Tarraleah means Forrester kangaroo in the language of the local Aboriginal people, and the site is host to an enormous range of Tasmanian flora and fauna. It is quite possible to see platypus and quolls, wallabies, wombats, Tasmanian devils and echidnas wandering around the town all on the same evening, and some say the Tasmanian tiger is also about.

The town’s central Lodge, built in the 1930s for the Hydro engineers and company directors, has been restored to the elegance of its early days when money and craftsmanship were no object. The Art Deco building now houses a contemporary and luxuriously comfortable nine bedroom small luxury hotel – a showcase of Tasmanian art and craft.

The town’s cottage, hand built by Tasmanian craftsmen in the 1930s, have also been restored as self-contained one to three bedroom holiday cottages.

Tarraleah is 114 kilometres (70 miles), or two hours’ drive, north-west of Hobart on the A10 Highway between Hamilton and Lake St Clair.  Geographically it is 20 kilometres from the physical centre of Tasmania, right on the edge of the World Heritage Area