I f Kim Robinson still occasionally has to stop and remind herself on why she took the plunge into creating a luxury accommodation venture on land at Lillico owned by the family for more than 150 years, the rapidly mounting awards The Cove is collecting is a fair indicator. Officially opened in March 2021 just before the state’s borders slammed shut because of Covid-19, The Cove, set up on Waverly Road with sweeping views all the way to Table Cape, began as an idea from the couple’s son Kurt to provide a glamping campsite for visitors on the Cheviot Dale farm. The glamping element remains – albeit a far more luxurious version – but also on offer to guests are a suite of private villas which ultimately provide an agritourism offering unlike any other in the state. And it is this element which has seen The Cove rocket into one of the most sought after boutique experiences in the country which in November alone netted two major awards. Firstly at the Tasmanian Tourism Awards the business won the Unique Accommodation category, and then a few weeks later at the AHA National Awards for Excellence in Sydney it was crowned Best Tourism Initiative in the country. “It’s been huge, who would have thought? Sometimes we say ‘why did we do this?’ I retired in 2012,” Kim says of the whirlwind 12-18 months. “It’s really for our kids, and a diversification from farming because that’s getting harder and harder and less profitable. It is a pretty special spot, it has penguins and mutton birds and everything sort of evolved, Kurt suggested we do some glamping and that was how it started. But it
evolved into something way bigger.
“I think he had been to the Bay of Fires and thought we could pop up some tents and use some old fallen down buildings on the farm to do a rustic kitchen. But obviously being on the coast and with prevailing winds that can be a bit hairier there, we did put three tents up but they would have lasted one night in the spot where we thought we might have them, right on the edge of the cliff and on the beach. We went with all sorts of ideas and ended up with these five hard-top glamping sites, we’ve still got a glamping element, although you’re in a lovely warm cabin that’s not going to blow away or flap and you’ve got a lovely deck and little bar fridge.” Vision for The Cove continues to grow and the Robinson’s are not far away from lodging their next development application to further expand and build on the early stunning success of their business. They’ve already put the North-West Coast on the map and will keep doing so if their next development comes to fruition. It is a major driving force for Kim, who is extremely passionate about the region. “Now we’re talking about a paddock to plate restaurant, another couple of farm suites,” Kim says. “At the moment we get a lot of inquiries for a small lunch or the people on site want to have visitors and have dinner, we use our community kitchen for small weddings so eventually you have to move furniture and it is fairly labour intensive. We think that we can really showcase the food and wine and the produce in the area with guests and those corporates that want a place to go and have their little retreats.
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