Molloy Island

Molloy Island, WA — where the welcome mat is literally a barge.

We don't do driveways here. We do "Arrive by barge." That's not a travel tip, that's a lifestyle. Our postcode might be 6290, but our personality is "please don't bring too much stuff, we've only got two bedrooms and a daybed."

Yes, that's the listing. "A little on the cosy side." Which is real estate speak for "you will know your mates better than you ever wanted to." The cottage sits between Margaret River and Augusta, which means we're perfectly positioned to watch everyone else have a good time on the wineries while we're back at the cabin deciding who gets the daybed.

The local outdoor activities? Bush walks, fishing for black bream and whiting, and visiting wineries. That's the whole brochure. We're not flashy. We don't have the private nine-hole bush golf course they've got at Bracken Lodge over in the Grampians, and we're not the Canadian-style joint in Porepunkah with the spa and the rocking chair. We're the small one. The one Broadsheet mentioned in a 2016 roundup of log cabins and then clearly never visited again.

But here's the thing about being on an island you have to barge to: no one drops in unannounced. There's no "popping by." If you're coming to Molloy Island, you've made a decision. You've committed. You've packed the fishing gear and the wine and you've told someone to come pick you up because the barge doesn't run on your schedule, mate. It runs on its own.

Who would hate it here? Anyone who needs a 24-hour servo. Anyone who thinks "nightlife" means something other than a fishing line going taut. The people who want a "Canadian-style" cabin experience. We're not Canada. We're Western Australia with one cottage and a daybed.

Who would love it? People who understand that the best holiday is the one where you catch a black bream, open a Margaret River bottle, and don't see another human until the barge comes back.

As Broadsheet said, it's "better suited to smaller groups." We'd say it's better suited to people who understand that the whole point is getting away. And we've got nowhere to go. Perfect.