The Stunning Tasmanian Landscape | Tasmania Road Trip

We woke up in Hobart on Day 5 of our Tasmania Road Trip. I was completely in love with this beautiful island state of Australia. Having spent a major part of the previous day on road, the agenda for Day 5 was pretty simple – Drive to Mount Wellington, explore Hobart waterfront and at night, go in search of Bioluminescent Algae. You can find the links to the road trip at the bottom of this post.

I had read in different forums that if you are visiting Mount Wellington, due to unpredictable weather, it is advisable to check if there are any clouds covering the top of the mountain. If there are, then you won’t be able to see much. In our case, half the mountain was covered in clouds while the other half was still receiving some sunlight. Keeping our fingers crossed, we decided to make the journey.

The drive was fabulous, roads slowly winding around the mountain, all the way to the top. The weather outside kept switching between foggy to sunny as we crossed different sections of the mountain. At one lookout, it was cold and misty.

After just few minutes away from that lookout, I got to witness this view of the city, spread in front of us.

At the top of the mountain, the fog was slowly rolling in. We went for a short hike, along the side of the mountain, but the path was soon covered by thick fog, so we traced our steps back to the car park.

Soon, we were caught in the gust of mist, flowing across the mountain top. It felt absolutely surreal.

From here, we drove back to Hobart city, parked our car near the waterfront and went in search for a good restaurant to have lunch. Salamanca Place provided a huge range of options. We picked Maldini – a family run Italian restaurant as the menu looked quite appealing. We ordered Pizza, Spaghetti and some very good looking desserts.

We decided to rest at our hotel before venturing out again at night to look for bioluminescent algae. You can read all about that here – The Search for Bioluminescent Algae.

Day 6: Hobart to Tullah ( 315 km – 4 hrs 30 min)

This was the longest we drove in our 9 Days of Tasmania Road trip. And I have seriously run out of adjectives to describe this amazing untouched land. I felt like I had transported to a different world. The brilliant color of water, dramatic hills, serene lakesides, wild wild vegetation and non stop winding roads – you need to experience this atleast once in your life.

About 73 km from Hobart, we came across this vibrant looking rural town called Hamilton. The color of the hills looked absolutely bright, and striking against the blue sky. A mix of yellow and mustard – and specks of green trees spread across the hillside. I wonder how life would here? Slow? Busy?

Although I have numerous photos to show you guys, let me limit it to this place near Gormanston – Iron Blow Lookout.

Gormanston near Queenstown presents a brutal reality of mining in Tasmania. This region was once the world’s richest mining zone, but what now remains are the scars of the past. This barren landscape was brought about by deforestation in the 1800s and then sulphur, produced by mining process, further destroyed the soil and killed the vegetation. These lifeless mountains where greenery has only recently started creeping in, are in stark contrast to the otherwise lush and beautiful wilderness of Tasmania. It makes you stop and think how destructive human needs can be.

The landscape changes dramatically once you cross the mining towns. The barren mountains give way to thick foliage, Pine trees and beautiful lakes.

I thought once I reach the lodge, the journey would be over. But I was in for a huge surprise. When I booked our accommodation at Tullah Lakeside Lodge, I wasn’t expecting much. It was the cheapest of all the bookings, located in a remote place and there wasn’t much to do around the place, or so I thought.

But look at this view. Our room was right next to the lake, where I could easily watch the sky and the mountains : Farrell and Murchison. I regret not having booked one more night here. You could go boating or kayaking in these calm waters, surrounded by ancient rain forest. Food and Drinks were provided at the restaurant, not too far from our room.