Leslie Vale walks

Leslie Vale is normally a place we drive through on the way into Hobart. Yesterday I saw it from a different perspective than the one you get from a car on the Huon Highway - on foot.

Kingborough Council publishes a list of walking tracks in the area, which range from short, easy strolls to solid hikes. I was looking for a new walk suitable for our social walking group in winter, and picked two of them to test out yesterday ahead of our planned walk in June.

The Leslie Vale and Picket Hill tracks join up at Leslie Vale Road and together make a walk of about three hours return, including a short detour to a lookout with fantastic views in all directions. The Leslie Vale section is flat (well, it's a vale) and clearly well used by local horse riders. The Picket Hill part is, well, a hill, with some steep sections. The tracks are mostly rural, not bush, taking you behind many properties, good for those who (like me) enjoy a sticky beak into others' homes and gardens.

Yesterday was a very windy day. Salamanca Market was closed for the first time in 40 years. Some spots on the walk were sheltered, on the hill tops it was blowing a gale. I stopped to take a photo and a sudden gust almost blew me over! But as a result of the wind, there were some spectacular cloud formations to be seen. After my walk, I stopped in at the famous Bush Bakery in the back blocks of Leslie Vale. Many people have told me about the vast selection of cakes and pies they sell. They weren't wrong. There were plenty of cars parked in the driveway and seem to do a roaring trade. That's impressive for a business not near a main road or even in a town.