09 Nov - 2010 Hobart (Mount Wellington)

This morning we got up to sunshine and a thought about our plans for the day.  Breakfast in the Campers Kitchen was comfortable and with our Australian tea we prepared to set off for the day. Oh right, before I forget here is a better picture of the campervan.  Soon I will give more information.

Our  first port of call was to locate the Information Center in Hobart.  With the help of Karen (GPS) we were surprised how easy it was to get there.  The challenge for me was to park on the street and to figure out how to use the meters.  We successfully managed both.  The information center was interesting and we were able to get a brochure about Mount Wellington – our goal for the day.

Several people we talked to about going up to the Pinnacle at the top of Mount Wellington mentioned the very narrow roads (and they did this without ever seeing me drive) so I was a bit concerned about driving up but game to give it a try.  The road up was windy, narrow and slow but every time I met a vehicle I was comfortable with the width of the road so all was well.  In fact later in the day when we were heading back to camp we drove down some NARROW roads with cars parked on both sides.  Each time we met a car one of us had to find a open spot between parked cars to pull over to let the other pass. That is what I call narrow.

We got out of the van ready to go for a hike from the Pinnacle down to the Chalet.   What barren place this seems to be.  The top of the mountain is 1270 meters above sea level (Hobart).  The wind does not seem to stop blowing and the temperature is at least 10 degrees cooler than in Hobart but with the wind chill factored it is even cooler feeling.  I can not imagine being up here in the winter but apparently many people do go up.

I was wearing my regular shorts, thinking about my hiking sandals and just a t-shirt.  In about 30 seconds on top with the wind blowing we were changing clothes to long hiking pants, boots, fleece and jacket.  Then we were ready to head off the top of Mount Wellington to follow the trail down a trail called Jig Jag trail (named for obvious reasons). As we decended we were protected from the wind and walking in the sun so the layers started to peel off.  Eventually I even took the bottoms of my hiking pants off.  At the junction of Jig Jag trail, Pipe Organ trail and The Springs Trail we headed basically horizontally below the Pipe Organ craigs around to the Chalet. 

The Jig Jag Trail has had a lot of work done to create it, but it still feels like you are walking across a rock slide zone, only downwards.

Regardless of the quality of the trail, the views were unbelievable.  I took lots of pictures but narrowed it down to a few to put on the blog.

We got to the Chalet expecting some form of tourist coffee shop only to discover that I really was just a shelter with a picnic table.  Apparently the weather can change very quickly here and there are numerous shelters built on Mount Wellington.   We met a couple of women at the Chalet and we had a very nice conversation about snakes.  They had seen on called the Tiger snake and Wes described the one he saw which they think they could identify it but were not sure.  Apparently there are only 3 varieties of snakes in Tasmania and all have poisonous venom.  Their advice – stay clear of all snakes.  No problem in our taking that advise.

On the trail down to the chalet we kept hearing the bleat of sheep. This seemed like a very strange place for sheep to be found and we could not see any evidence.  So we asked the women about sheep on the hillside and they laughed telling us we were actually hearing a frog.  This particular frog sounds just like a sheep bleat is often confuses people.  We never saw the frog so we have to trust this to be the case since we never saw the sheep either.

We returned to the top and the round trip took us about 3 ½ hours covering 7 kms and having an estimated elevation change of about 1000 feet .  The return was difficult because of the rocks and the need to constantly watch your footing, but the trek was well worth the effort.

The advantage of having a campervan is that your lunch is always with you.  We made lunch in the blowing and cold parking lot so we could continue with some exploring at the top of Mount Wellington after we ate.

We had planned to go to the local zoo after we finished trekking around Mount Wellington, but by the time we got back down it was 3:30.  We both felt that it would be just nice to return to camp, take some warm showers and relax for a couple of hours before dinner.   So we did just that.

Dinner, now that turned into an adventure.  As we started to cook dinner in the camp kitchen a group of people arrived to use the BBQ.  I was using the stove, so this was not a problem at all.  However just as we sat down to eat, the food on the BBQ was ready and everyone came into the eating area of the camp kitchen to use the other table.  Now we had 8 adults and 12 kids (I think I counted them all) running around talking, laughing, yelling (ever seen parents in such a setting mange their kids?) and generally creating an environment that was energetic but not relaxing.  Not a problem really since they were enjoying themselves.  Ok, it is true that when the kids started to feed the ducks and shortly we had a flock of ducks, gulls and other birds venturing forward to the kitchen all making loud noises, we felt it was time to disappear.  

We found a quiet spot down by the lake to drink our tea and relax until the camp kitchen was free once more for us to return and work on the pictures, blogs and books.  It has been a really good day.