Shene, Tasmania

The historic property of Shene in Tasmania is no such museum, and custodian Anne Kernke is no such lady. “We want people to come in and look at it, and touch the walls,” says Anne, as she shows us around with the high-energy enthusiasm of a terrier. As she walks, we’re encouraged to fondle everything: hair found in the old plaster, a clay pipe, a dislodged roof shingle. People have left their mark on Shene over the years; scratching initials into walls, pressing personal prints into handmade bricks, etching signatures into glass panels. Now, says Anne, “we tell people we’re leaving our own mark”. 

The walking tour explores the beautiful Georgian farmhouse, the charmingly dilapidated servants’ quarters, the huge barn (high enough inside for a 26-rung ladder) and the magnificent-bordering-

on-ostentatious, convict-built stables. The stable turret was never finished and legend has it that the top of its incomplete stone staircase housed a bell, which would be rung to warn of approaching bushrangers. 

There’s less threat of that now in this cultivated valley because, as Huon Highway graffiti says, “bushrangers need bush”. Still, it’s easy to feel as though you’re stepping back in time around here. The many historic stone buildings that now make up Shene were originally erected from 1822 onwards, on land granted by Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1819. Listed on the old Register of the National Estate, this land in the Bagdad Valley (no kidding, Bagdad) was originally given to failed London merchant Edmund Paine; he subsequently drowned in 1822 near Tinderbox Bay when his boat capsized. 

The second owner was Gamaliel Butler, whose connections to Paine are as fuzzy as the details of how he came into ownership – perhaps that’s fish I can smell. Butler rented the land to Peter Harrison of nearby Jericho and the property eventually grew to become one of Tasmania’s largest rural holdings. 

Today, custodians Anne and David Kernke plan to hold private functions at Shene. With its picturesque setting, the place has already been used as a filming location for an Irish television series. (Anne was an extra: “I got to be a matron, and whipped those convict lassies into shape.”)

In the meantime, there are plenty of other things to keep them busy – like the appetites we’ve worked up during our walk. Back at the main farmhouse, which also happens to be the Kernkes’ residence, we’re presented with a lavish, homemade high tea, prepared and served by Anne’s mother. 

Although the tour isn’t cheap, I’m touched by personal elements like these, and impressed by the whole experience. Besides, the high tea – included in the price – is an entire meal in itself! Just don’t leave the queen-sized glass of trifle until last or you won’t fit it in.