The Simple Pleasure of Doing Nothing
There’s a campaign running across South Australia at the moment that’s caught our attention. Not because it’s trying to sell you something, but because it’s inviting you to slow down and remember what actually matters.
Celebrate the Simple Pleasures.
The South Australian Tourism Commission describes it as speaking to “the burnt-out and overwhelmed,” showcasing our state as a place where rare and desirable simple pleasures are abundant. When we read that, we thought: yes. That’s exactly why we’re here.
What Simple Pleasures Actually Look Like
At Merilli1885, simple pleasures aren’t something we’ve manufactured or packaged. They’re just what happens when you give yourself permission to stop.
The way the light falls across the paddocks at dawn. The sound of kookaburras at breakfast. The feeling of having nowhere you need to be and nothing you need to do.
A fire in the Cheminee Philippe on a winter afternoon. A glass of South Australian wine. A conversation that goes on for hours because there’s no rush to get to the next thing.
These aren’t grand experiences. They’re not Instagram moments. They’re the small, quiet things that fill you back up when the world has emptied you out.
The Problem with Being Always On
The SATC campaign talks about travellers who are racing through bucket lists, exhausted and off balance. We see it all the time. Guests arrive wound tight, still checking emails, already planning what’s next.
And then something shifts.
Usually on the second morning. They sleep in without meaning to. They make breakfast slowly. They sit by the window watching the cattle graze and realise they’ve been sitting there for an hour without their phone.
That’s when the simple pleasures start working.
Permission to Just Be
The beauty of this campaign, and the reason it resonates so deeply with what we offer at Merilli1885, is that it’s not telling you to do more. It’s inviting you to do less.
Not in a “disconnect completely and sit in silence” way. But in an “engage with what’s actually in front of you” way.
Walk the orchard paddock at your own pace. Watch the wedge-tail eagles circle overhead. Cook dinner together in the kitchen without rushing. Read a book by the fire. Talk. Laugh. Be present.
South Australia, and particularly the Fleurieu Peninsula, gives you permission for this. And Merilli1885 is designed to hold space for it.
Simple Pleasures We’ve Noticed
Over the year, we’ve watched guests rediscover their own simple pleasures. The things that matter to them when everything else falls away.
For some, it’s cooking. Really cooking. Not rushing through dinner prep between work calls, but taking time to make something beautiful with the provisions we’ve left in the fridge.
For others, it’s morning coffee on the veranda, watching the sun rise over the dam. Or evening wine by the fire while the rain falls on the tin roof.
Some guests walk around the property or take a run down the country road every morning. Some never leave the cottage. Both are exactly right.
The simple pleasure isn’t the thing itself. It’s the presence with which you do it.
What the Campaign Gets Right
The SATC describes South Australia as offering “easy, present moment engagement.” Not a bucket list. Not a schedule. Just the freedom to engage with what’s actually here.
That’s what Merilli1885 has always been about.
We’re not trying to fill your days with activities or experiences. We’re offering you space, time, and beauty. The rest is up to you.
The cattle in the paddock don’t care if you watch them or not. The kookaburras will laugh at dawn whether you’re awake to hear them. The fire will burn just as warm whether you sit beside it for ten minutes or three hours.
There’s no pressure. No performance. Just the simple pleasure of being somewhere beautiful with the people who matter, doing whatever feels right in that moment.
Why It Matters Now
The world is moving faster than ever. The pressure to be productive, to optimise, to make the most of every moment; it’s exhausting.
Simple pleasures are the antidote.
Not because they’re exceptional or extraordinary. But because they’re not. They’re ordinary in the best possible way. They’re the things that have always mattered, we’ve just forgotten to notice them.
A long lunch that stretches into afternoon. A walk with no destination. A conversation with no agenda. Time that moves at its own pace instead of yours.
South Australia, with its Mediterranean light and unhurried rhythm, makes room for this in a way few places do. And the Fleurieu Peninsula, with its rolling farmland, coastal beauty, and working properties like ours, holds space for it beautifully.
An Invitation
If the SATC’s campaign resonates with you, if you’re burnt out and overwhelmed and hungry for something simpler, we’d be honoured to welcome you here.
Merilli1885 is 90 acres of peace on a working Angus farm. It’s a restored 1885 stone cottage where every comfort has been thought of and nothing is required of you. It’s seven minutes from Middleton beach, ten minutes from Port Elliot’s cafes, and a world away from whatever’s been wearing you down.
Come for the simple pleasure of time that moves slowly. Of mornings without alarms. Of evenings by the fire. Of doing less and feeling more.
Come celebrate the simple pleasures.
We’ll leave you to it.
To Book Your Stay