It’s 9am on a Saturday morning, and I’ve just woken up from the longest sleep I’ve had all year. Sunlight floods into the cabin through floor-to-ceiling windows, and outside, a web of eucalypts and acacia trees stretch into the sky and weave a canopy of branches above us. Two rainbow lorikeets are waiting on the bird feeder, so I take a box of seeds and dried corn out from the cupboard, and they stay there centimetres from my hand as I fill the little tower with their breakfast. The morning air is heavy with the promise of a heatwave summer day and the sweet, woody scent of eucalyptus and sun-baked leaves. We make coffee and drink it from the deck chairs, and as the birds set the soundtrack, it’s hard to imagine a more peaceful start to a morning.
We’re staying in one of five standalone cabins that punctuate a magical pocket of bush in the NSW beach town of Broulee, and I want to capture the sensory experience and keep it in a bottle. I wasn’t to know at the time, but I would have needed it a few nights later when a tragic attack ripped through Sydney’s community. It’s easy to take moments like this for granted when life feels easy, but the beauty of a safe morning spent in nature, sun on skin and no worries clouding your head, becomes clear when that sense of safety is called into question.
If you’re in need of a reset, a few days of stillness immersed in sublime Australiana beauty, The Bower at Broulee has got your back.
Before arriving, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this under-the-radar stay. There’s no Instagram account connected to the property, and though it covers the essential info, the website doesn’t give too much away in terms of what the experience of a stay here will feel like. After I leave, I learn that a lot of people hear about The Bower through word of mouth – a beloved secret passed between friends.
We’re staying in ‘The Gold Bower’, a light-flooded one-bedroom cabin that makes the perfect base for a two-person stay. Each cabin is kitted out with everything you’ll need for a weekend away from reality: there’s a Weber barbecue on the deck for alfresco dinners, and an oven inside with all of the utensils you’ll need to whip up a feast. The king-sized bed is absurdly comfy, and in the bathroom, a huge oval bathtub sits beneath a picture-box window. When we arrived, a fruit bowl on the table overflowed with fresh fruit, and bread, milk, eggs, butter and croissants were ready to fuel us through a slow-paced morning.
According to the owners, the cabins here have been exclusively designed for adult couples, with parents and infants advised to look elsewhere. With that in mind, the sun-drenched decks open directly out into the bush, and each cabin is positioned to feel entirely remote – at least 100 metres from neighbouring cabins, with windows opening up onto uninterrupted native bushland. Designed to mimic the bowerbird’s lofty run with tall, towering roofs, the cabins are decorated with a pared-back simplicity to celebrate and elevate the views outside – all natural materials, bare walls and high ceilings that give an abundant sense of space.
With all of the cooking equipment you’ll need on site, and a spacious living room opening up into the bush, it would be easy to spend a whole weekend in The Bower’s peaceful embrace. That being said, you’re just five minutes’ drive away from one of the most beautiful, beginner-friendly surf beaches in NSW, so it’s worth venturing out for at least an hour or two between the sand and the surf. During our stay, we snorkelled around the crystal clear waters of the headland, surfed on easy, slow-moving waves, spent an afternoon in the sheltered cove at Shark Bay and swam at midnight in phosphorescence. At risk of blowing the lid on one of the best-kept secrets in the state, Broulee is an impossible oasis of magic less than five hours south of Sydney, and hidden between the trees, The Bower makes the perfect base.
The Bower at Broulee is currently on the market – you can book your stay here, and check out the property listing here.
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