Maintaining The Magic
The dedication of one member of the Freycinet Experience Walk family has played a major role in the longevity of Friendly Beaches Lodge.
It’s no accident that the simple timber structures of Friendly Beaches Lodge have survived so beautifully over the past thirty years.
Former Freycinet Experience Walk guide (and former painter and decorator), Warren Partridge, has been lovingly maintaining the Lodge buildings since he first started with the company in 1998.
‘As soon as Joan heard that I used to be a painter, she asked me if I’d be interested in oiling the Lodges as well as guiding, and I’ve been doing it every year since.’
All those years ago, Joan told Warren that she wanted an organic oil used to preserve the Lodge’s Tasmanian oak cladding to make sure no toxins would pass into the environment. Linseed oil had been trialled but with mixed results. Warren made the switch to a superior organic timber oil and got to work on the Lodge’s collection of six buildings.
Each spring, Warren cleans down and oils two of the six buildings on site; working in a three-year cycle to ensure all structures are properly maintained. It’s a labour-intensive process that takes him and an assistant between six and ten days to complete each year.
Bedrooms at the Friendly Beaches Lodge
‘I don’t think the longevity of the buildings was front of mind when they were originally designed and built,’ says Warren. ‘But they've held up very well, and the timber has been preserved because of our annual treatment with the oil.’
The Tasmanian oak cladding has mellowed over time, and the weathering that comes with thirty years of useful life has added a patina that connects the Lodge to the forest that embraces it. There is no sense of newness about it; nor does it feel aged. Friendly Beaches Lodge has a settled appearance that puts it at ease in the landscape.
The yearly maintenance program for Friendly Beaches Lodge has preserved the original materials of Ken Latona’s design. When asked what he is most proud of about Friendly Beaches Lodge, thirty years after its completion, his answer is simple: ‘That it’s still going.’
And for Warren, his yearly visits to Friendly Beaches offer him a chance to reconnect with a place that holds special significance for him.
‘I've always loved the Lodge. There’s something about the feeling of that place – particularly with the lighting at night when you've got the candles burning and there’s a fire going … I just love to open those big doors, and it's all fresh air and beautiful birds, with the sounds coming through, and you can hear the ocean and the rain hitting the roof. It's just a very beautiful, unique spot. And the building itself has stood the test of time.’
