Strathalbyn is a small town in South Australia. I knew nothing about it, so why did we stay there for a few days? The daughter and her partner of our gay friend in Kyneton has bought a house there and Gary has been living in the house for a couple of months while renovations are carried out.
Strath as the abbreviation goes, is a wonderful town. The older houses are made of beautiful sandstone. It is stunningly well maintained and not a bit of litter to be seen on the streets. There are many cafes, pubs and antique shops (ok, bric-a-bak). I thought to myself that something was missing in what I was seeing. I worked out what when I saw a black guy delivering cans of drink from a truck to a shop I realised it was a totally white town. I suspect most residents are generationally of four if not more. Dorothy rather likes Kansas with lots of different races around.
Google Maps told us the drive was 7 3/4 hours. We can do that. We've driven in one day to Adelaide years ago, but we are older now. I'll just say we are never going to do that again. We stopped about five times, mostly to get out of the car and stretch for five minutes but there were a couple of twenty minute stops for food. We left home at 7 and arrived at 3.10.
We had looked at a cabin in a caravan park but as it was only three nights, we also looked at motels. Strath Motel appealed to us and that is what we chose. It was the nicest motel we have ever stayed in Australia over forty years. It was a twin room in a huge space with a dining table for four along with two almost lounge chairs. It had a lovely outdoor area at the back with a table and chairs with a bushy garden. There were plenty of visiting birds and bees, along with unfortunately flies. The worst thing about it was wonky toilet roll holder and if that is all I could find to complain about.... It was serviced daily, which meant we had to tidy up each morning. Not a bad thing. The staff were very nice. Our third night came at half price and if we'd stayed longer, the fourth night would have been free. $160 per night is on the high side, but you get what you pay for and I think it was good value.
An opaque glass brick wall faces the car park.
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Wow. We gave up campgrounds long ago. I'd stay there, for sure.
ReplyDeleteSusan, what is this thing called camping? I doesn't sound pleasurable 😉
DeletePeople spend money to not be able to sleep at night.
DeleteThat looks very comfortable. Why is it usually so difficult to find a decent place with good twin rooms? Not all of us want to share a bed with our long term partner.
ReplyDeleteAs the longest journey here would take a little over an hour, your trip would have finished us off.
JayCee, we frequently battle to find a twin room. We've never found a twin bed cabin and so end up having a two bedroom cabin. Travel times are what you get used to I suppose.
DeleteThat motel does look impressive. I cannot remember the last time I spent a night away from home. Long drives are NOT my friend, though sadly himself loves them.
ReplyDeleteEC, wouldn't that be when you stayed in the safari accommodation? At one break as I 'fell' of the car, I remained in the same sitting shape as if I was still in the car.
DeleteThe Stalker
ReplyDeleteAndrew
The girls do the drive Adelaide to Melbourne a few times a year we stop at Keith, Kaniva and Ararat for a stretch and to change drivers. We take a thermos and our lunch
The boys need to go into training next time . This old girl is older than R so come on boys !
Haven’t been to Strath as locals call it for a few years and your summation is accurate. You can drive out to Langhorne Creek vineyards from Strath which is quite lovely
When I was working for the SACE board visiting schools I used to drive Adelaide to Streaky Bay by myself in one day.. the first time I felt quite ill at the end of the day but I recovered….
Stalker, perhaps you are used to it and don't suffer from arthritis. We did visit Langhorne Creek, yet to written about. Maybe it was longer years ago but the trip you mention is now less than eight hours. When younger I drove three times to Sydney and back, before the full freeway was completed.
DeleteAlways uplifting to have a good experience.
ReplyDeleteIt is Tasker. I was a very pleasant short break, and needed.
DeleteThis is a roadtrip. Having a thing for roadtrip is a hobby acquired since I start living in Australia since age of 15.
ReplyDeleteRoentare, we've taken plenty of road trips but not in the last few years.
DeleteI love a good long drive but 8 hours is my max. I was quite impressed with the motels on my recent trip. It appears many have upped their game - and they needed to.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to hear Caro. We've stayed in some pretty ordinary places over the years.
DeleteGreat bargain on the motel pricing, daily servicing and a bath! We drove that Dukes - Western Highway regularly when we spend 7yrs over there - I even came and went on my own. Ararat/Horsham/Border Town/ Tailem Bend were our food and pit stops. If you were the only driver and not used to long distance driving you certainly would have found it tiring. Those are the times when you discover how comfortable (or not) your car seats are.
ReplyDeleteCathy, we mostly stopped in smaller towns. R could have driven too but I thought, I still have to be here in the car, so I may as well keep driving. It was hard on R's back and my arthritis. Our seats are very well shaped but more soft padding would be nice.
DeleteI know here in the United States, the smaller the town, the whiter the town. It's one (though not the only) reason we have the political discord that we have. Diversity seems quite scary to the provincials, whereas it's taken for granted by big city dwellers.
ReplyDeleteAs for your Dorothy analogy, if there was one place with a lot of diversity, it wasn't Kansas but Oz! It was just too much of a shock to that small town girl's system.
Much like here I think Kirk, although I don't think there is particular fear factor of difference. I would guess your city is quite diverse. While NYC is far from my favourite city in the world, I did like its diversity.
DeleteI kind of did the reverse of Dorothy. It did not feel right to be surrounded by white face.
It does look very nice, plenty of space in the room even with all that furniture. If I'd known you were going to Strath, I would have suggested a visit to their Bakery. I've never been there, but have heard it is one of the best in SA. I've looked at houses there via realestatedotcom, but would never move that far away from the kids and grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteRiver, maybe we did go to the bakery. I won't know until I get to the next lot of photos. By capital city prices Strath is cheap, but by country town prices, I think not. As an older person dependent on good medical care, I don't think I would move there.
DeleteLooks lovely, rather stay in a Motel than a cabin. Only stayed in a cabin once and that was enough. Oh dear!
ReplyDeleteMargaret, is that because there were cooking facilities and you felt obliged to cook? We like cabins with a little verandah at the front, but we have stayed in some very average ones and the really bad one at Devonport.
DeleteIt sounds like an enjoyable trip. The distances you have to cover sound quite daunting to someone from this little island.
ReplyDeleteJabblog, it is long distance in your terms. We drove from Newcastle to Blackpool and back. It felt like a long distance but maybe not so far. The motorway was brilliant and the driver discipline to wonder at. Funnily none of R's family knew what the speed limit is on motorways. I worked out it was about 110 km/h or 70 m/ph.
DeleteIt looks really very nice ! Belgium in Australia would look like a flee poo and probable only half of it ! Distances are so different !
ReplyDeleteQuite so Gattina. Our roads are big wide and fairly fast, so distances can be covered fairly quickly.
DeleteFor the first five years we were married, spouse and I travelled around a lot, always staying in caravan parks because they were so cheap. Now I appreciate proper motel units like you are showing :)
ReplyDeleteHels, after this experience I think motels will be our choice over cabins in the future. We pay for badly arranged cabin space that we don't really need.
DeleteAs I get older, my standards for hotels get higher.
ReplyDeleteTP, I think ours have too.
DeleteLooks like a nice place! I love a good motel.
ReplyDeleteSteve, it was very good.
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