The most wonderful introduction to Tasmania was a trip up to Mount Wellington which towers over Hobart at 1270m above sea level.

When we looked up to the mountain from our hotel we were dubious about whether we should make the drive as the summit was covered in clouds and it looked like we would not be able to see anything. But then we decided to give it a try and simply go from lookout to lookout until we reached the clouds.

We were lucky, once again. The weather cleared up some and we even had a view from the top. It was incredibly windy and a lot colder than down at the foot of the mountain but the views were sublime.

On our way down we stopped halfway at the lovely “Lost Freight Cafe”, a shipping container turned coffee shop at 740m above sea level. When we chatted a bit while getting our „long blacks“ we learned that they were expecting snow for the next day down to about 800 meters. Close to the cafe the only snow plow in Tasmania is waiting to be put to good use already in fall (March).

The wind was getting stronger throughout the day and temperatures dropped. As these winds were coming from Southwest they were bringing cold air from Antarctica, so we were in for much cooler weather for the next days of our trip and the forecast predicted a high temperature of 5 degrees Celsius and a low of 1 degree Celsius. Hard to believe we had almost 40 degrees just ten days earlier in Melbourne.

Hobart itself is quite a nice city. It is not big but has beautiful old buildings and we enjoyed strolling along the art galleries and restaurants. Even though we almost got blown away we had a marvelous stay in Tasmania’s capital before heading for a trip around the island.