One Night in a Secluded Cabin Deep Within the Australian Bush
On a trip to Grampians National Park, I jumped at the chance to stay at Down Under Log Cabins—a collection of timber structures remote enough for wildlife spotting, but not too rustic for the faint of heart.
Welcome to One Night In, a series about staying in the most unparalleled places available to rest your head.
I want to see kangaroos. It’s December 2022 and I’m "on holiday," as they say Down Under, in Australia’s southeastern state of Victoria, home to an estimated 2.4 million kangaroos (and around 6.6 million humans). While here, I want to watch a mob of kangaroos hop around through grasslands. I want to see a tiny, wide-eyed joey peeking from its mother’s pouch. I want to see that joey climb out of that pouch.
That’s why, back when I was planning this trip, I did a quick Google search for remote-but-not-so-remote-that-I’d-get-scared-to-stay-alone-there accommodations in the Australian bush. This brought me to DULC (Down Under Log Cabins), a collection of three private cabins built on five acres in Grampians National Park in 2006. Each of the rough-sawn timber structures—two single level, one double—features floor-to-ceiling windows that face the nature reserve known for its dramatic waterfalls, sandstone ridges, and Aboriginal rock art sites, as well as wildlife including emus, wallabies, and of course, kangaroos. Naturally, I booked my stay.
Wednesday
1 p.m. (or 13:00, as they say Down Under): Having landed in Melbourne a few days prior, my jet lag has passed. I’ve been hanging out northeast of Victoria’s capital in the Yarra Valley wine region, where the driver I hired to transport me to the Grampians is picking me up for the three-hour drive west. (From the Melbourne airport, the drive would’ve taken about three-and-a-half hours.)
4 p.m.: We stop for a quick pint and a bite to eat in Halls Gap Village, a small tourist town known as the gateway to the Grampians with a smattering of restaurants and mom-and-pop businesses. From there, the drive to DULC takes minutes.
I check in at the front office and receive my door code, then hop back in the car to follow the dirt road to my cabin. There’s no mistaking that I’m in the bush; eucalyptus trees form canopies above, and I can hear the bird songs of who knows how many species (there are about 350 in the region). As we approach my cabin, called Mountain View, I admire its earthy hues and stylishly sloped roof. DULC’s original owners, Ruth and Shane Allen—who sold the property to current owner Janene Coutts in 2021—wanted the cabins to blend seamlessly into the environment. To minimize disruption to the surrounding nature and cut as little vegetation as possible, wooden stilts allow for space between the structures and the earth.
See the full story on Dwell.com: One Night in a Secluded Cabin Deep Within the Australian Bush
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