Cradle Mountain Archives - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

Tasmania 2014 Day 15 – Strahan and Lake St. Clair

Posted on August 8, 2014September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Another road trip was planned for this day. Packed and checked out of the Highlanders via key drop. Drove to and parked at the parking lot near the Enchanted walk and got out for the enchanted walk circuit, some 10mins away. This was an easy walk, circuit type and 20mins max. It went around vegetation and along a stream before exiting near to another lodge and it was a 5mins walk back up to the carpark. Refreshing though nothing really interesting to see.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Enchanted walk walk.

Pencil Pine falls that is just minutes away.

Then it was an onward journey to Lake St. Clair, at the southern end of the national park. Drove westward via Zeehan, Strahan and Queenstown before getting to Lake St. Clair. While I mentioned previous day that there weren’t opportunity to drive into “clouds”, we had the opportunity to do so as the road was uphill and downhill, and the fog at the roads nearer to the top of the mountains was thick enough to blind us so much so that the visibility was only about 10meters. Luckily it was only temporary and we were out going downhill towards the town.

On the way to Strahan, took an opportunity to snap a picture of the foggy mountains.

First town of Zeehan was really small (did we miss something?) and therefore we only stopped by the IGA supermarket to get some coffee. Took the opportunity as a break from driving but soon we were on our way to Strahan. Strahan was a town a little bigger than Zeehan and had more lovely old buildings near the jetty where tour cruises to the Gordon river would depart. However, the place wasn’t crowded at all, probably because it was still low season. Went into Gordon River Cruises to ask about the Gordon River cruise that we tried to inquire during our planning few months back but didn’t receive a reply. Informed on the spot that on that day, there was only one trip in the morning at 830am and if we were interested, we had to come back the following day. As we were heading to Lake St. Clair, it was not possible to do that. Continued to move on to the next town.

Strahan visitors' center. — Strahan visitors’ center.

Queenstown was an equally small town like Zeehan and was out of our expectations as compared to the Queenstown in NZ. Planned to have lunch and eventually we did, in a small food store having pies and fish and chips. Didn’t spend much time there as well, continued our drive towards Lake St. Clair.

Fountain dedicated to the mining history of Queenstown.

Our accommodation was Lake St. Clair lodge but wasn’t sure where it was as the GPS pointed a location on the road that was leading to the National park. So we continued to drive on even after the GPS have told us that we have already arrived. It was when we finally reached the visitors center that I realized the lodge was just next to the visitor center. Checked in and was informed that the only places to have dinner was either in the lodge restaurant or the one on the main road, 5km away. We decided on having dinner at the restaurant itself and were told to come back by 6pm, seemed like there weren’t much people around and the restaurant would close earlier if we have finished our dinner.

Drove into to where the cabins were and all the way up to our unit. Control of access and entry was through card key and the cabin had a view of the lake. The cabin was the warmest so far and thus comfortable for us in the cold weather. The bathing accessories provided were from Molton Brown, some good stuff indeed. Only downside was there weren’t any TV.

Fridge underneath sink near the entrance.

Went back to the recept to enquire about the cruise and was told that then only trip of the day was out and if we wanted, we had to pay the full fees of charter, 240aud. There was a cruise that was booked for 11am the next day and if we wanted, we could join that trip for 60aud pp, much cheaper. The ferry service that was used mainly for ferry services were not meant for the cruise trip and therefore they couldn’t allow us to take it like one.

Lake St. Clair visitor's center. — Lake St. Clair visitor’s center.

After leaving the reception, we proceeded to take the track to see what we could do. Trekked to the the viewpoint to the beach which was just 5mins away. After that, we decided to go in the further and about 20mins of slow walk, we arrived at the campsite called Fergy’s paddock, with a little track to the lake as well. The day was still not too dark so we tried to walk in further but stopped before reaching watersmeet as it seemed like it was getting dark and looked too far for my pregnant wife to walk.

We went back to the restaurant after another 30mins and ordered dinner. We weren’t the only people there, there were 2 other couples and a group of four that was also eating there. The staff from Hong Kong was friendly and had a chat with him before we ordered our mains, that arrived in really huge portions, curry chicken and carbonara.

Went back to the cabin and while returning, saw some creatures on the road sides. Snapped a photo and identified these as possums for their pink noses. We retired early for the night as I was intending to walk to Platypus bay to see if I could catch a view of the illusive creature and it had to be done at first light. Furthermore, without tv or wifi, there was really nothing else that could be done then to sleep.

