Welcome to Tasmania
I had been warned: it will be cold. Wanting to keep my luggage to a minimum I partially ignored the warnings. February in Australia, the end of summer, would surely still feel like summer, at least a little bit, right?
But this wasn’t just anywhere in Australia, this was Tasmania, located over 2,000km south of my departing airport in the Gold Coast and 42° south of the equator (only a 9° difference in distance that my home country, England, sits north of the equator). Surely, then, I could expect some chills?
I wasn’t totally naïve. Tasmania is rumored to be a little unpredictable and so I had dug out some woolens, base layers and trek socks and shoved them into a little carry-on suitcase. Wearing closed shoes and jeans for the first time in months, I felt well enough equipped. What more would I need?
D-man and I arrived into Tasmania with a bumpy landing and rainy downpour. Our weeklong holiday looked threatened by grey cover and a pessimistic weather forecast but we were undeterred, filled with excitement for wilderness treks and time together.
Except it wasn’t looking good, at all. ‘You’ve arrived to the worst weather in a long time,’ said my friend Becky as we looked at the incoming storm on the charts, predicted to hang around for most of our time in Tasmania.
Becky’s partner, Hugo, mapped out options for our week that might match the weather movements. A trip to Bruny Island didn’t look like the go as the storm was heading straight for that section of coastline, and the near on plague of mosquitos on the south coast ruled that out as an option. Cradle Mountain was predicted to be swathed in a layer of clouds with the additional threat of hail storms, and the west coast looked as though it wouldn’t be any better weatherwise than the east coast, often cited as a safe option when all else was rained out.
Really, though, Hugo’s advice was simple: follow the weather. Head wherever makes sense on any given day. Over planning? Bleurgh. Unrealistic.
Realising we were ill equipped, he proceeded to dig out everything we might possibly need for a week camping out and about in Tasmania: stoves and five season sleeping bags, head torches and fishing gear and surfboards, double layered hats and down filled jackets. Oh, those last editions were the most welcome of the lot.
And so we left Hugo and Becky behind in Hobart and headed inland for Mt Field National Park to get our first taste of the highlands, fresh air and vastly fluctuating temperatures of Tasmania.
And believe me, Australia really does get cold. Oh yeah.
travelola 
There is even snow in some parts!! I tell you what, the first weekend of May was chilly everywhere! Brisbane included
Yeah, so true. I’m based only a couple hours south of Brisbane and the chill reminded me just how cold it can get here… So much so, I finally bought myself some uggies (post on that coming soon!) 🙂 That wasn’t usual early May weather though, was it?
It was a little early!!!
I remember July feeling that kind of cold the last couple of years, but I’ve not been in Australia long enough to really know what’s ‘normal’. I’m glad to hear from a local that it’s earlier than expected 🙂 Much milder now, again. Phew. Was starting to feel like I was back in the UK!
Yup that first weekend in May was more July-August weather!! The problem here is that our houses don’t have good heating. So if it’s cold out, it’s cold inside too!!
And I found myself wearing uggs too
Everyone keeps on warning me about this before my move to Melbourne next year! I was naively thinking that I’ll just need a few thin jumpers and a jacket – apparrently that’s wrong, very, very wrong! I hope you have a fabulous time despite the weather.
Hah! – I have heard that Melbourne gets a good dose of chilliness! – but is an awesome city that I’d love to explore some more. Enjoy your time there 🙂 Where are you from originally?