Postcard from Cradle Mountain (Long walk in the Park)
- Michael Aeria
- Jan 22, 2018
- 7 min read
Nature’s work of art continues to amaze me everywhere I go in my travels. Imagine, a massive rock structure fashioned into the shape of a cradle. Welcome to Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain.
Standing at 1,545 metres, it is a majestic sight. Add the attraction of Dove Lake below, bathed in magnificent blue, and it is no wonder that visitors have only praises for this Tasmanian treasure.
Or to quote my former Star colleague Parkaran when he asked me to visit this popular resort: Lovely, lovely place, out of this world. Cradle Mountain is now up there with my two favourite places, the Scottish HIghlands and England’s Lake District.
In my last trip to Tasmania in December 2016, my brother James took us on an extensive 10-day road trip to Port Arthur in the south and Strahan in the west. We covered a lot of interesting places but had to leave out Cradle Mountain because we simply ran out of time.
So during this trip, all I wanted to do was visit Cradle Mountain even though we will be here for 10 days too.
Of course, that was not to be. My brother made sure we saw, and experienced, so much more. As in our previous road trips, James picked two places as our bases:
1. Wynyard 2. Cradle Mountain
Wynyard is about 160km from my brother’s place in Launceston and would normally take over two hours by car if you drive there directly. There are interesting places along the way, so we made a number of stops.
By some coincidence, all three stops had to do with food. The first was at a raspberry farm in Christmas Hills, followed 8km away at a cheese making centre in Ashgrove Tasmanian Farm and finally another 3.8km away to the Anvers Chocolate Factory for a Belgian delight.
At the raspberry farm, I came across an alpaca, a native animal from South America. There were two of them, minus their wool as it is now summer.
What an interesting discovery!
Our next destination is Burnie. This town has a nice beach but that was not why we stopped there.
You will never guess the reason. It was FOOD.
That is so unlike me, right?
Actually I love fish and chips. And for me, Fish Frenzy in Hobart serves the best fish and chips in the world.
My brother found out that there is a Fish Frenzy outlet in Burnie, so he felt we should go there.
The verdict: it’s just as good.
If you are into paper, you would find Makers Workshop interesting. It is a short walk away from Fish Frenzy.
An old printing machine on display brought back pleasant memories for me.
So too the exhibits of home-made paper and how to go about making them. It reminded me of the environment campaigns during my Star days.
You will also be impressed by the lifesize paper sculptures of people in various aspects of daily life.
After an exhausting and a very hot day on the road, we were looking forward to the comfort of our hotel room in Wynyard.
Another surprise awaited us, the cutest accommodation I have ever seen.
James booked us into one of the two container pod units available at the Waterfront Wynyard.
The inside of the pod was tastefully decorated, fully equipped with modern appliances and it was superbly comfortable.
There are books, and a good selection of DVD movies and CDs to keep you entertained.
And in a third small room, there is a cupboard full of toys and board games for guests with a little child.
To enjoy Tasmania, you have to do a bit of walking. Correction, a lot of walking.
And I can tell you I am not physically up to it.
As if to prepare us for the major walk in Cradle Mountain, James took us to The Nut, a plateau-type volcanic structure which overlooks the town of Stanley.
The drive to Stanley normally takes about 50 minutes but again, we made a stop along the way.
Table Cape stands 170 metres above sea level and it looks out to the Bass Strait. The view across the mass of water which separates Tasmania from the rest of Australia is spectacular.
On a clear day, you can see all the way to Low Head at the mouth of Tamar River which flows through Launceston.
If we had come here during spring, we would have witnessed another spectacular scenery — a sea of tulips at the nearby farm.
The Nut, at 150 metres high, is clearly visible from a distance as you approach Stanley.
There are two ways to get up to the summit. You can walk all the way to the top which will take you 10 to 20 minutes depending on how fit you are.
Or you can travel in style, and take the Chairlift. It will only cost you A$16 for a return trip.
The ride, covering 250 metres, will take about 5 minutes, but it can be quite scary. To me anyway.
As bonus you get a panoramic view of Stanley, especially on the way down.
