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Safe to do: click any text and retype it. Click a photo then choose Replace Image to swap a picture. When done, click Publish (top right).
Please leave alone: the boxes with dashed borders (section markers) and the code blocks - they hold the site together.
Good to know: this editing view is plain and looks different from the real site - click Preview (top right) to see the finished look. After publishing, check the website in your browser; if a change is not showing, click Publish again.
Adding, deleting or moving whole blocks can upset the layout - for bigger changes, ask Michael.
HERO (top photo banner) starts here (hidden on the live site)
Mingbool · Limestone Coast · South Australia
Sixty-three quiet acres at the end of Grundy's Lane
Self-contained cottage stays, bunkhouse beds and bush camping among stringybark scrub and six acres of gardens — fifteen minutes north of Mount Gambier.
SPECIAL OFFER band starts here (hidden on the live site)
Stay seven nights and the seventh is free, automatically — seven nights for the price of six.
WELCOME section starts here (hidden on the live site)
Welcome
A bush haven, shared
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Tim and Pam Creeper have called this corner of Mingbool home since 1994. It felt selfish to keep it to themselves — so for close to thirty years they've been sharing it: the tranquillity, the birdlife, the roos and koalas and possums, and native orchids hiding in the scrub.
Six acres of gardens — native, exotic and some genuinely rare, planted by Tim, Pam and Nanna with help from their four children — merge into natural stringybark bush across the 63-acre property. Walk it by day, or bring a torch after dark and go looking for the nocturnal locals. Come for a quiet family holiday, a walking weekend, or simply a rest. As guests keep telling us: ahhhhhh, simply bliss. |
Slaty Helmet Orchid (Corybas incurvus), found on the property
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QUICK FACTS band starts here (hidden on the live site)
- 63 acres of bush & garden
- 6 acres of planted gardens
- 18 km north of Mount Gambier
- 1994 the Creepers arrive
STAY section starts here (hidden on the live site)
Stay
Three ways to settle in
All prices include GST. Linen, blankets, doonas and pillows are supplied in the cottage and Snooze Room — bring only your food and a happy disposition.
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Nanna's Rose CottageFully self-contained · 3 bedrooms · Sleeps up to 8
Once Nanna's own home, now a warm, eclectic cottage of timber, antiques and memories — with a wood fire for winter, a deck with a BBQ and birdlife for company, and lawn enough for backyard cricket.
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The Snooze RoomBunkhouse · 6 single beds + day bed
Made for bushwalkers and backpackers: a large carpeted bedroom with six singles and a day/night bed, split-system air conditioning, TV/DVD, and a verandah table looking onto the garden. The shared amenities block is genuinely luxurious — two exceptional showers, double basins, a front-loading washer, bar fridge, tea and coffee, and a toaster oven.
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Bush CampingPowered & self-contained sites · Limited numbers
We deliberately keep numbers low, so you won't be crowded. Powered sites include use of the amenities block. Fully self-contained campers (your own power and toilet — in Tim's words, "no pooping on the possums") camp for less. Wander the gardens, and bring a torch for a night walk.
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THE PROPERTY section starts here (hidden on the live site)
The Property
Thirty years in the making
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Bush Haven began with Bear Cottage, a two-bedroom home trucked in from Casterton in 1985 and lovingly renovated — bird's-eye poplar over the old fireplace, a bathroom in red cedar and blackwood. It welcomed guests for 28 years and has now retired from public life; the Bears thank everyone who stayed.
In 1995 a second home arrived for Tim and Pam's mother — Nanna — and in 2007 it became Nanna's Rose Cottage, still decorated with her memories. The renovations never really stop: antique Axminster carpet, Australian oak skirtings, blackwood window ledges cut on the property's own sawmill, and a rose-pattern cornice to match the name. Outside, the gardens keep growing too — new plantings go in every year, and in season the scrub hides mosquito orchids, helmet orchids and other quiet treasures. After good winter rain the billabong fills and the swamp-grass flats come alive; the kids can spend a happy afternoon hunting tadpoles at the water's edge. |
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QUOTE band starts here (hidden on the live site)
"Such a peaceful, out-of-the-way place to relax. Absolutely gorgeous!"
Andrea — cottage guest
Andrea — cottage guest
GALLERY section starts here (hidden on the live site)
Gallery
Around the haven
Tap any photo for a closer look.
Green paddocks at the property's edge
Relaxing on the swamp grass
The third bedroom, refreshed in 2020
Looking for tadpoles in the billabong
Morning haze along the lane
The shared amenities block
One of two exceptional showers
Sunrise through the boundary fence
The garden lawns at dusk
The old sprawling gum
Sunset through the trees
Spring green at the camping ground
WEDDINGS section starts here (hidden on the live site)
Weddings
Bush, garden & country ceremonies
The setting guests fall in love with makes a natural backdrop for a wedding. Say your vows under the gums, among six acres of gardens, or out on the open country lawns — with cottage accommodation on site for the wedding party.
A ceremony at the haven keeps things simple and beautiful: a quiet lane, birdsong, golden light through the stringybarks, and room for your guests to linger on the lawns afterwards. Talk to Tim and Pam about the spot that suits your day.
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Nature Redesigned
Flowers for the day are in the hands of Naomi Telford of Nature Redesigned — twelve years of floral experience, specialising in weddings. Fresh, dried and artificial arrangements; flower crowns, posies and boutonnières; green walls and arbour hire; hanging wood shelves and tables. All custom suited to your style and budget. "If they can dream it, I can make it." — Naomi Contact Naomi · 0439 442 606 |
QUILTING section starts here (hidden on the live site)
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Something Different
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Pam's long-arm quiltingPam has been quilting since 2011 and runs a Gammill long-arm with a Statler computer — handling quilts up to 14 feet wide, at any length. She's an award winner at the Mount Gambier Show, and religious panels and occasion banners are a specialty.
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GETTING HERE section starts here (hidden on the live site)
Getting Here
Find us up the white metal road
488 Grundy's Lane, Mingbool SA 5291 — about 18 km north of Mount Gambier, a 15-minute drive from town. Open in Google Maps
- From Mount Gambier, head north on Penola Road (the Riddoch Highway).
- 15 km from the McDonald's roundabout, turn left onto Grundy's Lane.
- Follow the white metal road for 5 km — the haven is near the end.
Some GPS units suggest it, but Hinton Road becomes a gated forest track. If your navigation sends you that way, stop and come via Grundy's Lane instead.
Talk to Tim & Pam
Camping sites are booked by phone. Post: PO Box 9738, Mount Gambier West SA 5291.
FOOTER starts here (hidden on the live site)
DAY TRIPS section starts here (hidden on the live site)
Day Trips
The Limestone Coast, in every direction
Bush Haven sits in the middle of it all — an easy base for exploring South Australia's lower south-east and across the Victorian border.
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South · 20 minutes
Mount Gambier
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North
Wine & caves
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West · the coast
Beach towns
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East · over the border
Into Victoria
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