Sunday Herald Sun, September 17, 2000

TAKE TW0: A family holiday home that grew and grew has become a fun place for other families, finds KAY SCHMIDT

The fast-running flow of the Delatite River, at the bottom of Rolf and Irmi Gurtler’s Merrijig property was a welcome sound - particularly after driving to favourite fishing haunts at Lake Eildon on the way from MeIbourne.

We were shocked to find the big dry had rendered the lake bed at familiar Howqua Inlet and Goughs bay almost indistinguishable from the grazing and scrub land it was before the lake was formed.

Lack of water was barely a talking point for the Gurtler’s, whose holiday-house-that-grew is one of a string hidden beneath the road line between Merrijig and the foot of Victoria’s high country.

Their river, fed by alpine run-off that seems to make little impact when it flows into Lake Eildon, has provided year-round entertainment since, as the parents of four children, the Gurtler’s bought the land in the early 1970’s only a few years after migrating to Australia

If the weather was unsuitable for swimming or rafting, there was always fishing. And the extensive, gum tree-clad grounds could be rejuvenated by water pumped up the hill.

Rolf, who worked as a quality controller in the automotive industry, was born into a German family in what is now Czechoslovakia. He and Bavarian Irmi built a small alpine-style stone and cement-block cottage.

When they retired to the area from  Melbourne's Springvale, it formed the basis for a substantial two-storey B&B that includes three charmingly furnished double bedrooms with wooden floors, timber blinds and en suites, a balcony or sitting room. Each, as well as the Gurtlers' own sleeping quarters, is nestled into the steep, wood-lined roof.

Tempting shopaholics in the passage lit by skylights at the top of the stairs are handcrafts made in the Mansfield region.

Reached by a wooden footbridge across a small gully is a new cottage with lofty windows and verandahs on two sides. A two-way fireplace serves both the airy living room/kitchen and a double bedroom with sitting area. Upstairs is another double bedroom with en suite.

A feature of both buildings is the use of bush rock, particularly for fireplaces. Rolfs artistry with stained glass is also evident in cheerful windows, although the bedside tiffany lamps were bought in China.

The B&B is a return to Irmi's roots in the hospitality industry. She worked in hotel management in Germany and Switzerland, then studied at university at the same time as daughter Caroline for her mid-life career as a secondary school teacher.

However, it is Rolf who does much of  the cooking for dinner and breakfast and packed lunches ($17-$20 for two). With strong Bavarian-Austrian influences, food is served in a dining nook adjacent to the couple's living area.

The set menu for our evening meal ($24.50 each by arrangement ) could hardly have been more representative of mid-European fare- pea and ham soup, wiener schnitzel with vegetables and pommes noisettes and apple strudel.

But it was at breakfast that the nook revealed its true colours. Contentment is surely dawdling over cereal, scrambled eggs, a platter of cold meats toast, croissants and coffee enveloped in country silence and a sunlit flood of eucalyptus.