We reached Healesville in the evening after popping by the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery. Found the driveway to the estate at the bend. We received a warm welcome by the super friendly dog, Finn. Upon entering the cottage, we were pleasantly surprised to see paintings similar to what we acquired in Bali!

The cottage was cozy and the rooms were well furnished. At first, we thought the flowers left in the cottage were artificial but the scent left us bewildered that such pretty flowers were plucked from the flowers growing outside the dilapidated stable next door. Aptly described, the exterior of the cottage was rustic looking. Closeby was the Drake's residence but the cottage enjoyed its own privacy.

It was pretty cold and fortunately, we had firewood to burn, an electric heater (in the living room) and bed warmers (in the rooms). In the morning, we were greeted with a nice view of a field with horses from the kitchen. The kitchen was well stocked with pans etc for cooking.

We were glad that the Healesville Sanctuary was a stone's throw away as it took a while for us to get the kids ready. It was cold so we drove there within 5-10min and enjoyed free parking. Spent half a day there before driving to nearby Coles for groceries and Innocent Bystanders for white wine and moscato.

It was a pity we didn't explore the cottage surroundings as we were on a tight schedule. The only peeve was the main door which was not a solid, opaque door so we reckon one could peep in to see the living room and adjoining room. So we had to shut the room door even though the heater was in the living room. Other than this, we enjoyed the stay at this little rustic cottage.