Mt. Wellington, Hobart

On Wednesday we drove to Hobart, crossed the Tasman Bridge, and headed south to the South Arm and O'Possum peninsular area. The reason we decided to drive to this little known area is because twice in the past month we have talked to someone from South Arm!  It doesn't take us long to leave behind the suburbs of Hobart and enter farming country.  This is quite a dry area of Tasmania and the folks we talked to from here said that they live in a rain shadow so not much rain.  It is a beautiful area and the town of South Arm is not much more than a hotel, cafe and general store.  Driving further around the peninsular and we arrive at O'Possum that is entirely a different place.  There are homes along the beachfront that are literally right on the beach!  They would have a prime position for the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race as Hobart is right across the bay from O'Possum.  Houses in this area are worth many millions of $$'s......

We didn't stay in the area too long because, looking towards Mt. Wellington, we could see that it was free of cloud so it was decided that we would drive to the top.  We haven't seen it without cloud the last few times we have been in Hobart.  It is around 20kms to the top of Mt Wellington that rises 1270m.  It is not the highest mountain in Tasmania, that title goes to Mt Ossa in Queenstown at a height of 1614m.  The road to the summit though is narrow and winding and in some places the elevation is more than 10% but my husband is an excellent driver so we do not have any problems, apart from some drivers not knowing where their wheels are and coming around corners on our side of the road!

The views from the top of Mt. Wellington are jaw dropping awesome.  There are many viewing platforms scattered around the summit and each one affords a different view over a vast area.  We can see to the Huon Valley in one direction and to New Norfolk in another.  Yet another view shows us the great southern ocean and the city of Hobart looks so small from this vast height.  It was just magnificent.  There are many walks around Mt Wellington and I think some of them would be great to walk, but we won't be tackling any of them.  The rugged cliff faces that are also called "The Organ Pipes" would look amazing up close on a hike.  It is around 10 degrees cooler at the top of Mt. Wellington so we don't stay too long.

This was absolutely one of the highlights of our trip so far and I am so pleased we had the perfect day to experience it.  Tomorrow is Bruny Island.  I also wanted to show you this photo that I took from the van last night.  The forecast said showers developing and the sky really darkened just before sunset, but how lovely is this photo looking over the caravan park to the mountains in the distance.