“Happy New Year! Did you go away?” a work colleague asked me. “Yes I did. I was up on the Central Coast, on Macmasters Beach”, I replied. “Oh yes, Macmasters Beach, I’ve been there a few times … it’s a really nice remote part of the Central Coast, away from all the crowds”.
During the summer holidays venturing out some place in regional NSW has become an annual pilgrimage for my family. We would pack our car, drive somewhere within easy reach (preferably in 2 to 3 hours or less) stay in a nice holiday home that accommodates nine of us and preferably in a location that is visually stunning because my family have seemingly taken an interest in photography – whether iPhone, drones, DSLR, they’re into it. Good for me as I can get them to do some work for my blog this time. Last summer we visited the Central Coast. I’ve been living in the bush capital of Canberra for 3 months and so desperately needed a sea change. This would be my second visit to the Central Coast within a few months. I enjoyed the discoveries in my last trip and decided to take the whole family crew up with me for a weekend (you can read my earlier story here See.Taste.Do on the Central Coast).
We drove up from Sydney which was an easy 1.5 hours drive to the newly renovated Malolo at Macmasters beachhouse on Macmasters Beach on the Central Coast, just over an hour and half drive from Sydney and explored a number of surrounding beach communities including Macmasters Beach, Putty Beach and Pearl Beach. These destinations are best suited to families (and retirees) who like the lost in time way of life they represent. The beaches are clean and not crowded and it’s much easier to find parking nearby (Sydneysiders know what I mean if you have ever tried to go to a Sydney beach on the weekend). After a weekend away, we came away a little tanned and noticeably refreshed, a testament to the house that gave each of our family members enough personal space for it to feel like a home away from home.
Malolo at Macmasters is a beautiful coastal house that gives a light and airy coastal feel as soon as you walk in. It felt very ‘homely’. It’s set on a sunny 650sqm block in an idyllic bush setting an easy 500m walk to Macmasters Beach or a 2 minute drive away and it was also an easy drive to the other beach and waterside locations we visited on the Central Coast. Macmasters Beach is a patrolled beach with a renowned surf break, a rock pool for kids and a lovely lagoon between MacMasters and Copacabana. Bouddi National Park is close by and has excellent walking tracks. We tried the 3 km walk from Putty Beach and it is an easy walk and a great location for some drone footage my brother took.
The beach house has 3 split levels with 3 queen bedrooms with built-ins. Beds 1 & 2 are upstairs and both have queen beds and built-ins, the Master queen bedroom is on the lower level, with wall-mounted flat-screen TV & balcony access. There are 3 bathrooms in total – a full bathroom upstairs (w combined bath/shower), a full bathroom (shower/toilet only) in the laundry on lower level, and a toilet & shower room adjacent to the bunk house (it’s a proper shower but the tops of the walls are open to the elements).
The Bunk House at the back has custom-made built-in bunks, featuring two king singles over two doubles, have been constructed to maximise comfort and space for kids and teens, or a complete family wanting accommodation separate from main house. The bunk house has aircon, TV, DVD, and two single floor mattresses if needed.
Everyone who occupied the rooms slept comfortably and soundly with the Bunk House being a novelty and favourite of my cousins, aunt and uncle as it was equipment with television, cushions, air conditioning and a toilet.
My favourite place though in the Malolo was the fully equipment kitchen and we used it every day during our stay to prepare breakfast and dinner. It was dream kitchen and it had everything from all the utensils you need to bake, fry, toss or grill to a fresh fruit basket and milk in the fridge. The kitchen extends to the BBQ area and the BBQ grill with its heat intensity can produce some juicy, well-cooked steaks. We brought our own food for one night of dinner prepare at home and our homecooking was gourmet experience of tacos, salads and BBQ New York cut steaks with the help of everything supplied in the kitchen at Malolo.
Macmasters Beach itself is a beautiful beach and probably one of our favourite beaches on the Central Coast. The sand is nice to walk on, all soft and squishy between your toes and I love the rockpool setting at sunset not to mention the little crabs that come out of the sand at this tim. We spent ages at the rockpool as the landscape gave us some beautiful natural photography at sunset.
We drove to Pearl Beach on the last day we were on the Central Coast and that was a lovely, small and clean beach with swimming sections for all ages. The little monkey swing in the kids’s natural pool area seemed like a lot of fun and I couldn’t resist trying it (of which all the kids followed after that). There are sitting areas in the shade and good shower facilities to wash off the sand off your feet before you hop back in your car.
As a family group we dined at these places during the weekend we stayed at Malolo:
Woy Woy Fisherman’s Wharf is a Central Coast iconic restaurant right on the water in Woy Woy, run by three generations of the Cregan – Clayton family. With a philosophy of serving the best and sustainably sourced seafood as simply as possible and in a beautifully designed restaurant on the waterways sharing the space with flocks of pelicans, this restaurant is a must visit for lunch on the Central Coast. My family absolutely loved the seafood dining experience and everything was so fresh and delicious.
Saddles Mt White is my favourite eatery to stopover for afternoon tea on the way home to Sydney from the NSW Central Coast and I wanted to stop again this time to share the experience with my family. My mother loved the nursery there and this time I picked up a unique ‘head’ for my garden. This establishment is a luxe countryside homestead experience on 10 hectares of bushland just north of Brooklyn that is perched on a private dam. We indulged on housemade pies, sausage rolls and sweets, a satisfying treat before the drive back to Sydney. Saddles Mt White is the fourth venture for restaurateurs Cameron and Hayley Cansdell, who come via Bombini and Bombini Pizza at Avoca Beach and Fish Dining at Point Frederick, and worked with The John Singleton Group and White Dickson Architects to bring the eatery in the bushlands to fruition.
The Boathouse Hotel Patonga is located in the idyllic coastal town of Patonga on the NSW Central Coast, surrounded by the Hawkesbury and Brisbane Waters National Park. It is a 1.5 hour drive from Sydney CBD or a 30 minute ferry trip from Palm Beach, Sydney. The Hotel offers waterside eating and drinking, and a kiosk for take-aways. Reservations are not required but if you are going on a Sunday I recommend you get there by 11am because by 12pm it’s packed with people (probably because of people being dropped off by the ferry across the restaurant at midday on Sunday).
The picturesque, photogenic, clean and not so crowded beaches on the NSW Central Coast is why you would go there with your family. Beyond the beaches, there are many boutique eateries that give you a dining experience to remember. Not only serving amazing food but the experience of sitting there and sharing food will be something to remember. With the Central Coast being only under 2 hours drive from Sydney, a trip to the Central Coast with loved ones is a must see, taste and do!
See.Taste.Do stayed as a guest of Malolo at Macmasters with itinerary organised by Scout PR