Dome sweet dome for Tom Coughlin at Luna Lodge

Tom Coughlin describes his farm tours at Luna Lodge as being more akin to visiting the circus.

When he walks around his 16ha property at Wattle Hill, chickens fly up onto his arm and pygmy goats run around an obstacle course he designed himself.

Tom moved to Tasmania seven years ago after looking at 100 properties in the state, settling on the one he is currently living in.

“The property was owned by Tom Williams, who was born on the ship that was transporting the first fleet out to Hobart and was the first person to be baptised in Australia.

“Then about 15 years ago it left the family and went through multiple owners before I got it.”

One of the first things Tom did was convert around 30 per cent of the land back to bush as wildlife habitat.

While he has Highland cattle, goats and chickens, due to the size of the land and a lack of irrigation, Tom decided against traditional agriculture.

“I didn’t want another job, and I wanted to live off the land, so I had to find a way to make it financially sustainable,” he said.

“Sorell isn’t really known as a tourism hub so I had to create something unique.”

Tom built two domes for accommodation and started offering farm tours.

“I still have all of the animal husbandry requirements, but instead of it being a protein value, it’s a tourism value in the cattle.”

However, Tom has sold off excess calves and goats when needed.

“The pygmy goats were originally for the restoration of the land,” he said.

“The hill up the top was yellow and full of capeweed, and there was blackberry everywhere.

“The goats were amazing at cleaning up that.”

But now they are also one of the main attractions on the farm tour.

“They do agility courses, and they’ve got all these tricks,” he said.

“They still have their job, and I use them still, because I don’t want to use chemicals.”

The first dome on the property was ready for guests around five years ago.

“Then it took me a couple of years to do the second dome because by that stage I had the first dome and all the animals.

“It would have been better financially and smarter if I had got a loan and paid someone to do it.

“But I didn’t have the cash flow because I’m self-funded.”

The original dome has a farm-style theme, while the more recently constructed one is medieval-inspired.

Both domes also have outdoor bathtubs.

Tom said the farm tours began organically.

“When guests would come, they would want to meet all the animals,” he said.

“I used to finish work at 4pm, grab a beer, grab my goats and go for a walk with them.

“Then one time I had a really nice guest and I asked if they wanted to come along.

“I then started offering tours, and it just became a thing.”

Over the past two years, Tom said he had begun advertising the farm tours more.

“I don’t do them more than once a day anymore to give the animals a break.

“There’s only so much brushing a cow needs.”

One of Tom’s next big projects is building a wetland for wildlife.

“I also want to build a composting toilet and also a table and chairs so people can do a farm tour then go have a picnic.

“It could also be used for birthday parties and other events. But I’m basically consolidating what I already have.”

Tom also recently paired with an instructor to lead goat yoga on the farm, which proved popular.

“It’s a lot of fun, and the goats are nuts,” he said. “They climb on your back and stand on your shoulders, and the chickens fly all over you because they are trained as well.”

While Tom has approval for four domes, he says two are enough.

“It allows me to have this lifestyle.

“You don’t get rich off it, but if I had another two then my focus would be entirely focused on accommodation.

“It also takes a lot of effort to build one because they are so boutique and each one has to be unique.

“I think for the foreseeable future I don’t want to build anymore.”