Phase2: Cradle Mountain road trip

Monday, 11 February to Monday, 18 February 2019

We picked up our hire car on Monday afternoon and headed off a bit later than planned as rain delayed our packing. We were underway by 1100 and drove up the Derwent valley, stopping in New Norfolk to admire the view.

Derwent Valley from Peppermint Hill

We then drove on to Mt Fields National Park where we had lunch and walked to Russell Falls and to see the Tall Trees that escaped logging.

Russell Falls

A visitor’s National Park Pass cost $60 for a car and up to 8 people for 8 weeks. Very good value and the standard of NP infrastructure was excellent at the parks we visited.

Countryside was much drier than expected

From Mt Fields we drove to Tarraleah our accommodation for the next 3 nights.

Tarraleah Ducks

Tarraleah is an old Hydro town that has been converted for tourists and includes accommodation in houses, villas, lodge or caravan park and has a café and an inn.

History of hydro-electricity in the area

Our villa had good heating

Our first night was quite cold we thought – we awoke to discover it had snowed on Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair, today's destination.

Snow on the roadside

We arrived at the visitor centre and booked a ferry to Echo Point where we were dropped off for the 3 hour walk back to the lodge. It started raining while we were on the boat and we were glad of the hut at Echo Point to put all our wet weather gear on for the walk back. It was cold…..and with a strong wind it felt even colder. There was still snow on the track and now some mud from the rain.

Snow on the track

It was difficult going over large tree roots, and across small streams but the scenery when the sun came out (on occasion) was beautiful.

Mount Ida

The walk took about 4 hours to cover the 11km and we were glad for a hot cup of tea on our return. Dinner at the Highland Arms was excellent, helped by the roaring fire. You gotta love summer in Tasmania.

Tassie sense of humour

On Thursday, we decided to stay around Tarraleah where there were several walks.

Quoll track - no quolls sighted

Eagle track - you guessed it, no eagles

Only an occasional shower, but cold still so wet weather gear was the order of the day. Warren enjoyed feeding the Highland cows kept on the property and we also saw Tasmania’s highest golf course.

On Friday, we set off for Cradle Mountain, stopping at The Wall first. This is a carved mural that tells the history of the region. Artist Greg Duncan has been carving the 3 m high wood panels for over ten years and there is still much of the 100m wall to be completed. It was an impressive work of art but sadly no photos are allowed inside.

We travelled via Queenstown to get to Moina, about 25 minutes away from the Cradle Mountain Visitors centre. The road was windy and we were glad for the upgrade of our Corolla to a small SUV. On the way we also stopped at Nelson Falls and Queenstown to break up the 250km drive.

Nelson Falls

Queenstown monument to the early miners

Cradle Mountain is busy! The National Parks had an excellent shuttle bus service to take you to one of the 4 starting points for hikes in the park.

On Saturday we decided to walk to Marion’s Lookout which overlooks both Crater and Dove Lakes.

Crater Lake

Unfortunately it was overcast with low clouds but there was no snow! While the walk was only 8 km it took us 4 and a half hours.

We made it

This is the first stage of the overland track which runs from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair - a distance of 65 km. Apparently once a year they have a race along the track, the record is under 8 hours for a trek that most people take 6 days to complete.

We were glad to only have a day pack as we climbed over 400m vertically, the last section with the help of a chain.

On Sunday, we started the day with a visit to Devils@Cradle, a conservation park for breeding Tasmanian Devils and Eastern and Spotted-tail Quolls.

Devil populations have been hard hit by the Devil Facial Tumour Disease that has reduced the population by 85% since it was first described in 1996. We were encouraged to hear that the population is beginning to show resistance to the disease.

Talk to start the Keepers tour

We did a couple of the shorter walks before lunch then completed the 6km Dove Lake Circuit. The sun was out and we had spectacular views of Cradle Mountain.

No wet weather gear!

On Monday we were on the road again for the drive back to Hobart with stops at Sheffield, Deloraine, Oatlands and Richmond. We managed to pack quite a lot into our 7 days on the road.