K-Elle Country Cottage, Port Fairy review: Welcome to the house of fun

Playground ... offering table tennis, pool, croquet, a darts board and more, K-Elle Country Cottage's pulling power is strong, especially for families.

Kathy Evans enjoys a cottage that leaves a folk festival playing second fiddle.

We have come for the Port Fairy Folk Festival but the attractions at K-Elle Country Cottage in the nearby township of Yambuk are proving hard to resist.

While the bands are tuning up in tents, we can't resist chalking the snooker cues for a quick game of pool in the large, sunny games room at the back of the three-bedroom cottage. We follow it with a game of table tennis before discovering the darts board hanging on the far wall.

Meanwhile, the dogs are enjoying the freedom of 40 hectares after being cooped up in the back of the car, delighted to discover a herd of cows at which to bark. The grounds, with a small orchard and a tall, thick hedge, are a pleasure to explore.

How lovely it is to sit on a rickety fence and watch the rich autumn sun slowly sink behind the row of trees in which the birds have gathered for evensong.

In Port Fairy, Victorian act Gossling is due on stage, but the night is chilly, so we instead light the log fire in the cosy living room and settle down with the chocolates and bottle of port that hosts Kevin and Lyn Harris have thoughtfully provided.

The weatherboard cottage certainly feels the cold but there are electric blankets on all the beds - a set of bunks, a double and a queen.

The decor, we decide, is ideal for families like ours, who want comfort but are intimidated by masses of genuine antiques and period furniture (and who wouldn't be with three children and two dogs). It has a practical '70s feel, but enough interesting artefacts, such as framed yellowed newspaper cuttings about the region and restored pieces of old farm machinery, dotted around to give the place context.

The next day brings more sunshine. Feeling like characters from Alice in Wonderland (or an Agatha Christie novel, depending on your age), we set up the croquet on the immaculate lawn tennis court, followed by a game of boules, which we unearth from the well-stocked games cupboard, before finally heading to the festival.

Port Fairy, a 15-minute drive from the cottage, used to be called Belfast but doesn't bear any resemblance to the industrialised red-brick city of livid scars and beautiful Victorian and Edwardian architecture. With its small cottages and quaint harbour, the small town is much more like one of the whitewashed villages you would find on the tourist map in the south of Ireland.

This whole section of the south-west coastline has a distinctly Irish flavour; perhaps it was the windswept, treeless expanse that first attracted settlers homesick for the landscapes of the old country.

As a family with strong Celtic heritage, we spent several years living in Ireland (including Belfast) and the sweeping green pastures of the Shire of Moyne, criss-crossed with dry stone walls, gives us a sense of deja vu.

Driving back to Yambuk at day's end, we stop at the cemetery - a lonely, overgrown place with a population larger than that of the town's living. You can't help but wonder at the stories that lie beneath the weathered stones; how the unkempt graves of the Irish inhabitants conceal tales of adventure, yearning, heartache and loss.

Back at the cottage, we manage to squeeze in one last game of snooker and gather a few windfall apples for the curious black-faced calves before heading back to Melbourne feeling a renewed sense of connectedness with a place we've left behind.

VISITORS' BOOK

K-Elle Country Cottage

Address 9 Baxter Street, Port Fairy.

Phone Lyn and Kevin Harris, 5568 2116, 0427 009 574; email [e-mail].

Cost from $400 for two nights.

Getting there Port Fairy is 296 kilometres west of Melbourne on the Princes Highway. For the scenic route take the Great Ocean Road.

Summary Relaxed country charm with plenty to keep you occupied. Perfect for children and pets.

Verdict 17

The score: 19-20 excellent; 17-18 great; 15-16 good; 13-14 comfortable.

All weekends away are conducted anonymously and paid for by Traveller.