Big blue backyard Press Releases

Big blue backyard was delighted to receive an article in the fabulous French magazine: Marie Claire Maison

BIG BLUE BACKYARD WINS TOP TOURISM AWARD

Local business Big Blue Backyard has taken out top honours for Hosted Accommodation at the RACV 2011 Victorian Tourism Awards.

“We are honoured to have been recognised by the Victorian tourism community for providing an exceptional accommodation experience. This award reflects our commitment and passion to providing outstanding service, unique secluded accommodation, romantic private dining in one of the world’s greatest locations – the Mornington Peninsula,” Lisa Dempsey (owner and host) said.

Read full press release or for more information and contact details for winners is available at www.victoriantourismawards.com.au.

Images are available to media at visionsofvictoria.com.au – choose Mini Collections and Tourism Awards – RACV 2011 Victorian Tourism Awards.

The Age Newspaper by David Reyne on 2nd April 2011

Big Blue Backyard

The tangle of tea-tree is almost impenetrable. Somewhere among it are three cabins. Ours, the Bush Hideaway, is surrounded by the thick scrub. It's a classic beach shack. The timber floor looks as if Jackson Pollock has visited. It is spattered with paint. All of it. A couple of car tyres sit on top of each other to form a bedside table. A timber crate has been bolted to the bathroom wall to create a cabinet. Driftwood serves as a light shade. The back deck and private, open-air shower do their best to hold back the encroaching bush. Another deck supports a large spa bath and the shower inside has a huge rainfall head. You are inspired to wash. At sunset, the bush turns still and silent. A superb dinner is served on the deck. The stereo comes with a time capsule of '70s surf cool: Van Morrison, Tim Buckley, Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks, even. It is time to knot the sarong, wax the board and grow the beard.

56 Paradise Drive, St Andrews Beach, Mornington Peninsula. From $319 a couple a night. Phone 5988 6011, see bigbluebackyard.com.au.

Gourmet Traveller - January 2010

One of the Mornington Peninsula’s less-frequented spots, St Andrews delivers a wonderful sense of peace and isolation even at the height of the season. Gunnamatta Beach, with its notorious surf and famous horse riding, is close by, as are some of the area’s unique attractions including the recently opened historic Quarantine Station at Point Nepean National Park and the private bathing at the Peninsula Hot Springs.

Run by Lisa and Paul Dempsey, Big Blue Backyard provides wonderfully secluded accommodation set among the ti-tree forest that surrounds the beach. The two timber-floored retreats, one beach themed, the other African, have enormous comfortable beds, outside spa baths set into a timber deck, indoor and outdoor showers, and connections to the main house via boardwalks that wind in and out of the trees. Mornings see the ever-smiling Lisa using these paths to deliver an incredibly generous breakfast to the outside dining area with its backdrop of birdsong and distant crashing waves.

Big Blue Backyard is a great example of how the Mornington Peninsula has changed over the past few years. Traditionally, Melburnians would either day-trip here or stay in beach houses, caravan parks, camping grounds or a small handful of B & Bs. Now there is an increasing number of accommodation options, several making a serious tilt at the luxury end of the market. The most recent, and undoubtedly most unusual, of these is Glynt Manor in Mt Martha.

massage, bubbles and a long soak in the spa?

Big blue backyard wins at the Victorian Tourism Awards