Day 2 of blogging – this post captures what I saw on my holiday in Hobart, Tasmania.
The whole idea of the trip to Hobart stemmed from an article in read in Lonely planet. The article described the worlds 10 best cycling tracks (view while cycling). A track from Australia made it to the top 10, and when I googled, I managed to return a result that was not the LP had written about. None the less, I decided to research on Hobart and realised that it is a beautiful place to visit (more of the trip in days to come). I booked a cycling tour with Mt Wellington Descent (http://www.mtwellingtondescent.com.au)
On the day I was picked up by the tour company. Our guide was a Geologist who had worked in Antarctica and Asia, I was impressed. We were driven up to Mt Wellington , towering above the city, the mountain is visible from all parts of the town.
The trip through the winding roads brought back memories of Shimla, my home town in the Himalayas (more about it some other time). The views from the van were fantastic. After around an hour we reached the mountain top. I was thinking my guide has been joking about the outside temperature, but just taking the first step outside the air-conditioned car, i realised he wasnt kidding.
This is what the shrubs looked like
But this is the view I had from up there
We embarked on the trip down, cycles were handed out to everyone, legal formalities sorted out, and hand gloves handed out 🙂 We did a short 2 minute ride to make sure that the cycle had working brakes (a must do if you are cycling downhill) and stopped for a group photograph. Well i did get myself clicked as well, and what i looked like, dressed in my ski jacket, sweater, scarf and still shivering
Once the photography session was over, we embarked on the journey. The vehicle we had driven up in, was to bring up the rear, and was to carry a board “Warning, Cyclists ahead”, it did give me some confidence 😉 The trip down had a different view with each curve, waterfalls (small ones) and glimpses of Hobart from between the trees was a site to cherish.
Every 5 km, covered in less than 10 minutes, without pedaling, we regrouped, more than grouping, we were to stop, get down from the cycle and dance around like crazy to get the blood flowing again. Trust me, at every stop, for the first few seconds, words weren’t audible, the lips were frozen and fingers refused to move. Even the 5km we covered, I was wondering if asked to brake suddenly, would my fingers work…
Some distance later, we were given the choice of whether to continue down the tarred road, or take the off beaten mountain roads. If i told you that my total cycling experience (km covered) is not in 4 digits, you would say I am stupid to have embarked on this trip. However, i decided to risk my life and follow the group through the mountain trek. It started off really well, downhill for 20 metres and then came the first hurdle, root coming out of the ground and stones lining the remaining road.. It was scary and I nearly fell off. I braked hard and stopped, but my agony had just started. The road now had slight rise and all those who did not brake, could continue without pedaling, and me, was the groups idiot. We did see a group on horse back, the horse was startled on seeing the cyclists and the cyclists were scared out of their life on seeing the horses galloping on our path.
Well, I did survive and reached the spot that made to abuse myself (not out loud but yes…), this is what was to start the 2 km cycling down the real mountain path. The path was loose gravel, loads of roots, broken branches, and small water channels crisscrossing the path. this could be the ouch part of the ride 😉 – the track may not look scary, but when it is your first ever mountain biking ride, every bit scares 🙂
After a few anxious moments on near fall, I did manage to complete the ride. We regrouped soon and then again it was downhill. We stopped at the cascade brewery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Brewery) to have a quick cuppa, but decided to continue downhill as we did not have the night gear (flashing tail and head lights) and we wanted to enjoy the cycling to the most. Biscuits and tea could wait for some time. We cycled through the town and battled the traffic. The trip ended at the wharf (this is where the famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race ends).
The moon shining down on us all was the end you can only dream of. Water, a steaming cuppa, cookies, the mountain staring down at you, reminding you of the journey’s start.
If this trip was done on the track that was not in the top 10 of the world, what would the views from the other routes be.
Any takers for the next cycling ride ???
Happy pedaling, Good Night !!!!!!







The penultimate pic speaks lotz. Loved it!
Crisp writing Amit, very well put together, good job.
You know what, even I was planning for Tasmania when I was ‘supposed’ to visit Melbourne, but seems like god has in stored HK for me, yeah, may be some other time to Aus, and meanwhile will enjoy Tasmania through your post 🙂
Keep writing!!