Tasmania Day 4, Cradle Mountain (World Heritage Site)steemCreated with Sketch.

in #travel7 years ago

Welcome Welcome Welcome! I’m very excited to share you guys my favourite day of the trip, Cradle Mountain. This is one of the top destinations everyone travels to Tasmania for and we were so privileged to experience it on a warm sunny blue sky day (it’s normally notorious for snow, high winds, overcast weather)

cradle pano.jpg

A little sidenote that being said you should never let the weather dictate your emotions, it’s a recipe for disaster when it comes to holidays. A great little exert from Stephen Covey’s ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ is that humans have a unique ability to choose their response to stimulus presented to us and that it is trivial to choose a negative response based on something out of your control (for example, a rainy day on your precious holiday time off).

Cradle Mountain is situated a few hours drive from Launceston (next major city) and Devonport (Port city where people from Melbourne normally take a ferry to and from). Cradle Mountain – Lake St Claire National park has quite a few multi day hiking trails through the park and several day hikes around the main entrance of the national park if that is what you prefer. Again you need your parks pass to access the national park

Another tip for day trippers would be to get there as soon as it opens.

  • There are a limited amount of cars allowed into the national park. This leaves late comers the alternative to use the free shuttle service that runs every 10 minutes (so really it isn’t the worst thing)

  • Due to it being a World Heritage site it’s going to be crammed with people during weekends, so that’s another reason you should consider coming early

  • The hike to the summit takes 6-8 hours with a 2 hour scramble to the top, it will probably take up most of your day

With our back packs packed with food, water and picnic rug we made our way to the shuttle bus. It’s about a 15 minute trip and once you arrive at Dove Lake you are instantly greeted with an amazing vista. The Dove Lake circuit should take you 1.5 hours to complete and is a gentle walk around the lake and surrounding mountains.

cradle as you walk in.jpg

But who comes all that way to do an 1.5 hour hike? If you’re reading this you’d know by now I’m not into easy going hikes. No pain no…. view?

jules visrta.jpg

Due to our tight schedule we only had 1 day at this location and arrived at around 1pm, the summit scramble I had been dreaming of will have to be for next time. Plan B

We took the 4 hour circuit walk that follows the smaller mountains surrounding the lake. This is still a really fun hike! Certain sections require you to use a chain to pull yourself (reminiscing of British Columbia hikes (sigh)) and scramble on your hands and feet up rocks.

cradle side of the mountain.jpg

cradle side.jpg

One hand on my gopro and one hand on the chain holding on for dear life, a regrettably worn black t shirt and several litres of sweat blinding my eyes, I really love the outdoors!

sweatty.png

Gabby and I stopping for a scenic picnic

gabby picnic.jpg

You’re also spoilt with up-close view of the dolomite pillars that form the mountain into what looks like vertically stacked match sticks (a view you cannot appreciate from the lake altitude).

match sticks.jpg

next to cradle.jpg

One foot after another, clawing our way up a steep section an seasoned looking elderly couple were coming down our way. Oddly enough the first thing I noticed were his shoes, he was wearing sandals!? I had to ask how/why was he putting up with sandals “Because my feet like to breath” he replied in a witty tone, cheeky bugger! Anyone else worn hiking sandals before? I’d be interested to what it’s like to breath with my feet.

Breathtaking photo by @urbanesignature

cradle overview.jpg

With the beautiful gum trees surronding us, a deep blue lake that reflected the surrounding environments and snow melted waterfalls mesmerising Gabby and I, it was easy to get lost in a nature la la land of bliss.

forest.jpg

UNTILL on our descent Gabby almost stood on a Red Belly Black Snake (not super deadly, but not super fun either). As the snake slithered its venomous body into the camouflaged bushes we tried everything to alert the snake of presence. Tip we are not experts, just experts at wining it. So we tried clapping, stomping the ground and yelling (snakes dislike vibration…… or are they attracted to it hmmmm…? Anyone see that waking day Simpsons episode??) .
Long story short, we are still writing blogs with all our toes and fingers, hazah!

Here are some great shots of around the lake

under cradle.jpg

cradle upclose 2.jpg

Coming down the mountain

gabby and lake.png

way down.jpg

Snow fed lake dip! Why not?

the lake.jpg

Old Row Boat Shed

shed.jpg

Given the recent price crash in STEEM at ~$2 I invested some money to buy more Steem Power. I'm doing this so I can help support my followers by rewarding them for their contribution to my posts. So please comment, upvote, resteem and I will be sure to reward your efforts too by giving back!

gabby climb.jpg

Thank you all again and I will see you for my final Tasmania Blog! If you liked the blog please check out my latest Dtube Video

Steemit World Map: [//]:# (!steemitworldmap -41.671630 lat 145.960236 long Day 4 Tasmania Blog, Cradle Mountain d3scr)

Sort:  

Great post! Up-voted and followed.

Thanks for the support!

Great Post. I’ve walked that trail many times and it is one of the best hikes in Tassie (I believe). I’ve also bee up Mt Ossa and others across the Park. Looking forward to seeing other posts from you!

Thanks @scooter77! What a special place right?! If only I had the luxury of ample time to explore Tassie more. Good thing I'm young and have a taste for more!

Tasmania is so beautiful both in summer and winter!!

Yeah I defs have to go back and do some longer hikes !

World of Photography Beta V1.0
>Learn more here<

You have earned 5.05 XP for sharing your photo!

Daily Stats
Daily photos: 1/2
Daily comments: 0/5
Multiplier: 1.01
Server time: 21:09:25
Account Level: 0
Total XP: 16.15/100.00
Total Photos: 3
Total comments: 1
Total contest wins: 0
When you reach level 1 you will start receiving up to two daily upvotes

Follow: @photocontests
Join the Discord channel: click!
Play and win SBD: @fairlotto
Daily Steem Statistics: @dailysteemreport
Learn how to program Steem-Python applications: @steempytutorials
Developed and sponsored by: @juliank

Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
Author link: http://steemitworldmap.com?author=julesdan
Post link: http://steemitworldmap.com?post=tasmania-day-4-cradle-mountain-world-heritage-site


Want to have your post on the map too?

  • Go to Steemitworldmap
  • Click the code slider at the bottom
  • Click on the map where your post should be (zoom in if needed)
  • Copy and paste the generated code in your post
  • Congrats, your post is now on the map!

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by Jules from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.