STAY: LETTES BAY TASMANIA

Words Annabelle Hickson Photographs Claire Lloyd

Author and photographer Claire Lloyd found a ceramic bowl, in a Sydney shop, that was so beautiful she tracked down its maker and crossed Bass Strait for the first time to meet him in person.

Claire immediately resolved to return to Tasmania with her partner Matthew Usmar Lauder, an artist and printmaker, for a holiday as soon as they were able.

And so it happened that a year later they unlocked the door of a waterfront cabin called Captain’s Rest on the west coast of Tasmania, their home for a few nights.

‘We were stunned by the beauty of the area; Lettes Bay in particular,’ says Claire. ‘Standing at the water’s edge, I asked Matthew, “What do we have to do to have a place around here?” He disappeared for a while and when he returned announced he had the answer.’

On his walk, Matthew had met a man who had a shack he wanted to sell, and so the next day they met him outside the cabin in question, to talk.

‘He didn’t have the keys; no idea why,’ says Claire. ‘We tried peeping through the windows, but not terribly successfully. We talked money, exchanged numbers and bought the cabin without stepping inside.’

Claire and Matthew weren’t strangers to impromptu real estate purchases. In 2005 they left the London arts scene and bought a whitewashed house with turquoise shutters in a small village on the Greek island of Lesbos, where they now live most of the year.

After buying the shack on their Tasmanian holiday, something they had not anticipated, they had to return to commitments in Greece. And so the shack sat untouched until last year, when Claire and Matthew arrived with an old caravan in tow and went about fixing up the cabin over six months, stripping it back internally, insulating walls, cladding it with wood and aluminium sheeting, replacing windows, rewiring and putting in new plumbing.

‘Staying in the caravan was sometimes a rocky experience,’ says Claire. ‘There were mornings when we woke to the most amazing sunrises right over the bay. But some nights I would lie awake, petrified, as the caravan swayed uncontrollably and the wind howled outside.’

They met a local builder, Trevor, who was patient and generous and happy to teach Matthew new skills.

‘Because the cabin itself is small I was keen to make the most from the limited space we had. For me the essentials are light, simplicity and creating a feeling of space, no matter what the size,’ says Claire.

‘We could see there were several ways of achieving a feeling of space within the limitations of the cabin. The first and most obvious one was to replace the existing windows, which were in a terrible state. We kept the same style but found slightly larger, reconditioned ones. We also decided to include an internal window between the sitting room and the bedroom. Now the bedroom has lots more light and you can look through the house and across the bay from bed.

‘The joy in creating Bushy Summers together has been enormous. We have made many new friends along the way: another bonus. We look forward to spending more time at Bushy, exploring the stunning west coast and also sharing our little lovingly restored gem with people who will love it as much as we do.’ n Bushy Summers sleeps two and is available for booking through Airbnb. @bushysummers