13: Find a classic Aussie beach house

As a nation of beach-dwellers, we’ve perfected the concept of the ultimate, classic beach house. It doesn’t need to be fancy (in fact, it shouldn’t be!) but it must have some or all of the following: an outdoor eating area; big windows to let in the sea breezes; direct access to the beach; lazy ceiling fans; a hammock for whiling away lazy afternoons with a book; a frangipani tree; and an outdoor tap to wash off sandy feet. The best beach houses smell of the ocean; their well-worn floors tell the stories of all the families who have called it home for the summer before yours. Fibro or timber; whitewashed or candy-coloured; sprawling or small and perfectly formed – you’ll know the perfect one when you clap eyes on it. Move in, unpack and prepare to relaaaaaaaaaax.Try these…

NSW

Snapper Lodge, Newport – Almost outrageously kitsch, this dream beach house is crammed with cool beachy knick-knacks, has a miniature lighthouse on the deck, and is smack on the water at Newport in Sydney’s northern beaches, with views across Pittwater. From $750 per night for 2-4 nights, $650 per night for 5+nights (high season is a minimum of 1-2 week bookings). Sleeps four. 02 9331 2881.

Susan’s Beach House, Broken Head – Light, airy and tropical, Susan’s is the ‘rustic-luxe’ Byron Bay beach house you’ve always dreamed of buying, just a two-minute stroll to stunning Broken Head Beach. From $350 (Sun-Thurs) per night to $450 (Fri/Sat) in low season; or $500 per night (Sun-Thurs) to $600 per night (Fri/Sat) peak season. Sleeps six. 0416 124 797.

Vic

Bear Gully Coastal Cottages, Tarwin, Gippsland – Four private, self-contained cottages in a beautiful setting overlooking Wilson’s Promontory. Throw in a hidden little beach all to yourselves, hammocks, barbecue and log fires for chilly nights, and you’ve got a perfect getaway for families or groups. From $265 per night (midweek) to $340 per night (Christmas period). Sleeps 2-4. 03 5663 2364.

Millers Rest, Blairgowrie, Mornington Peninsula – Family-friendly, with all the necessary mod cons (including an open-plan kitchen with Smeg appliances) and outdoor deck, the house is close to several beaches and a 15-minute walk to Blairgowrie village. From $200 per night (low season, two-night minimum) or $2000 per week (high season). Sleeps eight. 03 9775 3325.

Qld

Koda Beach Bungalows, Mission Beach – Affordable and oh-so-cute, these beach bungalows have everything you need for a chilled-out tropical getaway, including outdoor showers, outdoor eating areas, BBQ and access to a swimming pool. From $165 per night (low season) to $185 per night (high season). Sleeps four. 07 4068 7100.

Sunset Villa, 1770, Gladstone – This is classic beach shack living – bright blue walls, surrounded by native trees and flowers, open-plan sleeping and living, and beach views from the verandah. The villa houses two self-contained apartments, so it’s good for groups. From $600 per week (low season) or $1600 per week (high season). Sleeps four per apartment. 07 4974 9990; 1770.

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WA

Beach Cottage, Dunsborough – This beautifully restored beach house is a midsummer night’s dream, with a gorgeous timber deck under the flame tree providing beach views (there’s direct beach access, too). There’s also a light, bright atrium/living room and the requisite rustic chic vibe. From $433 per night (low season) or $3150 per week (high season). Sleeps six. 08 9750 5444.

Lantana Cottage, Albany – Shabby-chic, with whitewashed walls and a verandah providing hillside views out to Middleton Beach, this cottage has a lovely ambience combined with mod cons like a huge plasma TV and iPod docking station. From $860 for three nights (off peak) to $945 for three nights (peak). Sleeps seven. (08) 9750 5444.

SA

Beach Huts Middleton, Middleton – Candy-striped and cute as a button (hello, white picket fences!), these easy-breezy cottages are particularly great for groups of families who want to holiday together. From $150 to $235 per night. Sleeps 2-5, depending on hut (additional fees for extra adults or children). 08 8554 3933.

Windsong Beach House, Boatswains Point – With direct beach access, this gorgeously fitted-out abode near Robe on the Limestone Coast has a spa, open fireplace, gas barbecue, laundry and even a doggy snooze area for family afternoon nap time. From $265 per night (low season) to $295 per night (high season). Sleeps six. 1300 760 629.

NT

Coast Holiday House, Darwin – This 70s-style, elevated holiday house boasts open-plan living and dining, air-con and ceiling fans to beat the Darwin heat, and views of the harbour and CBD. There are bikes and fishing rods to help you explore the local hot spots, too. From $295 per night. Sleeps eight. 08 8942 3012.

Wagait Beach Bush Retreat, Wagait Beach – Set among natural bushland and tropical gardens, this secluded property is perfect for some serious time out (it’s a 128 kilometre drive from Darwin, or a 15-minute ferry ride across the harbour). It’s a great base for exploring this little community, with beaches, fishing, and wetlands on offer – plus, there’s a private pool on your doorstep. From $245 per night. Sleeps four. 08 8978 5123.

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Tas

Aurora Beach Cottage, Long Point, Bicheno – This character-filled, stone and timber cottage is secluded, private and beautifully kitted out, with sunrooms and windows offering beachfront views and a stone fireplace completing the true beach shack vibe. From $230 per night. Not able to accommodate children under 12. Sleeps four. 03 6375 1774. aurorabeachcottage.com.au

Paradise Beach House, Boat Harbour – This modern yet cosy retreat boasts bay and beach views, a covered verandah with barbecue for enjoying lazy meals, and a bunch of fishing, surfing, snorkelling and other equipment for you to make the most of this pretty little beachside pocket of Tassie’s north-west coast. From $240 per night (minimum two-night stay) depending on guest numbers. Sleeps 2-6. 03 6445 1390.

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Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.

Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.

But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.

The rise of Macedon Ranges wine

liquid gold barrels at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.

Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.

Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.

Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat, now one of the largest estates.

Meet the new generation of local winemakers

the Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. — The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate, whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor, who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will, who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.

Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.

farm animals atKyneton Ridge Estate — Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”

the vineyard at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.

Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods. “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.

Come for the wine, stay for the food

pouring sauce onto a dish at Lake HouseDaylesford — Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.

For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.

the Midnight Starling restaurant in Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.

The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.

Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

the accommodation at Cleveland Estate, Macedon Ranges — Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Soak up vineyard views from Cleveland Estate near Lancefield, embrace retro charm at Kyneton Springs Motel or indulge in lakeside luxury at the Lake House.

Eating there

Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument, which also has a sculpture park.

Drinking there

wine tasting at PassingClouds Winery, Macedon Ranges — A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds.

the Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar signage — Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Playing there

a scenic river in Castlemaine — Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens, hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.

purple flowers hanging from a tree — Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

13: Find a classic Aussie beach house

NSW

Vic

Qld

WA

SA

NT

Tas

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The Macedon Ranges is Victoria’s best-kept food and wine secret

Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.

The rise of Macedon Ranges wine

Meet the new generation of local winemakers

Come for the wine, stay for the food