Day: December 25, 2018

Update: Ponto Cabana has closed. SLurls have therefore been removed from this article.

The last time we visited Ponto Cabana, the Homestead region sitting on Lemon Beach, it presented a place with both a colonial feel to it and one of great age (read here for more). Now, in the midst of winter, it has taken on a new design, one caught under snow and within the bonds of ice; a setting as evocative as the face it showed in July, and one that – for those of us who may feel like we’ve piled on a few pounds thanks to turkey and more – offers offer a taste of the great outdoors that might help put us in the frame of mind to take a few holiday strolls over the next few days!

While presenting a new design by region holder Iska (sablina), Ponto Cabana also carries echoes of its summer build that, for those of us who visited back around July, give it a sense of familiarity while offering much to see that is new and awaiting discovery.

For example, the region largely remains split into two, linked by the span of a bridge. Further, the smaller of the two islands rises in terraces, a road curling up one side while stone steps offer a quicker route up to the table-top of the hill, much as it did back when it was home to a warmer setting.

However, where that hilltop was once home to a Spanish-style villa standing within and broad garden space with some of the terraces below it under cultivation, now the hill lies under snow and presented a more rugged face. It is also home to two red-painted houses that, with their red sides and white frames, might be taken for a farm. However, the courtyard before and between them perhaps offers a warmer greeting than can be found within either.

The larger island offers another little  town setting, this one perhaps more homely than July’s version, be retaining an element of ruin in the broken walls of what might have once been a house, or perhaps a chapel. Along the broad street, partially lain with wide train or tram tracks, snow falls heavily, coating footpaths, tracks, houses and gardens alike in a soft blanket that invites visitors to be the first to leave their footprints in its covering.

A small station sits forlornly alongside the tracks awaiting passengers, while at one end of the street, a car carrying a Christmas tree adds flickering warmth to setting as its little lights wink and blink. The houses and buildings here are sparsely furnished, yet there is still a welcoming air surrounding them and along the single street.

Ponto Cabana

Surrounded by a lake of ice, Ponto Cabana is a perfect Christmas wilderness setting for those looking to get away from the excesses of Christmas and who wish to spend time relaxing and appreciating simple winter solitude.   And if you really want to get away from it all, try a walk over the ice to the cabin on the smallest island, where a cosy time can be found.