BONVILLE NSW, 2nd July 2014
Last night we stayed at Hawks Nest in a house which was 'dog friendly, and close to the beach, safe and fenced yard' .... all true. And, it was utterly charmless. An overgrown, weedy garden greeted us. Inside we discovered: Mismatched crockery and thick ugly glassware, plastic flowers, polyester sheets and pillows which smelt badly of disintegrating rubber, no water pressure, mean curtains which never met and let all the cold in air and the warm air out, one peeling mirror, dim lighting and the dullest of bulbs on the smallest of a single bedside lamp on just one side of the bed, K Mart plastic artwork, artlessly displayed, a stove which has been so ill used that its top was clean, but an ugly dirty brown, against the comparative white of its front, and the final small last insult .... not even a cake of soap to wash our hands in either kitchen or bathroom. We used dish washing liquid to shower with. (Note to self: travel with own soap) All this for $160 for the night.
We drove the length and breadth of the town looking for a place to buy a meal - or a take away meal. We saw a Pest Control place in a prominent position, a funeral parlour, a Chinese restaurant which was shut, opened at 5.30 pm and meals started at around $18, a closed fish and chip shop and a restaurant attached, only opens on Wednesday to Sundays - we were unlucky, clearly, as it was Tuesday. There was a hamburger joint which looked decidedly greasy, which we gave a miss. Heading back to our charmless residence, resigned to bowl of frozen soup and can of baked beans I have brought from home, we found an oasis of culinary delight, a pub which sold produce which looked and sounded like food, and more importantly, was open. And, unbelievably, they even made gluten free pizza! We stopped immediately, and ordered.
We put the small heater on full blast, as it was freezing - which was thankfully very effective, and watched a DVD we brought with us, drank our bottle of wine, and went to bed early and slept badly, in our lumpy, electric blanket heated bed, with the aforementioned rubber smelling pillows.
Cino, unaccustomed to the luxury of five star travel, left our bedroom when I opened our door and went to the loo in the middle of the night. Either gaspingly thirsty from eating unaccustomed 'dog biscuit dinner', (rather than her usual carefully crafted fresh ground beef, home cooked mixed vegetables and grated cheese), OR claustrophobic from the heat of the blasting but miniscule heater (which I moved from the lounge room to bedroom) - she never responded to my requests to return to the bedroom, so I shut the door, and she slept, for the first time, alone in a room. Without a bark or a whimper.
We stopped in Nambucca Heads for lunch, and once more, travelled the length and breadth of the town, trying to find reasonably priced good food, and in a place where Cino could sit with us, or run off leash in a garden. A choice between $20 a head for fish and chips, or formal sit down restaurants, did not satisfy us. So after a drive which led us to a small cafe, we bought one fish and chips and salad meal to share for $15.50. Cino ate some of her 'nuts', we kept her on leash, and we all sat on my father's picnic rug, next to the cafe and the river.
Tonight, however, we are in a clean, attractive place called Wagtails in Braford Road, Bonville - with a small enclosed garden for our girl, a warm welcome from the owners, clean and attractive furnishings, meticulously set up for travellers with doggies, an attention to detail and a clear sense of humour in their paperwork. We decided against driving into Sawtell, only ten minutes away by car, despite its renowned attractions, and had dinner prepared by Jennifer and Jeanette, the owners. It was delicious, served precisely on time in our room, with a complimentary bottle of wine - grilled salmon and a flavoursome cous cous with salad, all for $70. YUM.
Cino has had a cup full of 'nuts' to coin Marian Cooney's phrase - and is happily playing with her toys on the floor. She has been a sterling traveller in the car.
The room is now warm. I, too, am warm after a hot shower, my tummy is full, I have my beloved and my beloved puppy, and all is well in my world.