Once on the summit, you can go for the 2km circuit walk. The circuit will give you a 360 degree view of the town, the Rocky Cape National Park, the Bass Strait and the surrounding countryside.
The walk normally takes about an hour but we took much, much longer. I am definitely not fit but I would like to think we also made many stops to admire the breathtaking scenery.
The next day, we were thinking of lazing around to recover from all the walking we did at The Nut.
However, a power outage, which paralyzed the whole town of Wynyard, forced us to go out.
We headed for Arthur River, to a place appropriately named the Edge of the World.
This is where the currents flow unimpeded from this west coast of Tasmania through the Indian Ocean, below the African continent, right up to the South American coast.
You can see debris piled up all along the shoreline, and I won’t be surprised if some of them were carried from the other side of the world.
I was so tempted to throw a bottle into the sea to see how far it would be carried by the current. In the bottle, I would put this message: From Tasmania with love.
We drove to Sumac lookout where you can get a good aerial view of Arthur River.
I was a bit disappointed when I arrived there. I expected to see a fast flowing river but what we found was an unimpressive river. Maybe the water level was too low.
The next day, we headed for Cradle Mountain.
We stopped at Waratah. The unique attraction there is Philosopher Falls, a waterfall right in the middle of the town. How cool is that?
Philosopher Falls is named after town pioneer James “Philosopher” Smith who was responsible for the growth of the town after he discovered tin there in 1871.
There are 11 places to stay in Cradle Mountain and my brother made the right choice again.
He picked a self contained cottage with the Wilderness Village where we stayed for the weekend. It may not look impressive outside but it was very cozy inside.
The cottage has even a jacuzzi bathtub which I assume is to help relieve tired muscles after all the walking.
It’s back to nature here. No cell phone reception and no internet.
I felt a bit uncomfortable at first but I slowly got used to it. After all, it is just for 2 days, right?
Initially we wanted to relax on the first day, and do the heavy walking on Sunday.
That was not to be. The weathermen predicted the possibility of rain the next day.
So we had to set off immediately for Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain. No rest for the wicked, huh?
Private vehicles are not allowed into this Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park which is part of the 1.4 million hectare Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
Shuttle buses will take you from the visitors centre to 4 stops where you can have your choice of short walks.
Of the 11 short walks, we went for the most popular and iconic one at Dove Lake. This circuit is rated Grade 2, which means it is suitable for most ages.
Not for us. The Dove Lake Circuit was not as easy as expected.
Firstly, the total distance is 6.2km, three times longer than the walk we did at The Nut.
Secondly, the path was undulating and not all of the stretches were paved. It was easy going in the beginning but towards the end, it was an uphill climb at a time when your legs are just about to give way.
And thirdly, we had a deadline to meet, as the last shuttle will leave at 7pm. This walk would take an average person 2 to 3 hours but we must have passed the 4 hour mark.
Fortunately we managed to reach the pick up point at 6.30pm.
The weather was kind to us the next day, so we decided to go for an easy short walk.
We found one such walk at the Ranger Station, the first shuttle stop from the visitors centre.
The Enchanted Walk takes up only 20 minutes and is supposed to be perfect for young families as there are special places for children.
I was fascinated by the small waterfall at the start of the circuit and there is a stream which flows through the entire circuit.
I suppose I would enjoy it more if I was a little kid as I could crawl through these tunnels along the route with its explanation of the local flora and fauna.
Still as a senior, I enjoyed the relaxing walk, particularly the sound of the flowing stream.
The weather held up in the afternoon, so we took the shuttle to Dove Lake again.
We wanted to spend more time enjoying Cradle Mountain without the stress of trying to complete the 6.2km walk.
We were in a hurry the previous day and did not have time to snap photos of the iconic Boatshed.
I also wanted to see another lake, and the nearest one was Lake Lilla. It looks very close on the map but the walk there was not as relaxing as I thought. It involved walking uphill for many stretches along the way, and in some cases over very stony paths.
But when you finally reach your destination and you look down on the lake, it was all worth it.
The view was spectacular, especially at one point where you can see Cradle Mountain with Dove Lake beneath it on one side and Lake Lilla below on the other.
A perfect postcard picture to send back to folks at home.
And an ideal way to end a wonderful holiday.
Comentários