I left Sydney in 1992 to move to Hobart and nearly twenty years later I am still blown away by the beauty of the landscape!
I live in the city and everyday as I step outside my front door I am confronted by the majestic view of our beloved Mount Wellington.
Rising 1270 metres (around 4,000 feet) above Hobart's harbour and the wide Derwent River, Mount Wellington hovers above our city like a sacred goddess keeping watch over the city and it's inhabitants.
Mount Wellington was originally referred to as Unghbanyahletta (or Ungyhaletta), Poorawetter (or ‘'Pooranetere'’, also Pooranetteri), or Kunanyi to the indigenous people of Tasmania. The Palawa, the surviving descendants of the original indigenous Tasmanians, tend to prefer the latter name.
The indigenous population are believed to have arrived in Tasmania approximately 30-40,000 years ago. Their beliefs and traditions, coupled with modern archaeological research, suggest that they may have occupied and utilised the mountain and its surrounding areas for much of the occupation of the island.
The indigenous community of Hobart refer to Mount Wellington as a 'Sacred Ancestral Being' and has great spiritual significance for all Indigenous Tasmanians.
The 21-kilometre (13-mile) drive to the summit takes you from temperate rainforest to sub-alpine flora and glacial rock formations, ending in panoramic views of Hobart, Bruny Island, South Arm and the Iron Pot and the Tasman Peninsula. The present road was blasted from rock during the Depression (1932), around the same time that the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built.
The mountain has numerous springs (and snow melt in winter) which provides Hobart's adundant and high quality drinking water. Viewed from all angles the mountain provides an inspiring backdrop to the city.(www.discovertasmania.com).
No matter what time of the year it is, the Mountain is an ever changing site, and somehow just knowing that 'she' is looking down over the city brings a source of comfort to me.
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