The pinnacle
The mountain rises to 1271 metres, dominating the skyline of most of Hobart. It has officially been “kunanyi / Mount Wellington” since 2013 and locals are beginning to call it simply “kunanyi” so perhaps this is a good approach to restoring indigenous names elsewhere.
Whatever we call it, it’s always ten degrees cooler than the city but the spectacular views and unique landscape make it a high priority for me when I’m in Tasmania.
The vegetation at this altitude is small, tough, but (at this time of year, at least) colourful with masses of cream and white flowers complementing the reds and bronzes of new foliage. The foreground of my second photo is typical.
It was alive with insects (although not many birds at all) and I have uploaded my photos of them to iNaturalist; follow this link and click the left arrow to track back through them if you’re interested.
The Lost World track
Not having time for the Zig-zag Track – Organ Pipes loop walk, I drove down the road to the beginning of the Lost World track. Below the treeline, Tasmanian Snow Gums emerge from the shrubs and boulders. The effect is both otherworldly and quintessentially Australian.
“People get lost on Mount Wellington,” I was warned, and it’s easy to see why. The jumble of boulders makes it impossible to walk in a straight line, and the tracks are sometimes so minimal that they can only be made out at short range; take a few steps off them, and they are hard to identify again.
The Lost World track leads from the pinnacle road to the top of a small cliff of ‘organ pipes’ (columnar dolerite stacks) and then down its face, an enjoyable scramble for the experienced bushwalker but not recommended for city folk. From there it loops back eventually towards a lower part of the main road, but I chose to return the way I came.
• Introduction and index to Tasmanian blog posts 2020-21.