Sunday, February 24, 2008

Snow on Mt Wellington in February

Last night, and for the first time in at least a decade, snow settled on the top of Mt Wellington in February (for my antipodean readers, that's the middle of summer down this way).

Katie and I ascended to the summit (1270m above sea level) in the trusty 121 to investigate, photograph, and collect some raw ingredients for my next batch of home brew. The wind was knock-you-over strong and the chill factor must have bought the temperature down to minus two or so. Some locals had even half buried their car to turn it into a snowboard ramp.

Going up there reaquainted me with the strange Hobart custom of decorating the roof and bonnet of your car with kilos of snow for the journey back home. It also reminded me of a story when, back in 1986, the premier of Tasmania at the time, a rather unlikeable character by the name of Robin Gray made a statement along the lines of "...the day I am a dictator is the day that snow settles on the GPO steps...". Within the space of a few days, lo and behold, down came the heaviest snowfall in Hobart for sixty five years. The GPO steps, and indeed everything right down to the waterfront was blanketed in snow and the city came to a standstill.

It's great to be back.

3 comments:

tassieblather said...

There's a pic of the coverage here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/salli/2286876991/

Anonymous said...

Bloody hell! We were at the beach up at Terrigal. Will be sure to bring the warm clothes in April!

snoopbloggyblog said...

Ahh scotty. The magic of the mountain, its all coming back. Snow on the ferns, hippies in gumboots throwing snow balls, pots, galaxian & eight ball at the fern tree tav. beautiful. Good to see that global warming turned out to be a load of bollocks! Good to see you home too mate.