Panorama Luckman Circuit

Monday 13 June 11

A pleasant walk in calm and sunny conditions. The Luckmans track to the hut was somewhat overgrown and indistinct in parts. This was made harder by snow cover in many spots. The Luckmans Hut was in good condition and after a break we set the GPS for the Wellington Ki Hut ruin where we hoped to locate a geocache and from there crossed the Pinnacle Road on the GPS track again to locate the remains of the Skate Rink, which also has a geocache. From there it was up the road to the top of the Panorama Track to complete a circuit down to the start of the track.

The history of these three manmade structures is included.

Luckmans Hut

This hut does not seem to get many visors although it is clear that some people are using it regularly and also providing some maintenance as some of the timbers don’t seem that old. It has suffered vandalism in the past doesn’t seem to have in the last few years.

The Hobart walking Club built this hut 1938 as a winter activity (skiing) shelter. The hut was built as a stone hut with a corrugated iron roof. It is said that prominent club members at the time, Jack Thwaites and Leo Luckman lobbied the HCC for permission to build the hut. The stone construction was supervised by Leo Luckman a well-known local stonemason with reports suggesting the women's job was to carry rocks. It is believed the roofing iron, the door and windows were from a nearby but abandoned Pinnacle Road workers bunk house.

It was severely damaged by fires in the 1967 fire, but the stone walls remained and it was rebuilt by the club about 1969 and Roy Davies from the HWC was prominent in further repair including rebuilding the roof in 1977. But reports suggest it subjected to serious vandalism and in 1979 the HCC took control of the hut, naming it Luckmans Hut.

Further restoration work including a rebuilt fireplace, repaired door, added internal bench, repaired window was undertaken by a Green Corps group in 2000.

Wellington ski Club Hut

All that remains of the Wellington Ski Club hut is the base platform and some small cement slabs. It was built between 1939 and 1940 the Hobart Walking Club Hut near Big Bend. Evidently the Hobart City Council supported its development. It is not certain when the hut was destroyed; it may have been by the large 1967 fire as that did badly damage the nearby Luckmans Hut.

Skate Rink

The Skate Rink is a surprising site on the top of Mount Wellington. It was built in late 1930s or early 1940s and some of the finance came from the Hobart City Council. It is not a large area and is a cement base with a small perimeter cement wall. It was very successful at holding ice particularly and suffered from a wind sculpted surface. The intention would have been to get water in and let it freeze there, but snow drifts often

Details on the route