{"id":841,"date":"2017-02-10T21:58:19","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T21:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nickispenblog.wordpress.com\/?p=841"},"modified":"2026-02-19T21:59:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T21:59:39","slug":"the-town-thats-not-a-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/10\/the-town-thats-not-a-town\/","title":{"rendered":"The Town That&#8217;s Not a Town"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tarraleah. The town that&#8217;s not a town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least, not anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Originally built in the 1930s to house employees for the local Hydro plant, an automation of much of the machinery resulted in a drastic cut in the number of workers. Now, the \u2018town\u2019 is all one property owned by a local family and has become a small tourist hub, on route to many other Tasmanian hotspots. Its holiday attraction means the property is well kept, a row of 1930s cottages still stand, looking out to a well kept green, pond and a small family of ducks, resulting in many an intrigued visitor likening the place to Pleasantville. As a member of staff, I am one of around twenty people who actually live here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-844\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170115_045112-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170115_045112-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170115_045112-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170115_045112-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170115_045112-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170115_045112-45x60.jpg 45w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170115_045112-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption>1930s holiday cottages<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The area is surrounded by hills and forests, green waves spreading into the distance. A lookout spot displays landscape vistas of expansive valleys, distinctive hydro pipes sprawled across. Short walks take us to waterfalls, lakes, ponds and forest trails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-846\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170123_040537-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3025\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170123_040537-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170123_040537-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170123_040537-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170123_040537-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170123_040537-45x60.jpg 45w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170123_040537-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption>Local view of the hydro pipes<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When not working in the bar or the caf\u00e9 (where I&#8217;ve finally been given the chance to develop skills as a barista), living in such a place can require imagination and inspiration. It has encouraged our inner child and created a family like bond within our small community. Our staff accommodation is a place of joy. Blanket forts, movie nights and massage trains, jamming sessions involving tin can drums and ukaleles. Wooden canoe rides on the lake and late night expeditions in search of the Tasmanian Devil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-851\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170128_060431-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3026\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170128_060431-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170128_060431-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170128_060431-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170128_060431-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170128_060431-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/nickispen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_20170128_060431-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Enjoying our backyard<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As simple as our daily lives may be here, it is one of the most rewarding parts in my journey so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tarraleah. The town that&#8217;s not a town. At least, not anymore. Originally built in the 1930s to house employees for the local Hydro plant, an automation of much of the machinery resulted in a drastic cut in the number of workers. Now, the \u2018town\u2019 is all one property owned by a local family and has &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,395,391],"tags":[41,211,218,248,249],"class_list":["post-841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-living-abroad","category-solo-travel","tag-australia","tag-remote-location","tag-simple-life","tag-tarraleah","tag-tasmania","latest_post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3027,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions\/3027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}