These blog posts are effectively extensions of the reviews we left on our hosts' listings. Like how all travel experiences are, everyone gets a different perspective. By no means are these paid advertorials or professional endorsements, merely personal recommendations.
MELBOURNE, Hawthorn East
We arrived at this beautiful standalone house with a drive-in area that could accommodate both our car and theirs. Our host Robyn was standing at the front porch with a big wide smile and welcomed us with open arms.
The Hosts
Robyn and George were everything you'd expect in a good host. Here are things they've done for us while we were staying there.
- Let us have the extra room although we only booked one. (Just because)
- Saved us in the nick of time from committing an overambitious mistake of completing the Great Ocean Road and Grampians in one day.
- Lent us binoculars after recommending us a great place to spot Koalas in their natural habitat.
- Introduced us to a cute family of possums living in their back yard (Which was more like a park really). Their back yard is also often visited by lorikeets and cockatoos. (Robyn spends thousands of dollars a year on bird feed just to bring these native birds into her yard.)
- Taught us how to spot the Commonwealth stars in the night skies. (Which are the stars on the Australian and New Zealand Flags)
- Specially prepared breakfast for us every single morning when we were there. (Fresh from the market!)
At Airbnb we are all about fun facts, and boy did George have the coolest fun fact ever.
He has a gunshot wound in his shoulder from back when he was caught in war in the Czech Republic.
Robyn also describes his husband as a real handyman, and most of the furnishings and renovations to the house were done personally by him. (..and the most I ever did was to put together an IKEA drawer.)
The House
You should go to their profile to check out the photos as you read on!
Lovely room in Hawthorn. in Hawthorn East
House in Hawthorn East, Australia. A Home not a Hotel Come and try the Aussie way of life. Stay with us in a lovely family home with a huge garden, only 7 Kilometers from the CBD. Wake up to the sound of birds, enjoy breakfast in the garden and go to sleep watching the possums and... View all listings in Hawthorn East
The bulk of our Melbourne leg was spent on roadtrips to sights such as the Great Ocean Road and The Grampians so we didn't spend much time in the city. It's about a 3 hour drive one way from the house to each destination! It is advised by Robyn that you start to make your way back before night falls. (To avoid low-light situations and tons of road kill.)
This is a house that you probably can't find in a country like Singapore. The interior and wooden furnishings have sort of a rustic charm that you only get from houses that have been around for a long time. You see signs of personal handiwork and carpentry everywhere, and a FIREPLACE, THEY HAVE A FIREPLACE.
Do help me say hi if you ever live with them! (IF they even remember us, they're probably swamped with reservations.)