Pastoral care ... the Anglo-Indian architectural style of Quamby Estate, near Launceston.
If there isn't a ghost at Quamby Estate, there should be. It's the sort of house that deserves a good haunting, with its strong sense of history, gracious high-ceilinged rooms and wide Anglo-Indian-style veranda. A recent makeover has given it a contemporary look (think lime-green and burnt-orange silk cushions, sheer curtains and blindingly white bathrooms) but the house retains a historical atmosphere without feeling fake or screaming heritage.
Newly restored by the Anthology Group as the operations base for its Bay of Fires and Cradle Mountain walks, the homestead now provides accommodation for those who want a last taste of luxury before they set out - or, better still, for those who've earned a little pampering after their hikes.
There's plenty of romance to the story of Quamby. Built by Richard Dry, an exiled Irish political prisoner who was transported to Tasmania and later pardoned, the property was named Quamby after an Aboriginal word meaning "place to camp, settle down and rest" and eventually grew to 12,140 hectares. There were 200 tenant farmers on the estate and some 800 employees, including convicts. The law of the colony restricted the maximum land grant to any one person to 3600 hectares.
Local folklore has it that the property grew larger when Dry's wife, a woman of charm and beauty, attracted the eye of the governor, who offered to grant her husband as much land as she could ride around in one day. She came up with an ingenious ploy, stationing horses at intervals and galloped in relay to claim her prize.
Walking out from the kitchen into a courtyard herb garden, you can take a few steps down into the cellar, where some of the convict labourers slept at night, tethered to the walls. Now if that isn't a cue for a ghost story, what is? It's a great tale though some historians dispute this detail, saying no one in their right mind would keep convicts, even chained, immediately below the family living quarters. Around the property were other dangers to anticipate: bushrangers roamed the area, prompting the owners of Quamby to install internal timber shutters as protection against attack.
The view today is of pastoral scenes looking out to the Ben Lomond ranges, past manicured lawns, a tennis court, a beautifully groomed nine-hole golf course and majestic trees including 150-year-old poplars, elms and hawthorns. It's like a little slice of English countryside transposed to the other side of the world. Walking along the shady carriageway, you'll see hares scampering for cover. Quamby's ballroom has been converted into the sort of billiard room you see in BBC costume dramas but there's no need to dress for dinner here - the house is casual and relaxed, in keeping with its role as a starting point for a walking holiday.
It takes only minutes to feel at home here, thanks to the help-yourself hospitality that starts at the front door - with no formal check-in, we find our keys waiting on the sideboard and have fun guessing which room is which until the manager turns up and shows us around.
You can wander past the original row of brass servant bells in the staff quarters to the newly refurbished kitchen and choose a homemade biscuit or cake, a loose-leaf tea or sample some of the local Tamar Valley wines if you trust yourself to stick to the honesty system (starting out on a walk with a hangover would have to be a powerful deterrent to excess). We relax in the drawing room and curl up in front of the fire before a two-course dinner that doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is: good, home-cooked food using the best local produce.
With an early start the next morning, our party is in bed by nine o'clock. In the morning, we meet to stuff our backpacks and meet our guides over breakfast in the adjacent Georgian house. At the end of the walks, we gather here again for champagne, canapes and a complimentary group photo.
If you're like me, you won't be looking your best after four days in the bush with no mirrors but you will have also ceased to care.
We start our Bay of Fires adventure with a night at Quamby, rather than staying the night after, which allows our walking group to get to know each other over dinner. Perhaps if I'd ended with a stay, I'd have made more use of the sarcophagus-sized bathtub in the suite on my return - bookending the walk at Quamby would feel very extravagant.
Just one small quibble: Quamby is about 25 minutes' drive from the airport or 20 minutes from Launceston with a pricey taxi fare of about $60. City or airport pick-ups should be part of the package (which includes breakfast). Of course, Mrs Dry would just have saddled up her horse.
Virgin Blue, Jetstar and Tiger (from Melbourne only) fly to Launceston; one-way fares from Melbourne from $25 and Sydney from $49, including tax. Quamby Estate is a 20-minute drive from Launceston, at 1145 Westwood Road, Hagley. The nightly tariff is $125 a person, including breakfast. Discounts are available for guests booking accommodation before or after the Cradle Mountain and Bay of Fires walks. Phone (03) 6392 2211 or see quambyestate.com.
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