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Published: November 9th 2014
WILD TASMANIA...Lake St Clair N.P. and The Wall. Central Tasmania heading west...WOW.
If you want to walk the Overland Track for about 6 days south from Cradle Mountain...you end up at Lake St Clair.
Welcome to Lake St Clair... Nature's Wonderland.
So good even the mozzies came to meet us!
But first you MUST check out my No.1 Highlight of Tassie...THE WALL.
On the Lyell Highway near Derwent Bridge is a large shed with two chained metal birds of prey outside.
Inside is a coat hanging from a hat stand...a cap...some boots...shoes...gloves...another coat.
When you see these...you will stop in your tracks...your heart may flutter...breathing affected...you may need to sit down.
'Cause these items are carved from wood...with skill that will blow your mind.
You may hear him working...but you will not see him.
But you will see 100 metres of bas-relief carvings by the Master Sculptor, Woodcarver, Artisan...Greg Duncan.
The history, fauna, flora, issues of contemporary debate, the essence of Tasmania...brought to life in Huon Pine...Wow.
The sign at the door says it all...if you are unable to control your kids they may do it for you.
This is a place for reverence...for reflection...for a modern day Michelangelo to display his work.
******
Lake St Clair is Tasmania's deepest freshwater lake...up to 167 metres deep I am told...the result of extensive glacial scouring.
Mt Olympus...the home of the gods stands proud overlooking it...like a battlement from ages past...Mt Rufus...Mt Hugel.
Tis said the Greek gods inhabit these parts...at least by the place names you'd think so...Cynthia Bay named after the Greek god of the moon.
The place reeks of ancient...glacial moraine among dry and wet sclerophyll forests...lichen painting volcanic rocks...a quiet so special to Tasmania.
We stayed at Cynthia Bay...a lonely outpost on the southern shores.
Only lonely as it is the only settlement around here.
But it includes a Peppers Resort...luxury cabins among the towering gums by the lake shore...a restaurant...a camping area with lockup showers and amenities...canoes, bicycles and motorized dinghys for hire...a National Parks shop for the Japanese and Chinese tourists to score mementos of their Aussie bushland adventure...to learn of the interaction of aborigines and European settlement on the environment.
There is even a trekkers and backpackers hostel.
Walking tracks
all lead from here.
German and Norwegian trekkers...others from overseas and Oz...backpacks primed from their overland track...many nationalities also emerging having completed the challenge.
******
Short walks such as the Lake Walk, Watersmeet(the confluence of two streams), Platypus Bay and Larmairremener tabelti - Aboriginal cultural walk via fern and button grass glades, moorlands, rainforest and towering gums, or longer walks such as the Mt Rufus Circuit, or to Shadow and Forgotten Lakes.
If you prefer an overnight walk try to Echo Point or Pine Valley.
The Overland Track is 65 kms to Cradle Mountain which you have to book with National Parks so they can keep track of you for safety as the weather can change suddenly and to ensure walkers do not overcrowd the facilities or adversely impact each other.
It is one of the great wilderness treks of the world and lives up to its reputation.
We were there in summer so you were only allowed to walk the Overland Track from Cradle Mountain heading south to Lake St Clair...to do the trek heading north only available in winter and early spring.
During the popular walking
months, from 1st October to 31st May (inclusive) you must book your walk, pay a fee, and walk from north (Cradle Mountain) to south (Lake St Clair).
During winter and early spring, from 1st June to 30th September, you do not need to book or pay, and can walk in either direction.
******
Denise and I did the short walks.
It did not take long for this humble dancer to be left behind...alone in the bush with his thoughts...his lens enamoured by the little things...the fungi, the palette of rocks, textured woods, flora and fauna, patterns in the dirt...the little things.
Relax & Enjoy,
Dancing Dave
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RJT
Rachael
Falling for Tasmania
What a treat, another blog so soon! What a beautiful part of the world - I haven't yet been to Lake St Clair or the Wall, but definitely very high on my list. I hope this Wild Tasmania series keeps on for a bit longer....or maybe you'll just have to return :)