On the road to somewhere: Thursday March 17th - Lake St. Clair

My day today begins in a drive from Strahan to Queenstown....where I see that the veterans from all wars where Australian's fought are celebrated with this one statute..I took it from the World War I side but there are Viet Nam and World War II signs as well....not the Washington standard....

I though they had some great buildings in this little town...like...

This is the Post Office and let me show you how convenient they make it for their post office box holders...

These are outside!!! Accessible 24 hours a day....wow is that convenient or what....again people...how would this play in Washington, DC? NOT!!

But these guys would...and they could play anywhere....I caught them waiting outside the grocery for their owners....one a little more excited about the picture taking event than the other...with the other almost saying.."Agnes calm down...he is just another one of those Americans who take pictures of everything..."

Okay let's move along....to Lake St. Clair and Nelson Falls....here is Lake St. Clair in the early morning...

But Nelson Falls was the catch of the day.....a beautiful walk through the rain forest area ...

and to come up on this....

And it was a bit chilly up there....as you can see by the picture of me with my jacket...

Okay....moving right along....

I next visited a site called "The Wall"....it is one man's vision or tale carved in wood (Tasmanian of course)...a "Wall" of wood sculpture of the persons who helped shape past and present Central Highlands of Tasmania. The work is exquisite...I cannot begin to tell you how beautiful and life like the creations are that he makes from this wood. There was no photos allowed to be taken inside the work areas....so I can only tell you to 'Google' it and hopefully you can get a glimpse of this great work...this one picture I have is from the outside of the site....

On to the lodging for the evening. And this is not to be believed.

Hydro Electric power is big in Australia and New Zealand. Back in the late 30's and early 40's this town of Tarraleah was set up to provide housing for persons working on putting a Hydro Electric power station in this area of Tasmania. There was a school with gym...church...meeting rooms...quarters for single men and all these various houses for the families. When the hydro plant was completed the entire town was sold for $500,000....as I recall this was in the 80's....it was converted to what is now the Cottages of Tarraleah in the heart of the Tasmanian Lake country. The accommodations include some 18 cottages which are 3 or 4 bedroom and all totally furnished....the school converted to a Scholars house or individual rooms refurbished from the school classrooms...the church is still there...and the gym used for a squashcourt and massage room...and they have added a pub and dining facility....they have also added a 9-hole golf course....Here are some pictures first of my quarters for the night....this is only my house (#1 cottage)...

Here are some other photos of the property...views from the porch of my cottage - the second you can see the hydro electric pipes in the distance...

And...you can probably tell by now I was impressed by this place...the most unusual concept of lodging I have seen....a whole town!!!