Thelma’s of Temora

Having dawdled from Crookwell to Temora as detailed in the last two posts, what should have been a two-and-half-hour drive took up most of the day, so we were very pleased to let ourselves into our self-contained accommodation around 5pm to begin our three-night stay in Temora. The delightful Thelma’s Cottage was to be home for the next three nights.

Taking an entire cottage is a little more expensive than a motel room, but then you save on eating out, and have the bonus of plenty of space and amenities. And delightful Thelma’s of Temora offered this in spades, starting with the warm country welcome of a garden full of agapanthus in bloom peeking out from the white-painted fence.

Thelma’s of Temora NSW, February 2023

The supermarket was just up the road, so after stocking up with barbecued chicken and salads, cider and wine, we plonked ourselves on the comfortable outdoor furniture in the shade out on the back deck and relaxed as the heat of the day faded.

Thelma’s caters well for families with young children, because as well as the freshly-cut grassed area, there was a sandpit, an outdoor play kitchen, a cemented race-track for cars, a blackboard and chalks, a trampoline, various games, and resident chooks (chickens) Madge and Mavis who had a cute little cottage of their own. The children can collect the eggs each day. (In our case, since there were no children, we did this ourselves – Madge has fluffy legs and lays little pale-green eggs. Mavis lays garden-variety white ones.

How nice to walk outside to be greeted with this sign:

The yard was decorated with reclaimed signs and quirky artwork (click on the images in the gallery).

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And it wasn’t long before the chooks came to greet us. Of course, they expected special treats, but all I had at that stage was some of the grass clippings (click on the images in the gallery).

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Inside there was a well-equipped kitchen, a comfortable lounge area, a dining area, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. Everything was well thought-out with more, bright quirky artwork decorating the walls and home-made jam and condiments in the fridge.

When we realised what a comfy place we’d hired we made sure over the next days to balance our sight-seeing with time to hang out back on that deck, and found we didn’t need to go out again at night. We are such home-bodies these days. Even if it was someone else’s home!

Obviously, it has been a labour of love and ingenuity to transform this 1905 cottage into the gem it is today, so much so that it got a write-up in the Temora Independent in November 2018 (Source: Facebook).

*****

For those who are also following the 2012 road trip along the Murray River, here is the next installment. GP Cox, some of your followers will like it, because it is about the Catalina Flying boats of WWII. I know they saw it at the time, but that was a decade ago! Yikes!! And my apologies, on reviewing the post, it looks as if I overlooked to respond to a few of the comments.

Lake Boga Flying Boat Museum – Home of the Catalina