Blue Mountains Hawkesbury Heights Bush Retreat

Greetings from the Blue Mountains Hawkesbury Heights Bush Retreat, just west of Sydney. This is a youth hostel, but is part of a scheme where you can book the whole building (I have it for a long weekend for a birthday celebration). This provides exclusive use of the whole eco-friendly, 12 person building, at a rate a bit less than it would cost for 12 people to book individually (and much less than for a hotel).

The original hostel, built in 1955 was replaced with an award winning design in 1999. The design by Straesser Architects won a bronze medal from Architecture Show Magazine and the Francis Greenway Society for a "Bush Retreat".

The building is clad in corrugated steel, with steel mesh shades over the windows and doors, which can be lowered to protect against bush fires. There are no gutters on the roof to clog with leaves, with rainwater being directed down the walls and into a floor level gutter which empties into a tank to provide water for the toilets.

The building has solar panels for hot water and electricity.

Hawkesbury Heights is one of the smaller buildings available under the under the RENT-A-YHA Scheme, with the others accommodating 31 to 50 people and so suiting organized club events.