The Quiet Rebellion Against "Good Enough"
The Quiet Rebellion Against "Good Enough"
A vision for what coastal hospitality could be has sparked something beautiful.
"We're building more than a business," Bede says. "We're building a quiet uprising against 'good enough'."
Supercalla Private Properties chose the details no one else thinks about. Birthday candles for forgotten celebrations. Compostable slippers waiting beside lush robes. The tiny heroes that transform holidays.
The rebellion is spreading. Small, independent operators are raising the bar, choosing soul over scale, stories over statistics. Creating something bigger together while holding onto that rare warmth only the thoughtful ones can deliver.
Because true luxury isn't thread count or marble benchtops. It's the feeling that someone thought of you before you arrived.
Read how one vision sparked a movement reshaping luxury hospitality.
Some businesses begin with spreadsheets. Supercalla Private Properties began with heartbreak.
Bede & Rob - Founders of Supercalla Private Properties
“The door opened to what should have been escape. Sea air. Soft light. That hush you get when the world falls away.”
Instead, damp cupboards and disinfectant. A kitchen bench sticky with neglect. A welcome note, faded photocopy, curling at the edges, that felt like an afterthought from a stranger who'd never considered who they were, or why they'd come.
Standing in what should have been sanctuary, Bede felt something crack open. Not just disappointment. Revolution.
"That moment planted the seed for Supercalla," he reflects. "And for a different way of thinking about holiday homes altogether."
What followed was a kind of quiet madness. Driving from Potts Point every weekend, trying to breathe life into a space that had lost its rhythm. Setting the house themselves because no one else would. Chasing a vision of what coastal experiences could be when someone with a true soul for hospitality cared.
The breaking point became the breakthrough…
Today, that crack has widened into something beautiful. A rebellion against the volume game that strips extraordinary homes of their soul and processes them like fast food. Templated check-ins. Plastic welcome baskets. Two rolls of toilet paper and a wish for the best.
"It's hospitality by spreadsheet," Bede says. "And guests can feel it the second they walk in the door."
Supercalla chose differently. They chose the details no one else thinks about.
Birthday candles for the forgotten celebration. Band aids for the scuffed knee while preparing dinner. Compostable slippers waiting beside lush robes. The tiny heroes that save holidays.
Not glamorous. Revolutionary.
Because true luxury isn't thread count or marble benchtops. It's the feeling that someone thought of you before you arrived. That your sanctuary was prepared by hands that understand what sanctuary means.
The Casa in Kangaroo Valley breathes Mediterranean warmth. Indio pulses with barefoot Palm Springs energy on the South Coast. Rea Rea Lodge whispers exclusive stories to those who find this rare escape. Each property a character in a larger narrative about what happens when you refuse to settle.
Last year, over 6,800 guests discovered what this rebellion feels like. $4.8 million flowed into regional communities not through volume, but through value. Through experiences that don’t have volume as the blue print.
The numbers matter. But not as much as the guest who wrote: "You made us feel completely cared for in ways we didn't even know we needed."
“ ”You made us feel completely cared for in ways we didn’t even know we needed.””
This is what revolution looks like in 2025. Not loud. Just relentlessly, beautifully intentional.
The vision extends beyond Supercalla's growing collection of South Coast luxury holiday homes. Bede sees a network of extraordinary properties, each humming with life and story. Property partners who feel proud. Guests who feel seen. Regional destinations thriving because someone chose quality over quantity.
“We’re building more than a business,” he says. “We’re building a quiet uprising against ‘good enough”
The rebellion is spreading. Other small, independent operators are raising the bar, choosing soul over scale, stories over statistics. Creating something bigger together while holding onto that rare warmth only the thoughtful ones can deliver.
Because somewhere tonight, someone will open a door expecting escape. And they'll find exactly what they came for.
Supercalla Private Properties curates exceptional coastal holiday homes across the South Coast.
Properties and partnerships: supercallaprivateproperties.com.au
This article was published in partnership with Supercalla Private Properties. As always, all storytelling and creative direction are uniquely Salty.
The South Coast Bakery Sydney and Canberra Can't Stop Talking About
3am sounds like oven alarms, smells like fermentation, feels like a caffeine high. At Lagom Bakery on the NSW South Coast, Jon and Brinley start each day the way they've built their business: hands-on, authentic, and rooted in community. What began as COVID sourdough side hustles has become the must-visit bakery drawing regulars from Sydney and Canberra alongside devoted locals. Between exceptional coffee and bread worth the journey, they've proven that eating well doesn't need to be complicated—it just needs to come from people who genuinely care.
3am at Lagom Bakery sounds like oven alarms, smells like fermentation, and feels like a caffeine high.
Jon laughs when he describes their morning routine. There's something honest about starting the day before the rest of the NSW South Coast wakes up, hands deep in dough, surrounded by the kind of smells that make you realise food is supposed to be alive.
This is where Jon and Brinley have built the must-try bakery that's drawing visitors from Sydney and Canberra, not because they set out to become a South Coast food destination, but because they decided to do one thing really well.
"We are pretty different people," Jon says about his partnership with Brinley, "so playing with each other's strengths means we are a bit of a super group."
Brinley came to baking through a cheesemaking course, drawn to traditional methods that connect us to how food used to be made. Jon picked up his skills working in kitchens around the country, learning that good ingredients treated with care don't need fancy tricks. During COVID, they were both making sourdough. Brinley selling from Gwylo, Jon from his home kitchen. People kept coming back. The demand was there, so they made it official.
They've never disagreed on the big things, Jon tells us. Once they talk it out, they usually realise they're on the same page.
"We haven't journeyed far geographically," they admit. "Our roots are strong, firmly planted in this community." Walk into this coastal bakery and you'll see what staying put gets you. Regulars who've become friends. Shelves lined with products from other local South Coast makers. The kind of store where you'll bump into someone you know, or someone you should know.
They sponsor the local football club. longboard club, fundraise for Safe Waters. - Shelter, and run workshops that sell out before they can blink. Jon admits he gets "a bit anxious that customers are going to get sand on the product" when they take their bread to the beach. That's the kind of care that makes the drive from Sydney or Canberra worth it.
Everything at Lagom is made in-house. The tomato ketchup for toasties. The sauerkraut. Even their SWOP mug library and compostable packaging show they've thought through every detail. "We don't take shortcuts," they explain, and you can taste it. Their coffee is exceptional too, the perfect complement to fresh sourdough that locals queue for and city visitors plan weekend trips around.
Jon describes their approach: "Food made with care and consistency, without overcomplicating it. Letting the ingredients and process speak for themselves." Their core message is simple: eating well doesn't need to be complicated.
"We actually already have our dream customers and community," they say. "Surrounded by those who bring their loving kindness to us, too." It shows. People travel here from across NSW not just for bread, but for the feeling of being part of something genuine. They want to feel welcomed, whether they're South Coast locals or making the journey from the city. Nourished, stomach and soul.
Jon's learned something important through all this: "Not to be afraid of trying hard things." At Lagom, that means waking up at 3am to tend to fermentation. Making everything from scratch. Building genuine community connections instead of just transactions.
The results speak for themselves. Three words capture what they've built: honest, balanced, full of flavour. The oven alarms will sound again tomorrow morning. The community will gather. And if you haven't made the trip yet, you'll know exactly where to find the coastal bakery that reminds you why simple things, done well, are worth the journey.
Follow Lagom Bakery's daily rhythms on social media, or make it your next South Coast food destination and see what happens when traditional craft meets coastal community. www.lagombakery.com.au
