Room 11

Winding through the dark night, verges drip vertical from vegetation.
“Tasmania is a cold and beautiful place.”

You are a long way from anywhere else.

At last the town of Strahan emerges from the night. You sweep around the bay and arrive at Long House. Through rain and mist an elongated lantern hums warm with life at Regatta Point. Solid, warm, welcoming.

You drive into the body of the architecture through an sliding wall.

As late afternoon sun kisses the surface of the water we enter The Olfactory Room. Lined with sheets of delicately scented Huon Pine, finished in linseed oil, the sweet warm scent envelopes us, welcomes us. Pale tones of timber cover every surface and at the centre, a simple singular table. The quality of the white light in the taught timber space reminds you of the body of an instrument.

In the Degustation Room a long table of shellfish welcomes you crisp Tasmanian wines and sparkling ice.

In the Tactile Room heat from the interior greets you, you take off your coat.

In the Quiet Room sound is swallowed by the walls, its easy to talk, its not what you were expecting.

morning.

The storm has passed and Long Bay has laid itself out before you. Blistering bright glory.

Through a veil of cable and curtain the landscape is alive with fierce, silent beauty.

Rope and delicate chain quietly evokes the marine history of this place.

It is still windy.

Breakfast arrives and you take it outside to the concrete courtyard. Smoke from the fire curls down the wall and cycles in the shadow of the wind. You are here. You are alive. This is Long House.

In the evening you go to the communal courtyard. A fire at its centre is reflected on the bare concrete walls, the space is pulsing with the life of the flame, you take a mulled wine and chat with some other guests. She is an Artist, he is a Developer, you cannot believe how much you have in common.  You have met in a remote and beautiful place, far from your life at home.  You don’t want to leave, you know you will come back.