kunanyi Mount Wellington Explorer Bus Pass Hobart

Brooke Street Pier and the Hobart waterfront

The bus departs from Brooke Street Pier at 12 Franklin Wharf, the floating pier on Sullivans Cove in the heart of the Hobart waterfront, a few minutes' walk from Salamanca Place and the city centre. Be at the stop ten minutes before your chosen departure; buses leave at 09:30, 11:00, 12:30, 14:00 and 15:30, and your pass lets you ride any of them that day. There is no hotel pickup, but most central Hobart hotels are within walking distance of the pier.

From the waterfront the bus climbs through South Hobart, and within a quarter of an hour the harbour, the sandstone warehouses and the tiers of the city are spread out below. If you are looking for how to get to Mount Wellington from Hobart without a car, this bus is the direct answer: there is no public bus to the summit, and the road is too steep and long to walk comfortably from the city.

Fern Tree: the village at the foot of the forest

Fern Tree is a small village on the lower slopes at about 420 metres, where houses give way to tall eucalyptus and tree ferns. It is the traditional starting point for walks on the mountain, and the stop here puts you at the trailheads for the Fern Tree Bower and Silver Falls, an easy loop of around an hour through cool, damp forest to a small waterfall and the historic pipeline that once carried the city's water. The village also has a café near the bus stop.

Getting off at Fern Tree on the way down is a good way to use the all-day pass: walk the loop, then catch the next bus back to the city. The bus stop has shelter, and the driver tells you when the following service passes. Bring a light rain jacket, because the forest here catches the mountain's weather.

The Springs: picnic ground and trailhead halfway up

The Springs sits halfway up the mountain at about 720 metres, a sheltered clearing where a hotel stood from the early twentieth century until bushfires destroyed it in 1967. Today it is a picnic ground with barbecues, toilets, a small café and the starting point of several walking tracks, including the Organ Pipes track that traverses beneath the mountain's dolerite cliffs and the Sphinx Rock lookout a short walk away.

Many visitors spend the middle of the day here: get off a morning bus, walk to the Organ Pipes and back in a couple of hours with views over the city the whole way, then take an afternoon bus to the summit. Weather at The Springs is noticeably cooler than in Hobart, so keep a layer handy, and allow time to check the track signs for distances before you set out.

Pinnacle Road and the Organ Pipes

Pinnacle Road climbs from The Springs to the summit in a series of hairpin bends, built as a public works project during the 1930s and opened in 1937. The bus is the best way to enjoy it, because the driver handles the bends while you watch the forest change from tall eucalyptus to alpine shrubs and boulder fields. The commentary covers the construction of the road, the Aboriginal name kunanyi, the wildlife of Wellington Park and the mountain's role in Hobart's weather.

The most striking sight on the way up is the Organ Pipes, a wall of vertical dolerite columns formed from cooled magma about 170 million years ago and exposed by ice and erosion. The bus slows for views of the cliffs, and from the road you can see climbers on the columns on fine days. Snow is possible at this height in any month, which is part of the mountain's character.

The Pinnacle: the summit of kunanyi / Mount Wellington

At the top, 1,271 metres above sea level, boardwalks lead from the car park to lookouts on the edge of the plateau and to the Pinnacle Observation Shelter, a stone building with windows that let you enjoy the view out of the wind. On a clear day you see all of Hobart and the Derwent estuary, Bruny Island, the Tasman Peninsula and the southern ranges, and on a cloudy day you may be above the clouds with the city hidden beneath. The bus stops here for around 30 minutes on each loop, or you can stay longer and take a later service down.

The summit is often 10 degrees colder than the city with strong wind, so bring a warm jacket, hat and gloves even in summer. The best time to visit Mount Wellington is a clear morning, when the air is sharpest; afternoons bring softer light over the water. Whether kunanyi is worth visiting is the easiest question in Hobart to answer: it is the city's defining view.