It's all downhill from here....
Descending Hobart’s iconic Mount Wellington by bicycle can make you feel daring or crazy — or both at the same time.
Monday, June 30 2008 || BY Fiona Rotherham
I leave our hotel that morning wearing a T-shirt, light parka and three-quarter-length shorts, thinking I’m suitably dressed for a half-day bicycle tour down the mountain with a couple of fellow journalists. How cold can it be?
My first warning — had I then recognised it as such — comes when our host Amy Parkinson-Bates politely suggests I put on warm socks and change into full-length trousers. Thinking she is fussing unnecessarily, I put socks on to placate her and leave it at that.
My second warning comes when one of our Aussie guides from Island Cycle Tours says he had thought we’d pull out of the half-day trip because of heavy rain that morning. Kiwi women, I inform him, aren’t that soft.
The third alarm bell rings as we drive in the nice, warm van to the summit, some 1,270 metres above sea level. Winding our way to the top, I suddenly notice plants with a dusting of ice on them and the temperature dropping markedly. It is actually snowing when we arrive at the top and our guide, Andrew Terhill, says he has to check the wind factor to ensure it’s safe enough to ride.
That’s when I realise I’m slightly underdressed for the occasion. The tour operator fortunately provides -jackets, gloves and head coverings but my legs are still exposed. As we are kitted out with bikes and helmets, one couple walking past cheerily tells us “you’re mad”.
Standing in the chill, blustery wind and sleet, I have a sneaking suspicion they may be right. Sometimes the thrill of a challenge supercedes good sense.
Maybe I’m just trying to recapture my lost youth. It’s certainly been many years since I hooned around on a bike for fun. I do a few practice laps in the carpark to ensure I still remember how it’s done.
The gauge inside the guide’s van tells us the temperature at the summit is 4°C (the local newspaper, I read later, claims the temperature was actually 0.6°C). No wonder I’m friggin’ freezing.
We do the obligatory photo posed against the snow-covered rocks and head off single file with one guide leading the way and our second guide following closely behind in the van.
A large chunk of ice falls off a road sign right beside me with a loud crash. Startled, I pedal furiously for a few minutes until realising this ride is all about applying the brakes rather than pedalling. I guess a mountain ascent wouldn’t be quite as popular with tourists.
The view at the top, apparently spectacular in good weather, is obscured by cloud.
I can’t see anyway because the rain and snow are constantly fogging up my glasses and I’m reduced to a nana-like pace. I briefly wonder why I’m doing this.
Then adrenalin kicks in. It’s heady barrelling down the road as fast as you want, exposed to the elements and also alive to them.
I feel on top of the world — but we’re descending fast.
We make several stops during the descent, mainly to let the slower riders catch up with those at the front. I’m soaking wet, my fingers have frozen around the brake and my arse is starting to get sore from the saddle. I’m smiling.
The temperature warms considerably as we descend to the foothills and I start to thaw. Our guide suggests leaving the road and completing the descent on some mountain bike trails.
We opt to stick to the road, though, picking up the pace now the rain has abated and I can see where I’m heading. The cloud cover has lifted and the view across Hobart is indeed stunning. Traffic also picks up as we reach the bottom of Mount Wellington and head down the more populated slopes towards our hotel. Given Hobart’s population is under 200,000 the traffic is not heavy by Auckland standards and we stick well to the left.
A bit of pedalling is required on this part of the ride but it is not onerous, and before we know it we’ve safely reached our hotel.
We dine out that night on tales of our adven-ture but it’s time now for a hot shower. Luckily, unlike in other parts of Australia, Hobart has no water restrictions. I stand for 20 minutes or more under the blast of hot water feeling my body tingling and slowly returning to normal circulation. The adrenalin rush lasts a lot longer.
www.islandcycletours.com
Fiona Rotherham travelled courtesy of Tourism Tasmania
Fit for a princess
The Islington in Hobart is the hotel Princess Mary helped make famous — without even knowing it. The 36-year-old princess, married to Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, was born and raised in Tasmania.
During a trip home to see her family it was rumoured she was staying at The Islington, which has won a number of tourism awards including being named Australia’s best boutique hotel by Gourmet Travellerlast year. As Amy Parkinson-Bates tells it (she and husband Nicholas manage the hotel), paparazzi besieged the gates of the five-star hotel hoping to catch a glimpse of the princess. She wasn’t actually staying there but Parkinson-Bates says the rumour enhanced the hotel’s reputation no end. The princess is, in fact, due to stay there later this year — but that’s another story.
The Islington, where I had the pleasure of staying for two nights in its deluxe suite, was originally built in 1847 and is a fine example of Regency architecture. It was rented in its early years to a number of Hobart’s prominent businessmen including the Lord Mayor. In the 1870s it housed a family with 11 children.
David Meredith, from one of Tasmania’s oldest families, and his partner, John Goodyear, bought the hotel five years ago, partly because they lived overseas and thought it would be a cheaper option for housing their antique collection than leaving it in storage in the UK.
The hotel’s fine artworks include a Picasso — one of the many reasons it is the most highly insured guest house in Australia. “The insurance premiums are not pleasant,” notes Parkinson-Bates. But the sense of style conveyed by these well-insured furnishings is pleasant. You feel like you’re staying in a wealthy friend’s house rather than a hotel.
The formal dining room features Australia’s second-oldest tapestry, given by a friend to Meredith’s great-great grandmother, Louisa Ann, who was the first woman in Tasmania to write about the state’s flora and fauna. Original copies of her books are also on display.
The owners spent $5 million in late 2006 extending and modernising the hotel, adding guest rooms, ensuites, a fine-wine cellar (with over 1,000 bottles) and a glass-roofed atrium. It’s a tasteful blend, matching the glories of the old with the comfort of the new. The first guest following the refurbishment was a well-known corporate lawyer from Sydney who after checking in, came back up from his room wearing a tracksuit and slippers. That’s when Parkinson-Bates says she knew it felt like home.
www.islingtonhotel.com
