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Description
In our family for 4 generations, the house on our property Galwiji (made up by combining the names of 4 brothers Gordon, Alan, William and Jim) will give you a delightful taste of Australian rural life.
It's spacious - there are beds for 12 and plenty of extra room if your group's even bigger and you want to rough it a bit :) It's also very comfortable for small groups or even just a couple on a romantic getaway.
14 minutes' drive to shops, 25 minutes to Sovereign Hill, 1 hour to Geelong and Avalon Airport and 75 minutes to Melbourne Airport (G0GGLE Maps says 1 hour 40, but we know a back way :)
Ample parking, sorry no internet, but mobile phone reception is excellent (due to the proximity of Mount Buninyong) and the sims on our iPads work well. 3G Reception is clear on both Telstra and Optus' networks.
We are quite new to stayz.com.au, but we have been on AirBNB.com.au for nearly 12 months, so if you'd like to see some reviews, please check them out by putting Ballarat into an AirBNB search. We're the #1 result for that search.
Mostly, we just love Galwiji for the peace. A gentle breeze, broken only by the occasional baa-ing of sheep and the t-w-i-t-t-e-r-ing of birds. The range of bird life is extraordinary and the many different calls are worth sitting quietly for a while to hear.
If you want to break the solace, there's a recently-tuned Lipp German upright piano (dated at 1899!), a nylon-string guitar and a trumpet!
There are many kids' (and adults') board games, table soccer and table tennis indoors, while outdoor treats include a large oak tree with seats underneath (in the middle of the sprawling garden), a treasure hunt, yabby (freshwater crayfish) fishing, exploring the shearing shed and tree farm, not to mention endless open spaces to run around in.
The house consists of 1 master bedroom with ensuite, 2 other double bedrooms, another bedroom with 3 single beds, another bedroom with bunks (two single beds, one above the other), all the normal amenity rooms (t.v. / lounge/ dining area / kitchen and laundry), 2 additional bathrooms, (one newly refurbished with shower, basin and toilet in the one room and the other with an enormous bath) and lastly a very large family room with table tennis / table soccer / lounges / chairs and a large open fireplace.
BTW, Many of the beautiful photos of the homestead and surrounds were taken by Melbourne photographer Bree Hankinson, who was our New Year's Eve guest. For quality photography, you'll find Bree through any Australian search engine.
As far as amenities are concerned, Galwiji is fully self-contained, and then some. It has a full kitchen with a dishwasher, toaster, kettle, large microwave oven, enormous fridge, urn, pressure cooker, rice cooker, large flat grill, sandwich maker, hand mixer and coffee machine. Our Weber Kettle BBQ provides an opportunity to grill outdoors if you desire.
There's a large flat screen TV with DVD player, radio / c.d. player, as well as important appliances such as a large front-loading washing maching, an ironing table and board and a hair dryer (Rosie says they're very important :)
For a really special evening, a telescope is available, because the stars at Galwiji are a - may - zing!
It's quite an environmentally friendly property too. Apart from the 100 acre tree farm (we're growing Sugar Gums and Blue Gums), most of our electricity is provided by solar panels and all of our water comes from the sky. With that in mind, we provide you with a large external clothesline rather than a dryer. Unless it's mid-winter It does also limit your ability to do water-intensive activities, but if you'd like to bring a blow-up pool or similar, it may be possible to fill it from the nearby dam, so please ask :)
Your hosts, Malcolm & Rosie and Malcolm's parents Ann & Bill are seasoned travellers. Ann and Malcolm are both fluent in German and French and Rosie is fluent in German.
Strictly no smoking on the property, either indoors or outdoors (due to fire restrictions) and strictly no pets.
Apologies for the high cleaning fee. When you see the size of the house, you'll understand why - it's about a 4 hour job!
Also, due to water constraints at Galwiji, we are happy to provide linen for up to 6 guests (i.e. 3 x double beds, 1 of which is a queen) but if your party is larger than 6, we would ask that you provide your own linen for the 'extras'. Thanks for your understanding.
P.S. Malcolm & Rosie and children have just returned from some time in Europe where we sampled a number of Airbnb listings. We stayed in many AirBNB places, from the stunning to the not so, but it strengthened our resolve to make Galwiji the absolute best experience we can make it! :)
P.P.S. We have listed the site as handicap accessible, but it's not specifically set up for our wheelchair-bound friends, so please, call us and we'll talk further. Generally we have been able to accomodate and a recent visitor 'on wheels' found Galwiji quite suitable.
Features
Wheelchair Access, Washing Machine
- Barbeque
- Bird Watching
- Bush Walking
- Cooking Facilities
- Cot
- DVD player
- Dishwasher
- Eco-Friendly
- Garden Treasure Hunt
- Heaters
- Ironing Facilities
- Linen Supplied
- Microwave
- Mountain Bike Riding BYO BIke
- Non-Smoking
- Open Fireplace
- Parking
- Peace and Quiet
- Playground
- Rumpus room
- Sheep Property
- Stereo
- Towels Supplied
- Tree Farm Walks
- Washing Machine
- Wheelchair Access
- Yabby Fishing
Prices
Discounts
Stay before 27 Jun 2013 for 10% off.
Note: Pricing is subject to change, and a minimum stay period and other conditions may apply. You should confirm pricing with the property owner.
Prices listed based on 2 adults. Property has 9 beds and can sleep a maximum 12 people.
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Galwiji Homestead
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