Ten underrated Hobart highlights most visitors miss

Kunanyi/Mt Wellington’s other peaks

Most visitors make the drive to the summit of Kunanyi/Mt Wellington for Hobart’s highest view, but few realise that the mountain is a range, crowned with other peaks. From its northern side, near Collinsvale, trails rise through a beautiful myrtle beech forest to the range’s plateau and up to the likes of Collins Cap, Collins Bonnet and Trestle Mountain, providing new angles on a familiar view. See wellingtonpark.org.au

Hobart Rivulet

Think Hobart waterways and you naturally think the River Derwent, but Hobart’s site was originally chosen because of the presence of the Hobart Rivulet, flowing fresh from the slopes of Kunanyi/Mt Wellington. Today the waterway runs beneath the city, but you can peer down onto it from an opening at the northern end of the Elizabeth Street Mall, or follow a walking trail beside it from the city to the Cascade Brewery, which has been brewing its beer from the rivulet’s water since 1824.

Convict reminders

Cascades Female Factory served as a prison for female convicts for more than 30 years.Credit: Alastair Bett

In the haste to visit Port Arthur, it’s often forgotten that Hobart has its own convict legacies. Sharing World Heritage status with Port Arthur, the recently renovated Cascades Female Factory operated as a prison for female convicts for more than 30 years. In the heart of the city, the Hobart Convict Penitentiary, where all convicts to Tasmania were processed, contains a chapel built atop 36 solitary confinement cells, so even the most degraded prisoners could hear the sermons. See femalefactory.org.au, nationaltrust.org.au/places/penitentiary

City wineries

Mona is also home to a historic winery, Moorilla Estate.

It’s just a 15-minute drive from Hobart to the Coal Valley vineyards, but you needn’t go even that far for a wine tasting. At the city centre’s edge, the sleek and sparse tasting room at the urban winery of Glaetzer-Dixon Family Winemakers is open by appointment, while Hobart’s famous Mona gallery sits on the grounds of Tasmania’s second-oldest vineyard, Moorilla Estate. Come for the art and stick around for a wine tasting in the Ether Building. See gdfwinemakers.com, moorilla.com.au

Taroona Shot Tower

The Shot Tower at Taroona was once Australia’s tallest building.Credit: Alamy

Hobart’s southern suburb of Taroona pins its fame on being the childhood home of Princess Mary of Denmark, but it’s also home to a structure that was, for a time, Australia’s tallest building. The 58-metre-high Shot Tower was constructed in 1870 to cool lead shot, and it wasn’t until 1875 that anything taller was built in Australia. Ascend the spiralling staircase inside the tower for a view over the River Derwent. See parks.tas.gov.au/explore-our-parks/shot-tower

Hobart’s other markets

Sure, make the ritual Saturday visit to the Salamanca Market, but there are Hobart markets even more beloved by locals. On Sunday mornings, Bathurst Street closes to traffic for the Farm Gate Market. Grab breakfast from the vans in the market’s courtyard, Grub Hub, then take a taste journey through Tassie’s fabulously fresh produce, all direct from the producers’ hands. Friday evenings through the warmer months also see Street Eats @ Franko lighting up Franklin Square with food, drink and music, and the Hobart Twilight Market taking up its seaside post in Sandy Bay. See farmgatemarket.com.au, streeteatsfranko.com.au, hobarttwilightmarket.com.au

New Norfolk Distillery

Whisky and gin distilleries abound in Tasmania – more than 70 of them at last count – but there’s only the one rum distillery, and it’s on Hobart’s fringe. Set inside Willow Court, which was once Australia’s longest-running asylum, it’s open daily for private tours and tastings of its intriguing range – Lamington Liqueur or Dutch Cookie Liqueur, anyone? See newnorfolkdistillery.com

Beaumaris Zoo

The Beaumaris Zoo is a sad reminder of our past treatment of animals.Credit: Steve Madgwick

In 1936, the last known Tasmanian tiger died in Hobart’s Beaumaris Zoo, which itself now lies like a skeleton outside the main entrance to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. Peer through the metal gates at the concrete structures of the leopard and polar bear enclosures, or keep an eye out for zoo tours, sometimes held as part of Open House Hobart in November.

Lady Franklin Gallery

In the 1840s, Lady Jane Franklin, wife of governor Sir John Franklin, was so dismayed by Hobart’s cultural void that she invested her own money into the construction of a classical sandstone museum in Lenah Valley. The Pantheon-like facade, with its Doric columns, wouldn’t be out of place in Rome and, though it’s served time as a cow shed and an apple storehouse, it’s today home to the Art Society of Tasmania, with changing exhibitions open each weekend. See artstas.com.au

Disappearing Tarn

Now you see it ... the Disappearing Tarn.Credit: Alamy

On the slopes of Kunanyi/Mt Wellington, a beautiful lake appears only after heavy rain or snowmelt. Hidden at the edge of a boulder field, Disappearing Tarn’s brilliantly clear blue waters become a virtual pilgrimage for locals – many of whom come for a ritualistic (and freezing) swim – each time it appears. Timing a visit to coincide with its appearance is tricky, but it’s the greatest natural show in town if there is overlap.