The Organ Pipes

Where we went: The Organ Pipes track kunanyi/Mt Wellington

When we went: Summer 2020

Estimated time to complete walk: 3 hours

Time spent on walk: 3 hours

Grade of walk: Grade 3 (some bushwalking experience recommended)

The Organ Pipes track, in the Wellington National Park is one of the many intersecting tracks on the slopes of kunanyi. It is paved with rocks, contains a sharp drop off along one side of the path for most of the track. visitors can walk below the stunning natural rock formations known to locals as “The Organ Pipes” which are one of my favourite features on the mountain’s countenance. The jutting, squared off, vertical columns of dolerite have always captured my attention. Despite always been enamoured of the shadows they cast, I spent much longer than I am proud to admit putting off this stunning walk. In order to ensure we did the track justice and could appreciate it to its full potential we decided to wait until waratah season before heading up.

Tasmania is home to around 527 endemic plants. Tasmania’s endemic Waratah (Telopea truncata) flowers between November and January (the last week of November and the first three weeks of December are best for seeing it) this bright red puff brings a flamboyant element of festive cheer to the bush. Locals start their pilgrimages to see them in late November and it has been fondly dubbed Tasmania’s Christmas Flower. Wildflower enthusiasts are blessed with both a long flowering period and an abundance of walking tracks to from which to see them.

The Organ Pipes track can be reached from the Springs Car Park, or you can drive up to The Chalet and walk from there if you are in a hurry. Parking at the Chalet fills up quickly though so it is best to get there early in the morning. We opted to start from the Springs and head east up the Saw Mill track, but you can also take the Sphinx rock route —  note that the Sphinx Rock via Hunter’s Track is a 4 hour walk and it is very steep in parts and we only like to take it when we are training for big walks.  

As we knew most of the Saw Mill track outlooks to the east we did what any mildly functioning caffeine addicts with a DSLR would do and got up at around 4:30am to ensure we could capture the sunrise. It should be noted that, while there was a stunning whole-world-turned-pink morning affair we failed to photograph it because we forgot to factor in the amount of time that it would take to walk to a viewing point. We recommend, based on our minor failed endeavour, allowing yourself 15-20 minutes of walking to a lookout time. Tasmania is very far south and the sun rises really stupid early in the morning in summer. We still had a whole-world-turned-to-gold situation to photograph so we were not too disappointed.

The first waratahs were sighted after only about 20 minutes of walking (with constant stops for sunrise shots), along with some very unexpected pineapple dragon heath (Richea dracophylla) another of Tasmania’s endemic plants which is always a delight to see, although falling leaves from this beauty can get very slippery underfoot so lookout for this hazard.

It is worth noting that, not only had we set out at dawn, but we were out on an especially chilly day with rain predicted. This added a lot to the general sense of wonder as everything was blanketed in the fine summer mist that captured the golden rays of dawn. It also added an unexpected challenge as Sommelier and I had radically different responses to our ritual weather-report-before-embarkation check. You see dear reader, the BOM claimed that the highest the temperature would rise that day was 10 degrees Celsius, which I, naturally, interpreted as ‘pack all the jackets’ weather. Sommelier’s brain short circuited and he left home in a t-shirt and fleece vest.

The path is moderately steep, neatly paved and only somewhat uneven. There are a few stairs and very few places to rest along the way. There is also a sheer drop on one side of the narrow path for most of the journey so children require supervision and walking in low visibility can be a little tricky. With all that in mind it should be noted that, other than one minor stepping too far back to take a photo incident we found the way to be easy and pleasantly filled with birdsong and the promised brilliant scarlets of the waratah which grows close to the path for convenience of photography.

The first hour of walking was spent cheerily admiring the quaint little city of Hobart in the sunrise. The second hour was spent surrounded by waratahs, mist and a smattering of sleet. Sommelier was forced to admit that it was actually very very cold up on the mountain and also maybe he should have brought a jacket. Luckily I always pack as though I plan to spend the night so there was enough warm weather gear to share. We stopped at the Chalet and considered our return to the Springs. The Organ Pipes can be done as an out and back, or as a side journey to any of the other tracks on the mountain face. In light of our limited warm weather gear and our poor warm weather prospects we opted to take the fastest route home (and to a cosy hot chocolate) and head back the way we had come.