Cradle Mountain

We had a few days to choose from to attend Cradle Mountain. We had been advised to choose a warm sunny day for our walk and so when the day dawned bright and sunny, we were off to see one of the best features of Tasmania's Wilderness.
 

The trees frame the view of Cradle Mountian

It was just a 70km pleasant drive from Sheffield where we were camped. The drive up to Cradle Mountain National Park was worth noting. It is forested most of the way, with landscape that changed quite markedly. Thickly naturally forested trees sit side by side with plantation forests in various stages of growth. Some areas were harvested and bare of trees. I was quite surprised to see that after the ;harvesting' that the stumps and such just appear to be left or at best bulldozed and then the stumps just piled up and left sometimes it appears to have been left in that way for years. Further along you'll see moorlands and 'paddocks' of yellow green grass tussocks of button grass with large dead trees scattered over open spaces.

Part of the foliage seen on the way to the Cradle Mountain National Park

We parked at the Information Centre and shortly hopped on a free shuttle bus (The fee is covered automatically with the National Parks Pass which you have to pay for). There were many mini buses running and the queue was quickly dispensed with. We elected to go straight to the top which is to Dove Lake.

Rob on the gravel track with Cradle Mountain behind him

The Dove Lake walk is designated an easy 2 to 3 hour walk. We decided to go clockwise around the lake. This walk is designated an easy walk even though it is expected to take the average walker 2-3 hours. We knew we'd be taking our time. Rob is doing really well walking so much after the blood on the lungs he suffered with mid way through last year and the subsequent reduced lung capacity he has to live with now. He just needs to take it careful when going up slopes and stairs.

You can see Cradle Mountain from just about everywhere on the lake's circuit

With lots of warnings posted about how quickly the weather can change, we made sure we had our warm clothing, who knew how long the sun was going to last. We grabbed our camera and backpack and started walking. The walk started out easily enough on a lovely gravel tracks and later there were sections of mostly flat board walk and the climbs there were mostly wooden stairs. Although it was cool, it didn't take long to warm up in the sun and take off the coat which we wore.

Rob taking a breather, Cradle Mountain is behind him

We had a picnic lunch with us which we enjoyed part way along on this big rock over looking the lake and underneath Cradle Mountain itself.

Our lunch spot with a view of Cradle Mountain

This walk was rather harder than we thought. If this is the easy walk, then I don't think we can handle a moderate let alone the "experienced walkers” tracks.

The boat shed for across the lake

We had a longer break at the boat shed sitting on the wooden walking track which starts to go around the back of the shed though most people hop off here to take photos and/or have a breather too!

Michelle on a board walk

All in all it took us 3 and a half hours to do the Dove Lake Circuit including our lunch break and the many short stops along the way.

One of the flowering plants

We were lucky enough to see a spotted quoll though it was much too fast for us to get a photo. We dodged quite a bit of wombat poo or wallaby poo but we didn't see any of them. We considered very briefly about going to Marions Lookout but to be honest, I was totally pooped and Rob told me that the feeling was mutual. So we gave it a miss, which was just as well as it took me a day and a half to recuperate from all the energy expended. Still it was well worth it and we rewarded ourselves with a cuppa back at the cafe.

Aahh ... A good cappuccino at the end

We decided to drive home via Wilmott, where we were told there is series of unique letterboxes made from recycled materials. I will post photos of this part of the day next time.

Happy travels until the next time

Michelle & Rob