Rural Retreat at Oberon

Our comfortable 4 bedroom house on 3 hectares is surrounded on 3 sides by larger cattle/sheep properties. Plenty of things to do in the Oberon area, or entertain yourself using our tennis court, games room with pool & foosball tables, nbn, board games, tv's with ChromeCast, BluRay player, or play table tennis in the garage. Also in the garage is an old foot operated potters wheel (byo clay). Bring your bikes for the 4km cycle into town along a cycle/walking path and local 50/60 km/h roads. Our home is great for a family get-away or for small groups. We welcome children and infants , but note that they need to be supervised outside due to our dam and pond. A high chair is available if required. There is a wood fire in the kitchen/living area that can be used on cold days (firewood provided in season), and there is a small breakfast bar in this area. There are gas heaters in the games and lounge rooms, and most of the beds have electric blankets (but not the double bunks or the sofa bed). We have a triple garage, but only a single bay is available for your use. This bay will fit a small to medium car only, but there is plenty of external space to park a few vehicles. When your car is not in the garage you can unfold the table tennis table and use the provided bats/balls. We also provide tennis rackets and balls, but if you are serious about your tennis you may wish to bring your own equipment (we do not guarantee freshness of the balls we provide). Tennis court is illuminated to a usable level, but lights cannot be used after 10pm. There is a small table in the corner of the dining room that is suitable as a workspace, but note that our main dining table only accommodates 8 adults (if you have a larger group you may need to use the smaller table for dining at meal times) We are about a 4km walk or cycle to Oberon Township, much of it along a walking/cycle path that is separate from the road (with the remainder along local 50 and 60 km/h streets). Ducks and other waterbirds regularly overnight on our dam and can sometimes be seen on the dam or waddling around the property during the day. Oberon in located at an elevation of approx. 1100m in the Central Tablelands area. It is actually higher than Mt Victoria and this elevation gives it a somewhat cooler climate than the Sydney area. Even in summer it can get quite cool overnight and if you are planning outdoor night-time activities then it is suggested that you bring something warmer than a T-Shirt. (I find it is best to dress in layers if going outdoors so that you can shed a layer as the morning warms up and put it on again as the evening cools down.) Sunny winter days can be very pleasant, but be prepared to rug up once the sun goes down. We typically get one or two decent snow falls during the winter period, and if the sun isn’t out it can be positively freezing, so bring plenty of warm clothes if visiting in winter! Our house is equipped with a wood fire and 2 gas heaters to keep you warm (we will provide firewood if you are visiting during the cooler months). Historically Oberon was a farming district, and today you will still find plenty of sheep and cattle properties in the area (at the time of writing 2 cattle properties adjoin our property, although one of them has run sheep in the past). The timber industry is the lifeblood of the town and you will pass a sawmill and a particle board factory as you travel between our house and the township (the particle board factory is visible in the distance across open farmland to the south of our property and occasionally you may hear low level noise from the factory although mostly you would not be aware of it). You will have use of the entire house and I will try to give you as much space as you need. I will try to be there to meet you and show you around but there may be occasions when I will give you a lock box combination for self check in. Generally I am available by phone to answer any questions you may have. Note that the property has extensive lawns and gardens which take a full day to mow and maintain during the warmer months. Wherever possible I will try to do this between guest stays, but there may be occasions when I will need to arrange to have the lawns mown during your stay (particularly during longer stays as the lawns need to be mown at least once a week during the peak growing season). Our property is about 3 hectares in a rural area with larger cattle or sheep properties on 3 sides, but only a few km from Oberon township. There may (or may not) be horses in some paddocks on our property during your stay and you are asked to stay out of those paddocks (but there are still a couple of acres of lawns/gardens that you are free to roam around). Note that our property features a dam and a pond, so care needs to be taken to supervise young children. Public transport to Oberon is available on weekdays with a bus service that connects with train services at Tarana station. There is one bus in the morning to connect with a train towards Sydney and one in the afternoon/evening that connects with a train from Sydney. There is a bus stop about a kilometer from our property (ask the driver to stop at Rutters Ridge). Please ask me for details if you are planning to use this service as the Rutters Ridge stop does not show up on the Transport NSW Trip Planner. Note that this bus service does not run on weekends. There are other bus services available to/from Bathurst that depart from / arrive at the bus stop in town (about 4km away). NOTES REGARDING COVID RESTRICTIONS: I reserve the right to cancel bookings if required by ongoing Covid Restrictions (Even if you are able to come to Oberon, if there are restrictions on Greater Sydney residents I may be unable to go to Oberon to prepare the house for you). If restrictions change within 5 days of your arrival and prevent you from coming I will of course offer a full refund (even though a refund would not normally be available during that period). CHECKOUT TIMES: I am prepared to discuss checkout flexibility if you are arriving late in the day and you contact me beforehand (e.g. I would generally allow a late check-out up to 6pm Sunday if you arrived around 8pm on Friday, but you must discuss it with me and get my approval beforehand). Without prior approval checkout is 11am.