Sun Ranch

In the rolling hills of New South Wales’ northern hinterland is a rollicking 55-acre Eden where good taste is an art form. Fashion designer Jamie Blakey and hotelier Julia Ashwood are the masterminds behind Sun Ranch, a luminous former cattle ranch they’ve regenerated with 15,000 new endemic trees and plants. Since November 2023, guests have been transported to the coolest imaginable version of ’70s California for convivial communing with nature and like-minded travelers. That means luxuriating on velvet tiger-print upholstery in the shared sunken lounge while a Bo Diddley record spins, riding a horse across golden landscapes dotted with wallabies, and sweating it out in the 10-person, wood-fired sauna before plunging into the Odin red cedar ice bath. A choose-your-own-adventure spirit pervades. Afternoons can be spent playing badminton and drinking G&Ts with Aussie gin, E-biking to charming Bangalow town, or ordering a psychic reading or ritual cacao ceremony and energy work off the woo-woo wellbeing menu. An Argentinian-style BBQ venue is where al fresco “fire feasts” feature local chefs cooking up Byron Shire’s bounty from artisanal suppliers alongside the edible garden’s harvest. Eleven accommodations, spread between the pool-adjacent Rambler longhouse and off-grid, two-bedroom timber barns, toe the line between cheeky and chic: think locally made ceramics, vintage furniture, macramé wall hangings, and sepia-toned bathrobes embroidered with “Hotel of Good Times.” Days start effortlessly with a doorstep dropoff of hot seasonal muffins and end with a fresh-baked cookie turndown service. In a way, it’s like a luxury summer camp for grown-ups. “Our last Record Night felt like a fabulous house party that you never want to end… but we were all tucked up in bed by 10 p.m.,” says Ashwood. “It’s all about balance.”

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