We wake to a freshly washed dawn and pull the curtains on a sunbathed scene. The rolling green hills surrounding the cottage are soaking up the warmth from the first day of spring. There are a few showers on the horizon and there’s a brisk breeze but the worst is past.

We are securely ensconced at Bowhill Grange, just outside Oatlands in Tassie’s Midlands. Not a lot of noise penetrates the 30cm solid-sandstone walls. There is a peaceful security in knowing that the Antarctic blast which battered the state, wasn’t going to budge our tastefully decorated comfortable abode.

Soon the wood heater is roaring and we settle down for a breakfast using locally sourced free range farm eggs. The brown, white and green shells and bright yellow yolks leave you in no doubt they are the real deal.

The eggs on sourdough (sourced from an Oatlands bakery) are a delicious way to start the day.

We had driven up from Hobart the day before. It is always a surprise how close Oatlands is to the state’s capital. It takes a little over an hour from the GPO to what once was considered the midway point between Hobart and Launceston. The truth is it’s just a tick over 80km and Midland Highway upgrades mean it’s generally a smooth, trouble-free trip.

We arrive about lunchtime and had booked the Callington Mill Distillery for lunch.

The distillery is a brilliant $14m development which opened in 2022 and has been built around the restored sandstone windmill which was erected in 1837 to supply the township and growing colony with flour. Oatlands was established as a military base in the 1820s to control convicts used as labour on farms in the area and to build roads and bridges in the expanding districts of Van Diemen’s Land.

A restaurant has been built within the working whisky distillery with glass walls overlooking the shiny stainless steel and copper stills linked by steel platforms and gantries. Guests can book tours of the distillery including the option of tasting the single-malt whiskies the facility produces, inside an impressive two-storey storeroom lined with hundreds of barrels stacked two-storeys high on the back wall.

We enjoy a delicious lunch featuring the locally produced eye fillet steak, cauliflower arancini and a side of grilled sourdough.

The highlights were the perfectly cooked melt-in-your mouth eye fillet with a tangy, salty umami crust and the warm sourdough – which soaked up accompaniments of sweet/savoury butter and rich olive oil balanced by a sharp balsamic vinegar.

After our meal we wandered down the street ducking into crafty shops and the relatively new cafe Bunch which offers freshly brewed coffee, wood-fired pizzas, sourdough loaves baked on site as well as a nice selection of Tasmanian produced goods.

Back on the road we head across the highway and along the 5km dirt road which leads through working farms to our accommodation. Bowhill Grange comes into view as we round the top of a hill – a striking collection of four buildings huddled together on a ridge in the valley overlooking a dam.

It’s a postcard view which looks like a step back in time. It is this charm which led to the property featuring in a historic movie – the soon-to-be-released Ancestry Road.

Our hosts Peter and Ruth Gee give us a warm greeting and show us to the smaller of two sandstone cottages. Ours is called Shepherd’s Rest – an attractive single-bedroom retreat with open-plan living room with a small kitchen area including a portable induction hob, sink and air fryer.

It’s immediately apparent that much thought has gone into the furnishings with carefully chosen antiques and pictures reminding guests of the history of the area and property. It’s a tasteful combination of old and new – the TV sits on an antique whitewashed box. A pair of old binoculars and picture of a racehorse sit on a sandstone plinth, an old steel toolbox beside the slow combustion wood heater (already lit and filling the room with warmth) now carries matches and firestarters.

The Gees have a background in the hospitality industry and it shows in the nice touches that make you feel welcome.

Warm muffins sit on the bench and a loaf of sourdough with an old-fashioned wooden carved bread knife is a reminder of the home-cooked hospitality which is such a feature of country life.

Peter and Ruth offer a tour of the property and show us through the other accommodation option – the two-bedroom Elizabeth Cottage. Built in 1854, the sandstone cottage was one of three built to offer lodgings for immigrant farm workers. Its distinctive design includes a steep pitched roof and a 5m ceiling over a central living area featuring a huge sandstone fireplace. Steep wooden staircases lead up to a bedroom perched in the loft at one end and lovely little mezzanine retreat at the other.

Deep set windows offer views of the surrounding pastures and a little balcony overlooks the dam. It too has been tastefully decorated to reflect the past with solid timber dressers, an old clock and antique furniture.

The Gees invite us into their home for a cuppa and we chat about the history of the property.

While originally set up as accommodation, one of them was turned into stables for a horse stud established using the 1882 Melbourne Cup winner The Assyrian which was bought by Charles Stuart Agnew the son of the estate’s then owner Dr James Willson Agnew (later Sir James and Premier of Tasmania in 1886-1887).

In the first part of the 1900s the cottages gradually fell into disrepair and were at one stage used as haysheds for livestock.

Then in the mid 1960s the larger cottage was turned into a family home for James Philip Agnew with his new wife Lynne.

In 1978 Lynne Agnew refurbished what is now Elizabeth Cottage and established what was one Australia’s first bed and breakfasts. In 1982 she extended the operation building Shepherd’s Rest using stone recovered from a nearby derelict farm building.

Lynne lived in the home until 2014, running the bed and breakfast when she sold the property and the new owners operated the cottage accommodation under the name Oatlands Manor before the Gees bought and renamed it Bowhill Grange in 2021. Peter and Ruth have carefully refurbished and upgraded the two cottages to reflect their heritage and location.

It is clear they have taken time to understand the heritage of the property and Peter has written a short history including historic pictures and newspaper cuttings.

The couple also understand the natural beauty of the place celebrating the birds and native animals which are attracted to the dam and surrounding farmland.

Peter has a good knowledge of the birdlife and points out several species including a wedge-tailed eagle’s nest high in a tree on a distant hill. After witnessing the death of several swans from strikes to powerlines at one end of the dam, Peter spent months lobbying TasNetworks to install “flappers” on a section of line in the flight path of the birds. His persistence paid off and since the number of accidental bird deaths has been reduced to nil.

It’s nice to know that this isn’t just a business for Peter and Ruth – they care about the property and have made lasting connections with the local community.

Bowhill Grange presents as an oasis where you can’t help relax.

Later we snuggle on the comfortable lounge, and graze on an impressive platter for dinner which heroes Tasmanian sourced cheeses, seafood, dips, cold meats, olive bread and delicious warm pastries cooked in Ruth’s kitchen. A roaring fire, a good book and glass of wine later and we are ready to sink into that soft, warm bed.

And as a storm rages outside it feels like the perfect place to rest our heads.

The author was a guest of Bowhill Grange

MAKE A NOTE

Elizabeth Cottage

2 bedrooms, 2 double beds

$344/night

Shepherd’s Rest

1 bedroom two beds (double and single)

$329/night

Includes: Breakfast provisions, wood fire, kitchenette with microwave, portable convection cook top, kitchen utensils. Wi-Fi, TV, claw foot bath with shower over.

Platters are popular and can be ordered on booking.

Website:https://bowhillgrange.com/

philip.young@news.com.au