Tulana Taggs, floating home & hot tub on island idyll - Hampton Court & Richmond

I am a flamboyant vintage dressing Afrikaans diva who has made South West London her home, living on a floating home with a creative workshop studio on Tulana (from the Zulu word thula, meaning be at peace). Taggs Island is London's best kept secret on the river Thames, even to residents in the local suburbs. Since June 2022 I started to host other globe trotters, to share our little piece of heaven on the water. I have a little studio with its own separate entrance as part of Tulana, from where I work and fulfil orders during the day. I make vintage inspired flower hair accessories and other striking paraphernalia, as a creative outlet on the side.
If I travel the globe I enjoy taking photos from unusual angles; eating something I've not had before from a menu; exploring new corners with all my senses and dancing in the moonlight.

Taggs Island is a private island and is home to residents from all ages and walks of life, accessed via a bridge. The island community of 62 floating homes is a little bit of paradise, with the floating homes dotted around the outside of the island as well as the inner lagoon. Islanders often say that it is as if you leave the worries of the 21st century behind when you cross the bridge onto the island.
Just across the bridge is Bushy Park, famed for its mix of waterways, gardens, and roaming herds of red and fallow deer. With over 1000 acres, Bushy Park is the second-largest of London's eight Royal Parks and is jam-packed with English history.
Further up and down the river you will find little hamlets of shops, restaurants, pubs and modern amenities. Most restaurants also offer take away deliveries to your door.

Taggs Island is accessible by vehicle and free parking is available in the large car park adjacent to the booked floating home.
Most islanders tend to walk to the shops, the local garage or even the pub. Bushy Park also offers a lovely backdrop for a morning stroll and the riverside paths can take you all the way to the shops to Kingston. There are easy bus connections to and from Kingston, Richmond and Hampton.
The Hampton Court rail station is about 15 minutes’ walk away and is also serviced by a bus stopping just next to the bridge that leads onto Taggs Island. This train route goes straight into Waterloo station via Clapham Junction and Vauxhall so one can be in central London within 30 minutes.
Stay in the tranquil surrounds of a floating home and drink in the slice of nature, while simultaneously taking in the Big Ben, the Tower of London and Piccadilly Circus with theatreland Soho and Covent Garden around the bend.