Posted By Evan on Apr 11, 2012 | 2 comments

Day four from Hobart and we realised that Tasmania was going to show us some real weather.  Things looked good at the hotel, but once on the road the rain started to come down.  It was very changeable though and patches of sunshine would bust through – not much warmth in the sun though.  We stopped for a tasty morning tea at Peppermint Bay, where Fiona had a peppermint tea and I topped up on coffee and took some photos.

Continuing on from morning tea, I got a chance to drive the in-laws 1965 Giulia Super.  This car sits totally stock on standard springs and skinny tyres and is great to drive, even in the wet it gives lots of feedback and you can feel the grip levels and never get in trouble.  This section was about an hour, winding along the coastline and sometimes following just a few metres from the waters edge with views out to Bruny Island.  Great fun and the sedan drivers didn’t mind the rain at all.  Lunch followed at Home Hill winery at Ranelagh – nice for tasting, although it was getting very cold outside at this stage.

After lunch the tour continued with a brisk drive up Mt Wellington, hoping that there would be a clear view of Hobart and surroundings.  About half way up we realised that the summit would be clouded over, but we continued upwards.  Then it started to snow a bit.  Then it started to snow heavily! Jack (9 years old) hadn’t seen snowfall since being a baby, so he was fascinated as it came down over the car.  We stopped at the summit only for a couple of minutes as it was blowing a gale and a couple of degrees below zero.  This all came as a bit of a shock having been in 30 degrees the week prior in Melbourne!

The descent from Mt Wellington was lovely, as we passed below the snowline the clouds were gone and we had lovely views out over the countryside around Hobart, and made our way back to the hotel.  So ended the Turismo Tasmania, after a pleasant closing dinner at the hotel with all the participants.  We explored Hobart on the final day, then cruised up the main highway back to Devonport to board the Spirit for our return voyage.  Lots of goodbyes to the Alfisti from all over the country who attended, and a renewed interest in the Alfesta in 2013.  The Alfesta in Canberra next year will link up with a couple of days of touring (likely to be a route in the Snowy Mountains) and then Auto Italia the following week.

So reflecting on Turismo Tasmania – four days of driving on some lovely varied roads around lovely countryside, shared with some beautiful cars and nice friendly people.  It’s got me looking forward to next time we can return with our car to Tasmania and explore beyond for a little longer, so it’s been a great promotion for Tasmania the destination.  This type of event is a bit of a struggle with a family, but we managed to have a great time regardless.  Big thanks to the organisers for an enormous effort putting it together.