are prone to invite guests to share their sunsets and champagne.

Rating: 12. Reviewed: October 1998.

Ambers Retreat

Where: Ferntree Lane, Palmdale, NSW 2258, phone (02) 4362 3403.

Type: Bed and breakfast.

Tariff: Valley View Room $130 a night; other rooms $110 a night.

Ambers Retreat is a winter hideaway within striking distance of the Hunter Valley and minutes from the coast. The four rooms all have ensuites, and there are two common rooms. One is a more traditional leathery room, the other a convivial area with the feel of a sports bar. While autumn finds Ambers Retreat quite attractive, winter beckons as an even sweeter treat.

Rating: 17. Reviewed: May 1998.

© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home