Mount Wellington
After my tour around the city I wanted to see some more nature and hopped on a bus to Mount Wellington. Not knowing much about the area, I took the advice of the staff in the visitor center, and planned on doing the hike from the base of the mountain, at Fern Tree Park, all the way to a place called “The Chalet”. Although I had no idea what a chalet actually is, it seemed like a good route to follow, especially as the route to the summit was closed at the time of my visit.
Before I even got to the base of the mountain there was a problem. As it turned out, there was a race going on in the area (I was told it was a half marathon), and so part of the road was blocked for vehicles. The bus stopped on the side of the road, which meant I had about a half hour walk to the starting point. As I was told it can take as long as 7 hours to get to The Chalet and back down I was a bit concerned about the additional distance I had to cover, especially as the buses back to the city were not frequent.
When I eventually got to Fern Tree Park, I wasn’t the only one. The pub/coffee shop nearby seemed to be the finish point of the race and many people were around. After I got there, it still took me about fifteen minutes to find the trail I’m supposed to take. And so, with a delay of almost an hour, I started my hike up Mount Wellington.
Although it wasn’t a very steep angle, I was still going up the mountain, and pretty quickly I started to feel the effort. I tried to not go fast, thinking it would be easier to climb that way and conserve my energy as much as I can.
As the sound of the music and the people celebrating the end of the race faded away, I could hear a few birds, and occasionally the buzzing of an insect. But the clearest sound was that of the water, dripping from the treetops after the rain had stopped. Along the way I came across a few other hikers, but for the most part I was by myself.
Here, at last, there were good road signs. Or rather, good enough, pretty much the bare minimum, which was a lot better than the national parks I have visited so far. Still, there were a few times where I had to consult both the smartphone and the physical map that I had in order to figure out where to go.
Just as I thought I could no longer hear the party at the base of the mountain, I could hear another sound. I wasn’t sure at first what it was, but it didn’t sound natural. As I went up along the trail the sound got louder, and I noticed there is a rhythm to it, like a drum roll of sorts. Being on a trail between the trees I couldn’t really see anything, but a short while later I could hear music on top of the drum.
I cleared my way through the trees and made it to a checkpoint that on my map was marked as “The Springs”. By the looks of it, I got there as the party was coming to an end and staff members were packing up their equipment. It was a nice resting area with a bathroom and an overpriced coffee shop, but I didn’t see any springs there.
I didn’t see any reason to stay there, so after taking another look at the map, and getting a bit confused, I was quickly back on the trail to the summit of Mount Wellington. Although I could go all the way up, it was also the same trail that led to The Chalet.
The road was not difficult, but going uphill was still tiring and took a bit of effort. The path wasn’t wide, although I could walk along it fairly comfortably without worrying too much. While there was some variety in the trees and bushes it all started to blend in after a while, and other than the occasional stream of water there wasn’t much to look at. The road didn’t have many bands and twists in it, for the most part it was pretty much a straight line going up the mountain. Due to the fog, even when there was a gap between the trees I couldn’t really see anything.
And then I started to feel something. At first I wasn’t sure what it was, and wondered if I’m just cold or tired, but after thinking about it for a while I realized this wasn’t something I felt before while hiking (as far as I could remember). I was bored. It was an unusual and unexpected feeling, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.
I found a rock that looked comfortable enough, sat down, and thought about my next move. I still had some distance to cover in order to get to The Chalet, although I had no idea just how much distance or how long it would take. The other option was to go back down, and perhaps do another, shorter trail, before getting on the bus back to the city.
Just as I got up and made my mind about going back down, a buzzing insect made me turn around and go up the mountain a few more steps, and those steps changed everything, because just a little bit higher from where I saw down, I could see another sign. Curious, I thought that at the very least I should check it out before going back down. As I approached it I could see a split in the road, with one path blocked. I got to the sign and it was as I expected- I got to the point on the trail where the road to the summit was blocked, and I could only proceed toward The Chalet, which according to the sign was about 45 minutes away.
Spurred on by the sign, I changed my mind again, and resumed my hike instead of going back down. As I got higher up the mountain there were more gaps between the trees, and the fog started to clear up as well. It was as if from the moment I saw the sign everything started to come together and I felt very encouraged by it.
I stopped for a while to take a look at the view, with the city in the distance, before I kept walking. I didn’t know exactly how long it would take, but I knew there wasn’t much left. I was almost at the end, and I didn’t want to give up at that point.
Then the road started to go down, and a short while later I found myself near what I initially thought was a bus stop. It was a wooden structure with a few tables and benches, and not much else. Looking it up on Google, it turned out that a “chalet” is some sort of an alpine cabin. I got there, and it was a lot less impressive than I hoped it would be. Still, I was glad I made it to the end of the trail.
Looking at the map, it seemed like there were a few more trails from that point to other parts of the mountain, but I wasn’t very interested in them. Instead, I rested in the chalet for a few minutes and started making my way back.
Along the way I thought to myself it is a bit weird that I didn’t see other hikers on that trail (although I had no idea if it was popular or not), and just as I was back on the part of the trail which had the best view of the city I finally came across someone. A few minutes later, I saw another, and further down the road there was the last hiker that I saw until I got back to The Springs.
Going down the mountain was easier and didn’t take as long, but it was still boring. Maybe if the weather was better, or if I had any partners for the hike, it could have been more fun, but there was nothing I could do about it at the time.
As the buses were not frequent, I sat down to have some lunch before making my way to the station, where I had to wait a bit over an hour before the bus arrived and took me back to the city.