About Xanthorrhoea - The Grass Tree Beach House

Are you looking for a relaxing south coast holiday house, a quiet haven and a place to rejuvenate, revitalize and re-invigorate? Then Xanthorrhoea is for you. Xanthorrhoea” (botanical name for grass tree; pronounced Zan-thur-ree-a) is a two storey, three bedroom beach house situated a five minute stroll through native bush to the beach at Myola on Jervis Bay. We have put a lot of care into our beach house in order to create the surroundings and ambience you experience today at Xanthorrhoea. We hope you enjoy the beach house as much as we do and that you thoroughly enjoy your stay at Xanthorrhoea.

About the Grass Tree Beach House

The house and garden has featured in both South Coast Style magazine and Burkes Backyard magazine. The steps at the front of the house were reclaimed from Cresswell Wharf in Jervis Bay. The pylon display in the front garden adjacent to the steps of the house were the mooring pylons the previous owner used to more his boat in Currembene Creek.

The garden at the front of the beach house offers seasonal delights year- round and attracts abundant bird life, particularly Rosellas and Lorikeets. We have also experienced nesting wattle birds.

The back garden offers a display of flowering bulbs, herbs conifers and succulents. In the morning, the sun coming in from the East makes the area a lovely welcoming spot. Night-time, listening to the waves rolling in at Myola Beach offers a lovely ambience of peace and tranquility.

Xanthorrhoea is a “Gem” offering tranquil river settings and picturesque white-sandy beaches only a few minutes from the front door. Recreational activities available include: fishing, swimming, bushwalking, kayaking ,golf or bike riding . Dolphins and whales are sometimes seen off the beach, especially during whale watching season in winter.

Truly a special place to spend time and relax.

Guest Comments

"An astounding house_ so comfortable and attractive and a most relaxing place to be. Many thanks for your attention to the details- thinking of all the little things that are needed for total comfort."

"We loved it, really relaxing!"

"I enjoyed the kangaroos on the golf course, catching the dolphins on an early morning swim and the fishing."

"A lovely place, the bird life is great. I’ll be back!"

About Grass Trees

Xanthorrhoeas (grass trees) occurs in eastern Australia from about Innisfail in north Queensland to around Wyong in New South Wales. Grass tree plants are slow growing. Mature plants can be centuries old. These remarkable plants have a lifespan of about 600 years. It takes nearly a decade for the trunk to form as it is comprised of a mass of old leaf bases held together by a natural resin. Once formed, it grows only about 1-2cm (0.4-0.8in) in height per year; the growth rate is only about 1 metre every 100 years. Grass trees can grow to a height of over 4 metres and often have branches. The flowering stalk which smells like honey can take 10 to 15 years to appear can reach a height of over 3 metres. Mature plants will result in flowering every 2 – 3 years. The grass tree attracts a wide range of lizards and insects that shelter in the plant’s massive foliage. The flowering spear of the plant attracts honey eating birds, bees, ants, and butterflies.

The salvaging of wild plants is currently strictly controlled by the EPA. Grass trees are very important to native fauna - over 315 invertebrates and nearly 100 vertebrates have been recorded using Xanthorrhoea. There has been significant past indigenous and non-indigenous use of xanthorrhoeas. The plants were used as a food source as well as to make spear handles, spears, fire sticks, tinder for fires, water proofing resin and binding resin for tools such as axes. Individual grass trees were also lit as signal fires and used to cut meat. Food included nutritious starch, shoots, tubers of young plants and young leaves, roots, grubs and nectar from the flowers. Nectar was extracted by dipping the inflorescences in water to produce a sweet drink.