Cradle Mountain

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Getting to Cradle Mountain was trickier than we thought and involved us getting a wee bit creative. We took a Tassie Link bus to Launceston which is the other major city in Tasmania and lies at the other end of the island. We checked into the hostel in Launceston and headed downtown. Unfortunately it was dusk and pretty much everything had closed.

Tasmania is a beautiful place but is seriously limited for things to do once darkness descends. We made our way down as far as the Boags Brewery on the river and spotted the Aurora Stadium where AFL is played. Unfortunately it was too dark to see anything else so we slid into a pub beside the brewery and tried out the Boags range.

We decided to hit the cinema but the only thing on that we hadn't seen was "Stomp The Yard". Keeping our heads down from the shame (Even though we didn’t know anyone) we ducked into the cinema. The movie needless to say was dire.

The next morning we were up and collected by our bus at 7am. Cradle mountain is about 3 hours from Launceston and we arrived there mid morning. After checking into our wooden cabin dormitory which was lovely and cosy, we headed to the visitor centre to check out our options for the remainder of the day. We sorted out national park passes and decided on a route for our first walk.

After getting the free shuttle into the park itself we started walking at a place called Ronny’s Creek which joined the famous overland track. The overland track is Australia's most well known bush walk but runs for 80kms so we weren't being that ambitious.

We headed off along the boardwalk and soon came to a wooded area and a beautiful waterfall. From there we walked around the fringes of Crater lake before climbing up to Marions Lookout. Here we got spectacular views of Cradle Mountain and Lake Dove. We walked back down to Lake Dove to finish the mini trek. We walked for about 3 and a half hours and it helped us decide where we would go the following day. That evening we cooked ourselves pasta and had a few beers. Exhausted and aware of the big walk we planned for the next day we went to bed early.

We were up early the following day and got the bus straight to Dove Lake. The weather was starting to heat up so we set off straight away. We first climbed up to Hansons Peak overlooking Hansons Lake and from there walked past the Twisted Lakes .We then merged with the Overland track again and walked around to Rodway Lake where we stopped for lunch. After walking around the other side of Cradle Mountain we decided to climb it.

It's not that high but seems to be made completely out of boulders so it means a lot of scurrying and jumping from boulder to boulder. After a tough climb we made it to the very cold top of the mountain which is about 1,545 metres. After a few photos the weather was turning and it was getting late so we headed back down. We headed back across Marions lookout and back to Lake Dove. The whole day involved about 8 hours of walking mainly uphill so needless to say we were exhausted. We had dinner that evening and a few beers before another early night.

We were due to leave Cradle Mountain the next day but as our bus pickup wasn't till the afternoon we headed down to the tourist centre and had a look at the exhibitions. We did a few very short walks (All we were able for after the previous day) around the tourist centre called the Enchanted Walk and the Rainforest walk. Our bus arrived and we were off again.

Next stop Hobart (Again) via Launceston...

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