A retreat on Lake George NSW near Canberra.

A few weeks back I drove from Melbourne to a visit a friend at a retreat centre on the banks of Lake George near Canberra.  Yarrow is working with a partner as resident coordinators of a large country property.  It was great to catch up with them in a beautiful location with sunshine, blue skies and chilly evenings.  This was just the relaxing break I needed: good home cooked meals, baking, chatting, walks and reading. 

After visiting I read about Lake George after my trip and was surprised to find it is a endorheic lake, which to you and me means saltwater.  I was surprised to read the lake is quite shallow and has dried up completely during droughts in the 1940s and from 2002 to 2010.  Apparently farmers graze sheep and cows on it when dry.  How will it cope with some of the hot weather we are told is ahead of us!  On an early Spring day after some mild summers, it contributed a great deal to the charm of the property.

The downside of arriving in early Spring was arriving in the dark.  I saw a lot of rabbits during my stay and many on the slow drive down the unsealed road leading there.  It was lovely to enjoy a home cooked carrot soup and fall into bed at the end of a long drive.

In the morning I slept in and finally got up to eat some home baked sourdough bread and peanut butter for breakfast.  Then I stood with my friends to watch a resident brown snake slither slowly across the front lawn.  A bit freaky but the birdlife did not seem at all bothered.  I do not envy my friends who were planning to deal with groups of guests while the snakes are around. Apparently snakes are particularly present in Spring.

When we went for a walk so I could see some of the grounds.  We went to see the orchard, the lake, the creek and some of the amazing old trees.  I wasn't the only curious one!  A couple of kangaroos came to watch us.  There was also a sacred fire circle, an Elders tree, an area where groups could camp out.

We had great views across the lake and were able to see the wind farm turbines.  A fine sight!

Unfortunately the walk made my feet sore as they were swollen from reaction to a medication and did not cope with being squeezed into my boots, which I wore because they seemed much more likely to protect against snake bites than my other more flimsy shoes.  It meant I didn't do much more walking after that - just a gentle stroll or two around the gardens by the house.

We had picked some salad leaves in the orchard.  Yarrow dressed the leaves and served them with Indian bites, yoghurt, pickle and chutney.  It made a very good lunch.

Then I helped out with some baking.  Yarrow used some sourdough starter excess to make crackers.  It was a simple exercise of kneading in some flour, seasoning and seeds, rolling it out thinly and scoring marks for breaking it into crackers once it was baked.  I really need to try this!  

We also tried a few recipes that I suggested from my blog, and while there was time to cook between group visits.  The carrot miso soup was less sweet than I remember it but still lovely.  We added cocoa to a flourless whole oange and almond cake (gf) and it was so good.  We made my favourite vegan chocolate cake that I got from the food co-op where we were both members when we first met.  

Lastly (an not all on one day) we also peeled and chop lots of apples for an apple and  rhubarb crumble.  This was Yarrow's creation and really delicious for dessert after soup and also with Greek yoghurt for breakfast.  The drizzle of balsamic vinegar on top before baking was surprisingly good.

The lunch the next day was a delicious bowl of chilli beans, guacamole, cheese and corn chips.  There might have also been some yoghurt in there.

Instead of a really long walk, we went for a drive around the property.   As we walked to the ute, we saw a snake on the driveway.  I took this above photo.  It looks like a stick but I would not have dared to go near it. 

The land is really amazing to drive past and admire, even with the bone shaking of the vehicle on the rutted road.  We passed lots of gnarly gum trees, colourful birdlife, an old homestead chimney ruin, fallen trees, kangaroos, and of course the banks of Lake George.  Yarrow showed me where they needed to bushfire-proof the property, expressed frustration at the invasive blackberry bushes, noted lots more weeds to be conquered, and checked the recently planted trees which were protected from kangaroos and wombats.

I was sad to leave but I had things to do back in the big smoke.  I left on another lovely sunny day, stopping to photograph these roadside mailboxes, before turning onto the major highways and freeways that led to the Hume Highway via Canberra.

More posts from my trip:

• Sweet bones, street art and statues in Canberra
• Roadtrip Melbourne to Lake George near Canberra
• Sir George Pub, Jugiong, NSW