Cradle Mountain

I have never been to Cradle Mountain before. I only lived in Tas till I was 20 years old so that's my excuse. It is without a doubt the most beautiful place I have ever been. We stayed two nights at the 'Cradle Mountain Lodge', the original and closest accommodation to the National Park. Huge open fires and a great restaurant. We walked long and hard all three days. I was very proud of Ella and Florence. On our second day we hiked 9kms in one hit. I carried Florence for about 300m of this and at the end (Dove Lake) she crashed.
That evening I enjoyed our guided spotlight tour. Saw a lot of nocturnal natives. Wombats a clear favourite for me. Saw a quoll. Very rare.
Our intrepid Ella was determined to do a hard grade walk so on our last day we chose a circular 4.5 km walk for experienced walkers only. Gabby, myself, Ella (9), Ron and Nora (70+) set off on a glorious day around the Dove Valley Track. Walking the edge of sheer drops and scaling a few near vertical rock climbs..... easy? Mildly concerned that I may have to carry someone a lot heavier than Florence out of this one. Mum and Dad have walked a lot but this was the most serious 'walk' they had ever been on.
As for Cradle Mountain.... no photos can ever convey the scale, variety, smell, sound and changing colours of this most wonderful place. Go there.

› Back