Cradle Mountain

Getting ready for bed after a very busy day.

I woke up around 7:30, earlier than I normally would, but probably still on NZ time (9:30AM).  I piddled around for a bit before having some toast and tea for brekkie.

 

Downtown Launceston from the front verandah.

After we had gotten ready to go, we headed out in the car to West Launceston to pick up a friend of Stuart’s for a day trip out to Cradle Mountain – about two and a half hours west of Launceston.

Driving was no problem, aside from the aforementioned windshield wiper/turn signal confusion. The drive from Launceston on Highway 1 was, for a bit divided highway (with two lanes), but quickly became a one lane, undivided affair.

We sailed past (at 100-110kph) fields with livestock, small villages, and factories; it was explained to me that a few of the factories were opiate producing.  Apparently a large portion of the world’s Vicodin and morophine come from Tasman poppy fields. Who knew? The rolling hills and tiny towns off in the distance reminded me a lot of the drive through the hills of Wicklow in Ireland.

We reached the small town of Railton (pop. 900), known for its ridiculous topiaries, and split off of the “highway” (a very generous term by that point) toward Sheffield.  Known for its murals painted on all the buildings downtown, we stopped in Sheffield (pop. 1400) to briefly wander around before loading back up to continue the trip. This is where things got fun.

 

 

The two lane road left the plains and rolling hills, and began twisting and turning up and down ravines – the speed limit dropped to 15kph (9mph) on some of the hairpin turns; in some areas slopes exceeded 10%. It was an exhilarating drive – something that I don’t get to experience in Atlanta – it was a lot of fun!

After about an hour of the involved driving experience, we arrived at Cradle Mountain National Park and World Heritage Site.  We purchased some wraps for lunch at the café at the visitors centre and queued for a shuttle bus to actually take us into the park and up to Dove Lake. The drive through the park (on a narrow, one-lane wide road that carried traffic both directions) was gorgeous with many different landscapes.

Finally, we arrived at Dove Lake and we were dumped in the carpark, afforded a view of the mountain rising above the large, clear lake.  The sun was out and the weather was brisk as we began our two hour journey around the lake. As we made our way around the shore, climbing up and down tall outcroppings and through forested areas, the weather turned overcast. We stopped about halfway around the lake, 3km in, as it started to drizzle.  With hoods and a few layers the weather was not a problem. We stood around taking in the scenery, eating our wraps, and to finish we enjoyed a pot of tea – a bit of civility in the middle of the wilderness, compliments of a thermos that had kept the water hot.

The trek resumed, with slightly different landscape on the opposite side of the lake. We passed through a forest, which was absolutely beautiful, back down along the lake to an old boathouse, before ascending up into the hills above the lake and finally back down to the carpark.

We finished just at 3:00 and joined a queue for the shuttle bus as the sky became ominous. The first bus came, which we knew we wouldn’t get on, as the rain started and the temperatures dropped.  The driver assured us another was right behind him.  As the shuttle got ready to leave, a large wombat lumbered across the road – quite a sight.  Our bus arrived and we happily climbed aboard for the trip back.

At the visitor centre we got back in the car for the drive back to Launceston.  We struck out before 4:00, and made it through the terribly twisty-turny bits before it got dark around 5:00. The entire trip covered just at 300km (186 miles).  It was fantastic, though there were an obscene number of dead wallabies at the edges of the road – a testament to 1) the number of wallabies in Tassie and 2) the barrenness of the road, especially at night).

We stopped by the store on the way back to the house, and cooked up some salmon and veg for dinner. I headed over to the bottle shop just down the street to pick up a Tasmanian wine while dinner cooked. The city at night is spectacular, with the massive hills that surround the city covered in dots of light of the houses climbing up from the valley.  The only other place I have ever seen such dramatic a city landscape at night was in Jerusalem.  The bells ringing on the hour from the central post office reverberate from the surrounding hills, allowing them to be heard throughout the city; it’s quite wonderful.

Tomorrow promises to be just as action-packed.