Country Comfort Just Like Mum's Spare Room

Sun Herald

Sunday August 6, 2006

Rosemarie Milsom

A visit to Orange failed to turn Rosemarie Milsom into a B&B fan.

WHEN choosing accommodation, I've always avoided B&Bs. Typically, photographs of the rooms look like they've been taken at my great-aunt's house - picture floral curtains, velvet upholstery and lots of cushions - and I've never warmed to the idea of paying to stay in what is often someone's residence. The possibility of having to feign perkiness over breakfast while the chatty owner whips up bacon and eggs puts me off.

But, facing a last-minute trip to Orange, it seems my only options are a dowdy motel, a room in a pub or a B&B. After five phone calls and no vacancies I manage to get a "maybe" from Tony Doe who, with his wife Sue, manages Cloudgap Bed And Breakfast. Tony promises to call me back within five minutes and is true to his word.

Because I'll be arriving at 7pm the next day, he directs me to the winter dinner and supper menus on the website. For $55 a head the four-course dinner includes pumpkin soup, oven-baked salmon, lamb, beef and desserts such as chocolate mousse, plum pudding with Napoleon cognac butter and sticky date pudding. I pre-order a vegetable soup simply because I'm not keen on sitting down to a four-course meal alone.

Tony's clear directions are spot-on and, after a four-hour peak-hour drive from the city, I find myself at the top of a long, well-lit driveway about 12 kilometres from the centre of Orange. From the outside Cloudgap, a two-storey brick building surrounded by trees and nestled into the lee side of a steep hill, looks like a family home.

Purpose built by the couple three years ago, the B & B has three large bedrooms - all with their own en suite bathrooms including a spa - a common lounge area and dining room.

My room has a king-size bed, bar fridge, kettle, small built-in wardrobe and, most importantly, air-conditioning. Even the bathroom has heated towel racks.

The decor is country style meets family home - floral curtains, pastel blue walls and bright cushions. The room is spacious and the en suite bathroom even more impressive with its large shower and spa, but I can't help feeling as though I'm bedding down in my mum's spare room.

Just across the landing is the "romance room", which has a bigger spa and a view from the balcony. Later in the night I hear the resident "romance" couple chatting and laughing and I'm reminded of why I've avoided B&Bs till now.

Can I get up and watch the TV in the communal lounge room, or will that annoy the third couple whose bedroom is nearby? Will my alarm annoy the young couple who have been up most of the night when it rings out at 7am?

I stop agonising and sneak into the lounge room in my PJs and grab some magazines - Cleo from 1998 and even earlier issues of Cosmopolitan. I forget all about my fellow lodgers and focus on how voluptuous Elizabeth Hurley used to be and how dreadful Pamela Anderson has always looked.

TRIP NOTES

Bookings: Cloudgap Bed & Breakfast, Strathnook Lane, Orange, phone 6365 1231 or email cloudgap@cloudgap.com.au.

Website: www.cloudgap.com.au.

Rates: From $155 a night pp including breakfast.

Getting there: Via the M4 then Lithgow, or else take the M2 then go through Windsor.

VERDICT

A homey B & B in a tranquil bush setting.

Why you'd go: You enjoy a home away from home.

Why you wouldn't: You don't want to worry about making noise and polite conversation.

FIND TIME TO

Visit the Orange Farmers' Market, at the showground on the second Saturday of the month .

Head eight kilometres out of town to Lake Canobolas Reserve for a barbecue before driving on to Mount Canobolas, an extinct volcano 1394 metres above sea level that has great views.

Visit boutique wineries, but call as some tastings are by appointment only. See www.winesoforange.com.au.

© 2006 Sun Herald

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