Tasmania 2014 Day 14 – Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake

Posted on August 7, 2014September 22, 2019 by ziyi

The day started even earlier today, in anticipation for a really long drive from the east coast of Bicheno to the center of Tasmania, Cradle mountain, some 200km of driving.

We got out of the accommodation and went to Freycinet National Park. We were visiting the Cape Tourville Lighthouse today that featured a 10mins easy short walk that my expectant wife could also do. The drive to the lighthouse was expected curvy and a little difficult but since it was still early, there was no incoming traffic to share the same narrow road in and out to the lighthouse. We parked at the carpark and got onto the walking route that went around the lighthouse, offering views from around the area. The lighthouse was not meant for entry though. The icy cold wind was unbearable after a while and we left.

The GPS brought us onto the highway to a first town called Campbell Town where I got gas and breakfast at Banjo’s Bakery Cafe with pastries and coffee. The town was actually bigger than the other towns that we saw.

Then we continued towards Cradle mountain, the GPS provided directions on the road to different roads that gave us highways or country roads or forestry roads or mountainous narrow roads. Eventually at almost 20km from Cradle Mountain, we stopped and detoured to Deloraine to shop at the supermarket to buy foodstuff for dinner tonight and also to get gas. We also bought take away burgers for lunch.

View of mountain on the way to Cradle mountain

Then it was another hour drive to the end location Cradle Mountain Highlanders, our accommodation for the night in Cradle Mountain National park. We checked in at reception but the room was in the last stages of cleaning up. I finished up what was left of my lunch in the car before proceeding to our villa.

It was an old style wooden walled building with a kitchenette and a fireplace! This gave us an experience of burning wood for heat but we weren’t that used to the burning smell though.

After leaving our luggage in the cabin, we were about to leave when we saw a pademelon near to our car which we parked just in front of the door to our place. Another day of living close to the wild, exciting!

We visited the visitors center and found out that the last bus from Dove Lake out was at 350pm and it was already 3pm. We figured that driving there ourselves would give us more flexibility on time while we were there.

As we were entering the park, we saw a wombat crossing the road, really cute and cuddly. But that also meant that there was a higher density of wildlife all around us. Had to take extra caution in driving into the park, especially when the road was narrow at some places.

Wombat making its way to the side of the road.

The lake was 7km away and it certainly took awhile for us to get there before parking at the parking lot, lots of empty spaces. I registered our names into the log book before we took the walk. There were 2 walks that we were interested, one was to the boat shed and the other was to glacier rock, in 2 opposite directions, for short 20mins return.

Walker's registration. — Walker’s registration.

The initial walk was done in poor weather where drizzling was still ongoing. We arrived at the shed but didn’t see anything interesting. As we returned towards the parking space, the weather started to clear up a little, exposing the snowy peaks. My wife wanted to get some rest so I went alone on the other 10mins route to glacier rock, which was just a huge rock on the side of the lake. The walk here was mostly flat till the last portion where there were some steps. As I arrived, I saw that it was fenced up with a gate. Tried to open the gate following the instructions but to no avail. On the way back saw a couple heading towards the rock and after I was midway back to the carpark, I turned around and saw then standing on the rock! What did I missed, I wondered. Too bad.

Glacier rock on the other side of the lake.

Dove lake with low clouds around the peaks.

Shot a few more photos before heading back as the sun was almost setting. Deregistered and drove out. While on the way, we saw another wombat crossing the road and quickly shot a few photos to captured this cutey as it climbed up the slope into the vegetation. With spring incoming, the greens were also filling up this beautiful national park. While we exit the park, we saw a car parked beside the road and the passengers on the slope. Yup, photographing a wombat. There was one wallaby that was on the side of the road that I didn’t see until I passed it. Talked about close to the wild, that was close!

Back at the accommodation, we lazed on the sofa with a huge blanket watching tv as the fireplace didn’t seemed to provide enough warmth. Tried to put in more firewood and that resulted in a smoky living room. There was internet with 50mb complimentary. Got on Facebook for a while but as I tried to reconnect to google some stuff on the destination the next day, I couldn’t get the signal anymore. Sporadic as informed by reception.

Cooked all the instant dinner we bought from Woolworth and it was very filling. Washed up the dishes and showered. The bathroom had some bulbs that provides some warmth too but it was still pretty cold. Got into bed early, hiding in the blanket with the heating in the room and on the mattress on. Fell asleep minutes later.