Adventure Island

At 1271 metres Mount Wellington is tall enough to be regularly covered with snow in winter. Parts of it are as sheer as the edge of a skyscraper and from the observation deck you can look out over parts of southern Tasmania, including a channel named for the fabulously handled French explorer Antoine Raymond Joseph Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, coaster of these parts in 1792.
Not surprisingly, the road to Mt Wellington’s summit is steeper than a London cab fare and should you be moved to cycle up it, the self-inflicted hellishness will last around two hours (if you’re lucky).

But to experience the downhill rush, a ride every bit as hair raising as a roller coaster, pleasure can come without an ounce of pain. Island Cycle Tours can have you on the summit just 20 sweatless minutes after leaving Hobart. They’ll match you to one of their mountain bikes, then after a safety briefing, it’s time for the rush.

Our guide’s parting words include ‘it’s not a race, take in the views’. Two of the girls on the tour, Lindsey and Rebecca, both from Melbourne, begin a little sheepishly and not because of the caution. They’re under the influence of weather that has nothing to do with the mountain’s intricacies, but rather the peculiar climate that occurs after spending too long in one of the many bars around convivial Salamanca Place.

Despite the warm summer day in Hobart, it’s cool on the mountain and tears soon well in my eyes after take-off. Even though we’re sharing the road with cars the blurred vision is only slightly disconcerting. Of far more importance is the fact that cycling down Mt Wellington might well be something of an oxymoron: could it be possible to return the 22 kilometres to Hobart with out so much as flinching my legs, much less pedalling? It’s a wonderful thought for a lazy sod.

Our first designated stop is around two kilometres from the summit, near a place where a parting of the eucalypts offers ripping views. Ground level Tasmania, with its myriad of distant coves and inlets, looks like a giant’s jigsaw with many of its pieces missing. Keen to reacquaint ourselves with rush, nobody gazes for very long. The mountain road is so steep it gets noticeably warmer, quickly. The Melbourne duo scud past me bike tyres singing to the tune of their considerable speed. Their smiles are indication, surely, their health has considerably improved.
We turn off the bitumen by the Bracken Lane fire trail. The strong smell of the eucalypts accompanies the off-road sojourn. Later there is the sweetness of a waterfall. And then hops. Beer. Stop.

We brake and break (just for juices and biscuits) in the gardens of the Cascade Brewery, Australia’s oldest. Afterwards we continue into Hobart through the city’s historic Battery Point – there is some pedalling involved, after all – and finish at Victoria Dock.
This day though is far from over. We’re going kayaking around Hobart’s marinas, the finish of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race and Sandy Bay. Even the Melbourne girls are up for it. 

MORE INFORMATION:
Island Cycle Tours organise the descent of Mt Wellington. Tours last three hours (for dare-devils it could be much, much shorter).
The tour includes refreshments, pick up from Hobart hotels and warm jackets (if required) and costs $65 for adults and $55 per child.
The tour departs daily at 9.30am and 1.30pm most of the year (weekends only in winter).
Check www.islandcycletours.com or phone: 1300 880 334