Should you really stay in an Unyoked Cabin? Our honest review

When you picture a honeymoon, I’m sure you think of sipping cocktails on the beach overlooking bright blue water in the Maldives. We did the exact opposite. We traded in crystal blue water for green NSW countryside and sun baking for muddy wet hiking with our two very keen dogs. 

We had been drawn to Unyoked after seeing the sponsored ad popped up on our city slicker instagram feed. The promise of uninterrupted nature sounded magical. So when it came time to book our honeymoon there was absolutely no question that now was the perfect time to get Unyoked. 

We chose Roscoe, who is located near Gloucester in NSW. Roscoe is a dog friendly cabin so it was immediately on the top of our list. 

Getting there

We are fortunate enough to be blessed with the Moo - our Isuzu MU-X. The roads coming in are unsealed and while you would probably make it there in a 2WD, if you are hiring a car I would definitely opt for a 4WD.  There are also lots of overly friendly cows on the road so some parts of the journey may be slow. 

Unyoked describes the hike up to Roscoe as ‘spicy’.  Honestly, we completely took this for granted. It felt like 180 degrees vertical, up a hill, that was overgrown, covered in cowpats and to top it off the area had received a record amount of rain so it was MUDDY! 

Despite what I thought was a decent level of fitness I felt like my lungs were going to leave my chest. When Unyoked say “this hike isn’t for the faint hearted” don’t take it with a grain of salt. 

Susie in her yellow rain coat ready to take on the hill.

What’s inside the box?

Roscoe was a beautiful little place with a very thoughtful design. There is more than enough coffee beans and tea to get you through your stay.  There is a clever little pull out table with some games in the cupboard behind it (if UNO what I mean) and the warm shower, especially in the wet weather was incredible. 

The bed was on a raised platform with a Koala mattress and great INBED linen. We packed some dog sleeping bags that we purchased from Kmart (which we highly recommend) and the dogs just slept in those. Even though Roscoe is dog friendly you do need to bring your own dog supplies. 

Unfortunately, due to the weather we were unable to have a fire but the view from Roscoe was breathtaking and put Cody in an instant state of calm. Will on the other hand took a little longer to wind down but after a few games of chess and a couple of muddy hikes he really settled in. 

Bindi and Will finally relaxing. Dogs aren’t allowed in the bed but there is a platform right beside the mattress.

What should you pack for food? 

We were kind of in a spin initially about what we should pack for food as weren’t sure what the cooking situation was like. Roscoe was kitted out with a coffee percolator, a billy, fry pan, cups, bowls, plates etc. We took a few pre made veggie soups that we heated up over the stove, cereal and pancakes for breakfast, spag bowl and the holy grail - veggie sausages and mash! FYI there was no masher so Cody mashed up the potato with a fork! It was lumpy but it was made with love. 

Snack wise, Cody’s sister in law,  Holly, made us some gluten free banana bread which was AH-MAZ-INGGG with a cuppa. We also brought pop corn, fruit, cliff bars and nuts. Though we were eating such hearty meals for lunch and dinner that we ended up lugging most of our snacks home with us. 

We BYO’d our alcohol but next time we’ll opt in for Unyoked’s “no worries” option and have their options. Hiking gin and tonic as well as whiskey up that massive hill was the wrong kind of living life on the edge. 

Susie was in such a deep sleep we had to double check she was breathing after this photo!

What we loved 

We know we’ve been kind of raving this whole time but just to pin point some of highlights: 

• Literal cows coming up to our window

• Single O coffee that is supplied

• The nifty design of the cabin

• It has solar panels

• The cassette player and radio

• The composting toilet

• The shower

• There’s a window on 3 out of 4 sides of the cabin. Our eyes were spoilt.

The shower was a highlight.

What we didn’t love 

We travelled to Roscoe during a time of unprecedented rainfall and flash flooding. We studied maps viciously. The information was really unclear about whether we would have reception or not albeit we were warned it may be a possibility. 

After reading Unyoked’s terms and conditions, there wasn’t really any guidance about whether we should travel into the region and what to do in extreme wet weather (only bushfires were mentioned). The SES was advising against ‘unnecessary travel’ and we just wanted to talk to Unyoked to nut out the specifics as we hadn’t travelled to the region before. Though, Unyoked’s service model means you can’t just pick up a phone and call them. 

While we were in the cabin we had no reception. The cabin manager was a bit of a distance on foot in thick grass and our car was down a massive hill. The only way to contact Unyoked during your stay is text (which we couldn’t do). We had no information about local radio stations we could tune into to monitor the status of the flooding but after some perseverance we had success. 

Travelling home we came to an exceptionally high river crossing. After waiting for three hours roadside, we eventually went for it. We were fine in the Moo, but felt for any other guests who could have travelled that weekend armed with the information that this was ‘2WD’ friendly. 

A solution would have been just a quick email from Unyoked before check in acknowledging the extreme weather would have put us at ease as we would have rolled with the other uncertainties. 

A screenshot from a video I took of the road crossing on the way out. It was rushing fast and full of rogue branches.

Would we stay again? 

We really loved the experience of Unyoked even in the terrible weather. While we probably wouldn’t stay at Roscoe again, we would be keen to give it all ago again in another location. 

We give it a rating of 7/10. 

One of the books supplied by Unyoked.

Want to know more about our stay at Roscoe by Unyoked? Message us on social media or send us an email!

All images used in this blog are copyright of Gymea Homestead.