Hobart To Pumphouse Point Lake St Clair In A VW Touareg

Pumphouse Point Lake St Clair is about a two and a half hour drive from Hobart and depending on which way you go there are a number of quaint smaller towns along the way. I recently did this drive on the VW Touareg Launch. We arrived reasonably early in Hobart, around 9am but it was still cold, as there had been a huge cold snap across the eastern side of Australia. While waiting to jump into our cars, the wind was making it pretty fresh and a warm mocha was well received. Our destination was Pumphouse Point Lake St Clair. After a quick brief on the features of the new Touareg, we set the seat warmers and headed off. We immediately felt cosy while moving through the Hobart Traffic. Seriously anyone from Hobart who complains about Traffic should spend a few days in Sydney or Melbourne. While the Touareg is relatively big, it doesn’t feel it at all while we navigate through the suburbs to find the freeway out of Hobart.

First stop is the historic village of Richmond, a charming little hamlet with a historical convict built bridge. Built somewhere in the 1820, the bridge, which is the oldest in Australia, provides a focal point for the Food and wine lovers that flock to this escape on weekends. After a quick whistle stop and a glimpse of the 50 or so beautiful examples of Georgian architecture, we head off for the next stop at Bothwell and another warming coffee. Even though it’s about 24km from Hobart, it was enough time to settle into the Touareg. The effects of a long drive down to Sydney the night before departure and the flight were alleviated with the awesome massage front seats. Both occupants are treated to the luxury of a menu driven choice of massage options from full back, to one side or lumbar massage. How good is this! Onward to the next stop at Bothwell, about an hour’s drive further north.

We pass through a number of smaller towns such as Tea Tree, Mangalore, Bagdad and Kempton along the way, while enjoying the natural countryside. Bothwell is another tiny town that is full of history and about 50 heritage listed buildings. Often described as the gateway to the Central Highlands, the surrounding district endows visitors with opportunities for bushwalks, hunting and fly fishing for the elusive Brown Trout that provides excellent eating. We were treated to a delicious hot chocolate and feast of giant freshly baked scones with jam and cream at the local coffee shop Sealy’s Store. This reminded me of Sunday morning tea at home when I was a kid. The proprietor is also a VW fan, especially the nostalgic Kombi and in her youth had a split window Kombi. If only we all knew to keep such vehicles. Again the wind was super chilly, so getting back into the warm comfortable environment of the Touareg made us appreciate just how a luxury SUV can enhance the experience of touring around.

By this stage we had also come to appreciate the quietness and smoothness of the Touareg. The suspension soaked up the road irregularities along the way and with more than enough power from the V6 diesel, provided an engaging drive through the windy roads. The best was yet to come though. Bothwell to Pumphouse Point is a bit under two hours’ drive climbing through the mountains and thick forested National Park. It was also snowing and had been the previous night, so we were treated to the sight of snow filled trees and an unusual feature for driving in Australia, snow on the road. However with the Touareg’s selectable drive modes, we simply selected Snow mode and happily proceeded without worry, still exercising caution for black ice. There was also about 60km of gravel road that was wet and slushy from rain and melted snow, again we selected the appropriate drive mode and the traction was excellent.