We Should Have Come In The Summer!

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The weather on the morning of Wednesday 11^th January was very mixed and we had to dodge the showers while loading up the car for our departure towards Hobart. We hadn’t fully appreciated just how close to Hobart we were and it might have been feasible to stay in New Norfolk and just travel into the city. But we wanted to explore an area towards Bruny Island which we didn’t visit last time and that is some way beyond Hobart. So we travelled the 40 kilometers or so into the city and found the Information Centre in the hope of finding a cheap and cheerful motel. With the weather as changeable as it was, we didn’t fancy using our tent so we went for a motel I had seen an advert for. At the same time we booked an all-day trip to Bruny Island for the following day, a video of which was being shown on the TV as we made our booking. It wasn’t cheap but it’s probably the best way to see Bruny Island. By now it was 11:30am and we were allowed to check into our motel after midday so we made our way there after being given some duff guidance from Satnav (moral - don’t always trust it!) and checked in. The motel had glorious views of Hobart so although it was a little past its sell-by date it was just what we wanted. We intended to drive to the top of Mount Wellington in the afternoon but we had to sit out some heavy showers first. Many things about Tassie are very British – the scenery, the place names and especially the weather!

As if to prove our point with the weather, after lunch we found our way, with some difficulty, to the summit of Mount Wellington and guess what? – IT SNOWED!!! From some way away we could see that the summit was occasionally shrouded in mist but we persevered and as we climbed the mountain the weather brightened up. The views were glorious and we anticipated a spectacular outlook once we’d reached the summit. But no sooner had we parked and walked to the viewing platform than a heavy storm blew through and covered everything with snow. With a very strong wind and with many unsuspecting tourists (Graham included) wearing shorts, it was not a pleasant place to be. It was quite an experience standing in the shelter with what seemed to be a full on blizzard raging outside and for a while the snow seemed to be blowing horizontally. Fortunately the viewing platform was under cover but we had a walk of about 100 meters back to the car during which we and the car were covered in snow. The journey back down was spectacular as just below the summit the views were clear and a fantastic rainbow – bigger and brighter than any we’ve ever seen – seemed to fill the sky. It was particularly unusual in that we were looking down on it and it made for some really unusual images. Back down in the city it was rush hour and traffic was quite heavy. We wanted to check on an “all day” parking area for less than $10 which we are contemplating using when we do our Bruny Island trip tomorrow. It meant that we had to negotiate some heavy traffic but it wasn’t too bad and we soon found our way back to the motel. As we got there we changed our minds and went on into Bellerive, a well known nearby waterfront suburb which is home to the Hobart Cricket Ground. We found a lovely spot at Kangaroo Point where we watched a yacht race getting underway before we ordered a Chinese Takeaway and took it back to the motel. With a very early start tomorrow we had a casual evening and turned in by 10:00pm keeping our fingers crossed for some good weather!

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Photos

The impressive Tasman Bridge that spans the Derwent River
We had to cross the bridge to get into the city from our motel