Wombat-Cam

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Wombat-cam 16^th August 2015











Last night we had had a great evening meal and we had both slept very well, we were excited to be in in Tasmania and this morning our plan was to drive up to Cradle Mountain.







The last time we were in Tassie was about six and a half years ago and it was great to be back on this special trip for us.







The whole idea was to do some walking, catch up on the wildlife may be a Tasmanian Devil or a Wombat here and there.







One of the Davis family members (Jenni) had booked this trip for us and Caroline had promised me wombats I knew this was an easy promise, bur Wombats in the snow was a completely different ball of wax and not one that Carolin could guarantee, nonetheless it is why we came here for our Wedding Anniversary.







We left Launceston at about 10.00 and our first stop was the golden Arches (Macca’s) for a coffee and a breakfast wrap to set us up for the journey, we didn’t really want to faff around at the hotel for breakfast we wanted to get on our toes as soon as we were up and about.







Once we got our breakfast and coffee (Caroline had set up wombatcam) we headed out on state route 1 towards Sheffield. Caroline had plotted an initial and fairly direct route to get up to Cradle Mountain, but as we neared Deloraine, we decided to turn off early and take the more complicated route through the narrow lanes and mountain roads, we didn’t have to rush so took our sweet time, taking in the fabulous scenery.







Along the way we took another pit stop when we were just about to pass a tiny little wooden building at Round Hill that did coffee so we had to stop as it had been at least an hour since our last coffee, we pulled in, went indoors and ordered then stood by the wood burning stove to get warm, the temperature was 1 degree, we knew it was going to be 23 in Perth today, but we were equipped for the colder climate and boy did it feel cold!







The coffee was “to go”, so once it was ready and after a natter with the owner, we jumped back in the car and set off again, only another 60k’s to go before we got to Cradle Mountain and the closer we got the more snow we saw. By now it was raining though, not heavy but just made it a very damp day.







Now, just to correct an opinion of many who don’t live in Australia, we fell into the same belief before we moved here, the sun does not always shine. Australia is such a massive country, so massive we have three (3) time zones and just for comparison its 32 times larger than the UK. So in our Summer which is December to March when the sun shines most of the time in most states in the far north of the country this is the rainy season, and our summers are when people travel the least as it is too hot in many areas, don’t be fooled when the UK peaks at about 30 degree’s as Australia peaks at about 52 degree’s, and Tasmania has a very cool climate compared to say Western Australia where the winters are very mild and usually quite sunny and the summers bake.







So back to the belief mechanism, the one where everyone believes that Australia is always hot and sunny, it’s not, Tasmania does get snow and recently has some and was expecting more and that was why we were going, the thought of snow and seeing the animals was just so appealing.







Our initial Anniversary plan was to take the Ghan train from Darwin to Adelaide, then the India pacific from Adelaide to Perth, but we settled on this and will do the Ghan at another time.







We arrived at Peppers Cradle Mountain lodge at just after 1pm we turned off the road at the front of the hotel just as a Wombat appeared from the undergrowth and crossed in front of us, we obviously stopped but didn’t see the Wombat reappear on my side (the driver’s side) so I had to get out and look under the car to make sure this beautiful creature was not sitting underneath the car. I put my hazards on, and got down and looked under the car, but it was nowhere to be seen and had made a stealthy get away.







We parked the car and went in to reception to grab our keys, they said our chalet wouldn’t be ready until 2pm so we sat around by the fire to keep warm, the urge to go outside niggled us, so we zipped up our coats and went out to brave the cold weather.







There was an abundance of snow on the ground as a result of some pretty big snow fall over the last couple of weeks, against the snow we spotted something waddling along and it was the distinctive shape of a Wombat.







They are grazers and just love the button grass here in Cradle mountain, I think they are territorial but there is plenty of space up here and there is more than plenty for them to eat, even if its covered with snow.







We quietly intercepted our prey slowly walking along the board walk doing our best not to make that crunching sound underfoot, when we got close there was an even bigger treat as there was a juvenile Wombat as well, possibly from early this year or last year and compared with its mother was the size of a tubby (I mean tubby not tabby) cat, so we had mother and off spring grazing together.







Their eyesight is really poor, but their eyes are just like sugar puffs so cute, we took a few photo’s, then as our eyes tuned in to the wildlife we saw three Pademelons, which are a species of marsupial, sleeping under various tree’s taking shelter from the cold rain.







This was awesome we were back into wildlife heaven and which is what, I think, sets Tasmania apart from the rest of the country.







We went back to reception, it was 2.00pm on the nose, our room was ready, we collected our keys, just before we left reception we were given a snow warning, there was a 100% chance of snow later this evening, which we though was awesome and that is why we came, except we did wonder when the rain would stop and would it so easily give way to snow?







We drove up to our room, it was number 89 of 99 cabins that they have at the Cradle Mountain Lodge, it was freezing cold outside and as we opened the door there was a lovely hue of warm air as housekeeping had left the fire on for us.







Now, Caroline and I have the ability, once our luggage is opened, to make any room look trashed in 5 minutes flat so we took a few pictures of our room to remind us what it looked like.







What we thought was cool was not having to draw the curtains as we had no neighbours, well we did but the cabins and balconies are positioned for privacy, so we could lie in bed and look at the view or the stars at night. There was a big block of iced up snow on the balcony, I don’t know how long it had been there but did not show much sign of melting even in the rain.







The afternoon was lazy, it was a long day yesterday so kicking back for the rest of today was the best thing to do, we lay on the bed listening to music with the fire on was just fantastic, it was great to be back here and for such a special occasion as our 25^th Wedding Anniversary.







At some point in the afternoon there was a knock on the door and Caroline answered, it was hotel management who were delivering us a bottle of bubbles (fine Tasmanian Reserve) to help celebrate our amazing 25 years, how nice was that? Caroline felt sorry for the guy that had to come up all this way in the pouring rain to deliver it.







I lay on the bed and just drifted off to sleep, whilst Caroline decided to have a spa bath, it was just enormous, she had the hot tap running for about 30 minutes, just what she needed to help relax after the long journey to get here.







When Caroline emerged from the bathroom she confirmed that the spa was fantastic and well worth the effort she gave the spa facility the thumbs up and 10 out of 10.







I jumped into Caroline’s second hand bath water and topped up the temperature and in no time I was done and dusted, we both changed got ready for some dinner, drove down to the restaurant and grabbed a couple of drinks and ordered food, we were hungry as we had not had much all day.







We didn’t hang around after our dinner as we were both tired, we just had a quick night cap, then went back to our room it was still raining, every now and again there was a heavy fall before it went light again. We wondered about the snowfall and if it would actually snow tonight as predicted, my phone said it would start at midnight, we will see.

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Photos

Wombat-Cam
Such a beautiful specimen

Wombat-Cam
Tasmanian Common Wombats, Mother and I would think may be last years off spring, arn't they just gorgeous

Wombat-Cam
Directions towards Cradle Mountain

Wombat-Cam
The distinctive look of a Kenworth

Wombat-Cam
Logging Truck

Wombat-Cam
Of for a waddle

Wombat-Cam
Yes Wombats do square poo's that is a fact

Wombat-Cam
Constant grasers

Wombat-Cam
Beautiful Tasmania

Wombat-Cam
In This picture there are 3 Paddimelons

Wombat-Cam
Our Room, Lodge 89

Wombat-Cam
Our Room