Katie, owner of Rustic Edge Café & Takeaway Smythesdale, smiling warmly in a relaxed and welcoming portrait.


“The road’s our home, and we’re exploring Australia’s wide open spaces, one sniff at a time.”

— Caitlin, Isaac & Benjamin🐾

Latest Posts


  • “Shall We Go to Katie’s?”

    The Story of Rustic Edge Café When I first reached out to Katie from Rustic Edge Café & Takeaway, this blog was a dream. The website was merely a shell, and from memory I had only published one blog, a… Continue reading

    “Shall We Go to Katie’s?”
  • Thru the Gate Café

    Scones, Charm, and a Breakfast to Remember When we first arrived in Smythesdale, a few things drew me to this café instantly: Sadly, we arrived just moments before closing, but the owner still let me grab a hot chocolate. Thru… Continue reading

    Thru the Gate Café
  • Country Grocers Smythesdale

    The Little Store With Everything While Country Grocers & Liquor Smythesdale is mentioned in our Smythesdale Gardens blog, it simply deserves its own shoutout. We wouldn’t normally rave about a grocer, but this one just keeps impressing. Thinking of ‘corner… Continue reading

    Country Grocers Smythesdale
  • Courthouse Hotel

    A Pub Rescue on a Scorching Day When we first arrived in Smythesdale, we were greeted by a blazing 42°C day. So hot. We’d had a few failed attempts trying to run our air conditioner off our generator (ugh, that’s… Continue reading

    Courthouse Hotel
  • Regional Post Offices

    Little Lifesavers on the Road! If you’re travelling around Australia like us, you’ll know the struggle of running out of your staple favourites that you can only buy online. One thing we’ve learned? Regional post offices can be absolute lifesavers.… Continue reading

    Regional Post Offices
  • Rustic Edge Café & Takeaway

    After the warmest greeting, we also sat down with the owner, Katie, to hear how it all began 👉 Here’s Katie’s story Fresh, Friendly, and Always Open I’ll be honest — we weren’t overly excited about dining here at first.… Continue reading

    Rustic Edge Café & Takeaway
  • Smythesdale

    Discovering Smythesdale: A Tiny Town Packed with Surprises Many of our favourite places that we have found in Australia aren’t big cities or well-known tourist locations — they’re the small towns that quietly steal your heart. Smythesdale fits that description… Continue reading

    Smythesdale
  • Smythesdale Gardens

    One of Our Unexpected Favourites It was recommended to us by family friends-of-friends who live in Scarsdale, but we’d also spotted it on WikiCamps. We knew we’d need to base ourselves here at some point, mostly because of the easy… Continue reading

    Smythesdale Gardens
  • Caitlin’s Hedgehog Protein Bar Snack Recipe (GF & DF)

    Yes, it’s a mouthful — pun intended! I’ve been playing around with recipes that are both tasty and nourishing, something I can grab mid-afternoon when I need a little energy but don’t want to undo the good habits I’ve been… Continue reading

    Caitlin’s Hedgehog Protein Bar Snack Recipe (GF & DF)