Southern Highlands Accommodation
Tips for Enjoying your Bundanoon Country Holiday with an Open Log Fire.Collect lots of kindling during the day. Kindling is just lots of sticks found under the gum trees, along the country lanes and down in the paddock. Remember to collect lots and lots, make sure you collect extra kindling so that you will be ready for lighting your fire on the next morning while in Bundanoon.
If you are a beginner at lighting fires, having more kindling will get you well on your way to becoming good at lighting a log fire.
Collecting Kindling is a fabulous, fun way of taking a country walk - kiddies often remark that collecting the wood for the fires was their most special Bundanoon farmstay memory. If you collect extra that you don't use, please pop it in the woodshed and accept our thanks. If the weather is wet, kindling is easily made by gently spliting slivers off a piece of wood with the axe.
Make sure you have brought into the house a supply of the smaller slice pieces of wood. Different sizes of wood is found in your outside woodshed by searching through the pile, or 'custom make' your slices and pieces with the axe!
How to make a hot 'clean' fire perfect for Bundanoon in just 15 minutes
Re-Setting the fire.
1) It is best to leave the bed of ash in the fire box.
2) Tightly scrunch 8 full sheets of newspaper into a ball
Place these paper balls in the middle of the fire box, and then build a Tee-Pee shape of many many sticks - the more sticks the easier it is. A couple of firelighters (in your list of things to bring) will help, put these in with the newspaper balls.
3) Place two sheets of newspaper over the Tee - Pee this will warm the flue.
Lighting the Fire.
4) Light the fire by only lighting the paper balls at the base of your Tee Pee in two or three areas.Opening a window (just for a few minutes), and stepping aside a little will help this initial process, as this will let fresh oxygen get into the fire.
5) Fire will start to draw the smoke up the chimney properly after the flue is warmed, and the fire is getting enough oxygen to cleanly burn the wood.
6) The fire will then be hot enough with the oxygen and kindling to start adding small slices of wood. Soon your fire will be well alight, the whole concept of making a good fire is understanding you need to add small slices of wood first and slowly add larger slices. Hurrying the fire making process is the most common problem.
Adding the wood.
7) Work your way up SLOWLY to bigger pieces of wood - add the wood while the fire is burning hot (a blue base in the flame close to the fuel) to acheive a 'clean' fire. If you put too large, or too many pieces of wood in your fire before the fire is burning 'hot' your fire will go out or become smokey as the fire will not be hot enough to make the wood actually burn - it will effectively just smolder.
8) You should now be at about the 15 minute mark - add a split log or two carefully, Try to still keep that Tee Pee shape, try to lean the wood against , not pushing over the burning wood in the fire.... Leave a gap in between logs of wood so the fire is able to get its needed oxygen. Use the poker to create these gaps if needed, but don't over poke your fire! When larger logs are burning well start to spred fire by adding more logs to make a larger fire remembering to leave gaps for air curculation
9) A fire will burn 'cleanly' if the fire has flames and is hot, so keep that fire actively burning !
10) A good fire will be to hot to stand in front of
Fire lighting is easy when you know how and have had some practice - sometimes it is just one simple thing that needs to be done a little differently !!!
Our
Southern Highlands Climate is very cold if you are not acclimatised!
The fire has been set for you for your arrival. We do it this way so your self-contained holiday can be 'host free', you can arrive at your convenience - it doesn't matter then if you arrive late. Just light the newspaper it in a couple of areas. Read your 'How to have a Hot Fire in 15 minutes' tips sheet.
It is important that you dress appropriately as mentioned in your list of things to bring - we are close to Sydney - but a world away - in a completely different climate Zone, clothes suitable in Sydney are simply not warm enough here - it is not enough to just pop on an extra jumper. Even residents of Bundanoon who are acclimatised would not consider doing without thick layering, warm wooly hats, thick socks, slippers and dressing gowns.
We have popped a couple of warm Morvern Valley parkas in a wardrobe in your cottage for your convenience during your stay.
Close bedroom doors while main part of house is warming, then open the bedroom doors and turn on your electric blankets an hour before you go to bed, so the bedrooms get lovely and toasty warm too.
If you do let yourself get very cold - have a lovely hot spa bath - it is the quickest way to raise your core body temperature and then after your bath layer up your clothing.
Plan your fire with outings etc. For example it might be a good idea to not light it if you are about to go out in ten minutes. If you are going to go out in an hour and the fire is alight, don't add any wood - just let it die down..... and make sure you have what you need to reset your fire upon your return to your cottage.
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