Pretty Beach House
People & Purpose
For Pretty Beach House proprietors, Brian and Karina Barry, honouring the Aboriginal cultural heritage of the site and its Traditional Owners, the Darkinjung people is an important part of connecting guests to the place. View case study
“Aboriginal people have lived and gathered in the Bouddi area for at least 10,000 years. We show our respect for the Traditional Custodians of this land by inviting them to share their knowledge and customs with our guests.”
Brian Barry, Proprietor
The site was and is significant to the Darkinjung, with evidence of 2,000-year-old rock carvings of a fish, a dolphin and a whale at the lodge’s doorstep.
Pretty Beach House is set in the heart of Bouddi National Park, among ancient native angophoras and eucalypts, atop a Hawkesbury sandstone bluff. It is almost completely surrounded by water, with views to the bay over the lands of the Traditional Owners, the Darkinjung.
There are more than 100 significant Aboriginal sites in Bouddi National Park. They include shelters, grinding grooves and middens, while exposed areas of Hawkesbury sandstone provided the ideal canvas for numerous rock engravings, drawings and paintings.
Pretty Beach House guests have the opportunity to accompany an Indigenous guide on walks on the property and in the Bouddi National Park. They can see, taste and learn about traditional bush tucker and medicinal plants, and listen to Dreamtime stories, while visiting rock art sites and spotting native flora and fauna. The walks give an insight into the Darkinjung people’s kinship with the ocean and the lands encompassed by Bouddi.
“We work in partnership with government, NSW National Parks and conservation organisations to assist with track management and conservation programs. We also support Walkabout Wildlife Park and their efforts to co-ordinate injured wildlife rescue.”
Brian Barry, Proprietor
The seasonal menus at Pretty Beach House are designed featuring majority house-made, home-grown, organic and local ingredients and produce from local suppliers.
Nearby sister property, Bells at Killcare, has a huge lush vegetable garden, from which the daily harvest provides the basis of the menu at Pretty Beach House. The menu also features Australian native ingredients such as pepper berries, finger limes, lemon myrtle, wattle seed and Davidson plum, as well as local bush tucker growing naturally on and around the property.
Kitchen waste for both properties is recycled via an organic closed loop composting system which uses natural microbes and heat to transform food waste into nutrient-rich compost in just 24 hours. Roughly 260 kg of food waste is processed each week (and saved from landfill), producing a highly concentrated compost that is mixed with soil and used in the kitchen gardens.
PRETTY BEACH HOUSE CONSERVATION EXPERIENCES
OUR LITTLE WHITE BOOK
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