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The Retreat is Pumphouse Point’s secluded hideaway

Heed the call of the wild without sacrificing creature comforts at Pumphouse Point’s new bush Retreat.
The Retreat's outlook to the Pumphouse.

The Retreat's outlook to the Pumphouse

Adam Gibson

Pumphouse Point is about as secluded as lodges come: just 19 rooms in an unused hydroelectric pumphouse, on the shore of misty Lake St Clair, in the middle of Tasmania. But the Pumphouse’s new hideaway for two is even more private.

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Located about 20 metres from the lodge’s Shorehouse, The Retreat is hidden in bush fringing the lake and is accessed via a “burrow”, an effect created by a retaining wall set below the treeline.

“The feeling you get walking down to The Retreat is one of curiosity,” says Pumphouse Point’s owner and nature-tourism entrepreneur Simon Currant. “Then, ascending the stairs, all is revealed.”

The Retreat

Clad in silvertop ash, the hideaway has an outdoor stone bath for stargazing and another inside. A “midnight snack” button lights a path from the king bed to a fridge and larder stocked with Tasmanian fare, and a set-menu dinner can be enjoyed with private lake views. There are goat-hair rugs underfoot, a pair of handcrafted basins by Hobart ceramicist Lindsey Wherrett in the bathroom, and deep armchairs with views of the world’s oldest remaining cool-climate rainforest.

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This latest addition is “an exclusive place for quiet retreat in the heart of World Heritage wilderness”, he says.

Pumphouse Point, opened in January 2015, is the latest in Currant’s portfolio, which includes Peppermint Bay Hotel in Woodridge and Hobart restaurant Franklin; he also owned Cradle Mountain Lodge (now Peppers) and Strahan Village (now owned by RACT). His plans for Pumphouse Point include a boat cruise.

“I stood on this shoreline more than 20 years ago with my daughter on my back,” recalls Currant. “That day I knew what I wanted to create here.”

*The Retreat, $1,500 a night, including food and drinks.

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pumphousepoint.com.au*

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