Steam: Train Carriage

Take a step back in time, to bygone era, where life was simpler, where people spent time with dignified entertainment and life seemed to have more space and time. Welcome back to the great age of Steam…….

The carriage was used as a workshop, when the original owner was building the house next door (also a Dufflebird property, Otway's Loft).  Parts of the train were stripped and used in the house construction. When we started renovating the carriage it was quite run down. There was not enough intact to restore it, so we have developed our own style that is vaguely steam-punk influenced.

It took nine months to renovate the train from a pretty ragged start. Almost every surface had to have something done to it, and we found that carriages were really tightly put together (all that rattling) and hard to pull apart. When we did get panels off, we had no idea what we would find. We completely stripped and rewired the electrical, and did plumbing from scratch. Renovating anything over 100 years will have its challenges, but this was exceptional. It was opened July 2015. It is not 5 star luxury, but it is one of a kind. There is still a lot to do before achieving our vision, but Steam’s popularity with guests has amazed us.

Forrest is a gorgeous small town of weatherboard shacks, surrounded by towering Mountain Ash rain forest with lush ferny under-story. The dawn birdsong is deafening. There is a lot to do around Forrest even if you are not a mountain biker.

Things To Do

After logging ceased, Forrest was reinvented as a centre for mountain biking.  The network of trails surrounding Forrest are some of the best mountain biking in Australia. With great regret we no longer offer the four free bikes.  The expectation of having bikes in good working order was a service we could not reliably offer without living nearby and maintaining them between guests. Bring your own mountain bikes or you can hire bikes at Forrest Hire Bikes, two minutes walk away.

The Microbrewery and Cafe offers great food and you absolutely must try the locally brewed beer. Good coffee is available at the General Store (plus good basic lunches like pulled pork rolls, they also sell fantastic sour dough bread baked on site).  For pub fare, the pub doesn’t disappoint and is open every night, always with a toasty fire in winter. All within walking distance.

Brae restaurant has been ranked in the top 100 restaurants in the world.  It is a twenty minute drive from Forrest, so make sure to book ahead.  Yeild restaurant in Birregura also offers a fabulous degustation menu. 

Otway Fly is a facility that showcases the beauty of the Otways rain forest.  It is longest and highest rain forest sky walk in the world. They also have zip lining.  It's great for kids.

There are lots of waterfalls to visit, Hopetoun, Triplet and Beauchamp Falls are all near Beech Forrest, as well as the Redwood forest, another must see of the region.

Closer to the house are Stephenson Falls and Lake Elizabeth, where platypus are frequently sighted at dawn and dusk, and glow worms at night. Also close by are Little Aire Falls, Triplet Falls and the West Barwon Reservoir.

Spoil yourself and make it a long weekend. Take the Great Ocean Road home on Monday when there is no one around.

Steam, certainly wont be for everyone, but we have had great feedback from the young and the young at heart. There seems to be a great fondness for the "Great Age of Steam", when locomotives were king! In the late 1800's trains were the greatest technological achievement of humans, they opened new horizons, and were a symbol of power and progress. We hope we have tapped in to this, and we're excited to be able to share it with guests.

Sleeping

Ideal for 2, but can sleep 6

Linen and towels are included and beds will be made up for you on arrival.

3 Bedrooms. 4 Beds. Sleeps 6.

Master: Two compartments long, with a Queen bed.

Second: Small compartment, with a Queen bed. Compartment or bedroom is  almost all bed.

Third: Single compartment with two thin single train beds.

It can sleep six people, but two to four would be more comfortable. The two small bed rooms were train seating compartments, only 2.1m square, so they are only just longer than a bed. The rooms are close together, the bath room is between the kids and second bedroom and there is not a lot of audio insulation. You can hear what is happening in the next compartment.

It is ideal for:
  •A couple, with the whole train for themselves it is pretty spacious.
  •A couple and two kids.

It should work well for:
  •A couple, and up to four kids. Two kids would need to sleep in one queen bed. A great place for kids to take a friend.
  •Two couples, as long as they were good friends. It would be close living.

It may work for:
  •Four adults, one in each bed. The single beds are train beds, like caravan beds (750mm wide).
  •Six adults would be possible, but only if you are planning to be out most of the day and out for dinner. If it a just place to sleep, it could work.

OTWAYS LOFT

The house next door (Otway’s Loft) was built using recycled materials, locally milled timber and train parts. The two properties can be rented together if you have a larger group.
  Together they can sleep a maximum of 14 (10-12 ideal)

There is a large fence between both places and they feel quite separate. If rented together a gate between both can be opened.

Amenities:

Bathroom with shower, toilet and washbasin

Open plan kitchen/living room

Wood fire box heater with wood supply included (slow to start but burns well when hot)

Nobo heaters

Full small kitchen with stove, oven, sink, fridge and cupboards

No washing machine and dryer

No TV

WiFi 

Italian style stovetop coffee maker (and coffee). French Press/plunger.

Basic provisions like olive oil, spices, tea, coffee, and Glad Wrap

Pets and children welcome

Blue tooth Speaker

Books and Boardgames

Before Booking:

Cleaning, bed linen and towels are included in the price. Beds made up for you on arrival as per your requirements.

No smoking inside. No candles please.

Well behaved dogs and other pets are welcome.  Pets are welcome inside, but not on the furniture or beds. The yard fencing is not dog proof.  We do not at this stage have a designated outside dog enclosure. There is an outdoor lead/tether only (with shade).

NO TV: There is broadband internet and WiFi.  

No smoking in the carriage (despite the SMOKING signage in the train, which is reminiscent of its former life).

Off street parking for 2 cars.

We expect guests to leave the place in a tidy state, dishes washed/dried and put away. All rubbish and recycling to be put outside in appropriate Municipal bins. Bins to be put out on a Sunday for pick up Monday morning. See terms and conditions .

Steam is priced to make the property attractive to both smaller families and also groups of up to 6. Big groups take much longer to clean-up after and use more electricity, water and firewood, so we have set up a sliding price scale. There is a flat rate for up to 4 guests. Each guest above this is an additional $50 per night – this way small groups aren’t excluded and it covers the additional cleaning and utility costs for larger groups. A flat rate works well for some properties but are trialling this system to make it less expensive for smaller groups.