When traveling north with the family to explore, we often take an alternate route from Hobart, avoiding Highway 1 in favour of the scenic journey via Miena. This less-travelled path allows us to take in the stunning alpine scenery of the Great Lakes region and explore some of the special towns along the way.

Historically, one associates Tassie with freezing temperatures, tonnes of the fluffy white stuff aka snow, road closures due to weather, amazing winter festivals but we have had a strange winter so far. We had a Winter Feast and Nude Solstice Swim highlighting Dark MOFO, the last Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival, and weather that can only be described as crazy. Yes, there have been some very cold days causing us Tassie folk to rug up, but when the precipitation arrived it’s been so warm that whatever little snow might have been around melted which is unfortunate. In the last 3 days, the mighty Kunanyi/Mt. Wellington would’ve received almost 200mm of rain in the middle of July which should be one of the coldest months. We should have had metres high walls of snow along the Pinnacle Road leading up to the summit, but instead we have water flowing all over the mountain which has caused the ‘Disappearing Tarn’ to appear.

Hobart is a truly magical place for encountering wildlife in its natural habitat, all within the city limits. Yes, simply by taking a stroll! With a few tips from locals, you can easily find your way. Let me share some insights from my own experiences.

A couple of weekends back I went out with my family on a pretty exhilarating journey up our 1200+m backyard mountain - the beautiful kunanyi/Mt. Wellington Night. We did a Night Tour which began as the sun descended and darkness fell over the landscape. The tour offers a unique perspective of the mountain and its surrounding wilderness (and if you’re extremely lucky - a chance of spotting the southern lights!)

On a brilliantly sunny day, Kelvin and I embarked on our first hiking adventure on Mount Wellington. Our plan was to begin with the Sphinx Rock track, then transition to the Lower Sawmill Track for the Octopus Tree on Shoobridge Track, and conclude our hike by following the North-South Track back to the Springs.

We had an epic day of great weather down in Southern Tasmania last Saturday – blue skies and sunshine. A day which simply called out to me to take a trip down to the Tasman Peninsula with stunning vistas.