Even though I’ve visited Hobart two or three times previously, I’ve never ever made it to the top of Mount Wellington / kunanyi, the mountain which looms large on the landscape of the city.
Whenever I’ve visited Hobart previously it’s always been for work, and so have generally flown in, done my job, and then flown out again. I’ve done a little bit of sight-seeing around Hobart, also travelling down and visiting Peppermint Bay, but nowhere near as much as I’m planning for this trip.
Although I will pop in and see some of my colleagues on Monday (Sue also has a work commitment, so we thought we would try and coincide them), this trip is purely for leisure. The aim is to spend a few days chilling out, seeing a few things we haven’t seen before, taking in the country air (we’re both from the bush, now living in the city, and need a regular dose of country air), and enjoying each other’s company.
We arrived mid-afternoon and decided a trip to the top of Mount Wellington / kunanyi was high on the agenda. The weather today was pretty gorgeous, and so we took advantage of that, knowing there’s always the possibility of snow on the top of Mount Wellington / kunanyi even during summer. On the top of the mountain we saw a few people dressed in impossibly warm clothing. In the same way Crocodile Dundee declared, “That’s not a knife, this is a knife”, I wanted to say to them, “You think this is cold, how about Sweden in winter?”.
The air on the top of Mount Wellington / kunanyi was chilly, but it was also wonderfully clear. It was also terrific driving up the mountain to see the vegetation change from tallish gum trees down the bottom, to wind-swept “alpine” vegetation at the top. On top of the views back down to Hobart, there were the rocks covered in moss, and in the distance those basalt columns which in some ways resemble a bunch of Kit-Kats all piled up against each other.
Later we had a late afternoon coffee/tea at a swish hotel, and then fish’n’chips on the wharf. We wandered past the statue of Mawson and hoped he wouldn’t take a bite of us :)
We’re in separate hotels tonight. Due to a couple of big weddings, there’s a lot of demand for hotel rooms tonight in Hobart. Tomorrow morning, after a bite to eat and a look around the markets, we’ll head up to Launceston.
Leave a Reply