little wallaby
following the boardwalk
is it decapitated?
he then flew into a tree
the flora colours were beautiful
moss
lake lila
back at Dove Lake
Wombat!!!
the ride home: what Tasmania looks like other than the mountain.... LOTS of sheep everywhere
cheese place
Tasmanian Butterflies
more sheep
Australian butterflies
Today we woke up very early to make sure we were checked
out by 9. We were dreading the day from the start when we woke and heard down
pouring rain….Once packed, we ate breakfast and were shocked at the fact that
we couldn’t have lasted another day here because we ate all the food we had
bought for the time in the mountain: had just enough for lunch and some snacks
on the hike. We walked down to the Visitor Center where we were going to put
our bags for the morning before leaving on the shuttle back. But on the way
down we saw a shuttle drive past from the company we had hoped to ride back
with even though they stated on their website that they didn’t come to the
mountain on Fridays. So we went inside to make a call to the company and see if
they would be able to drive us back to Launceston or if we saw a private
charter. We never really found out, but after waiting around for about 45
minutes we decided to just pay the extra money and go with the Cradle Mountain
driver. We then put our bags in the office and set off on the shuttle down to
the Ranger Station (see map below).
At the Ranger Station we got out and started our walk on the board walk. This board walk took them about a year to make and cost them millions of dollars because all the material was airlifted in by helicopter. The trail took us about 2 hours to walk. For most of the trail, the rain had let up and we weren’t caught in anything. Because it was raining off and on all morning, we weren't able to see the wombats and wallabies that people typically see on the boardwalk trail: we were hoping to see a few at least. Towards the end, it started raining cats and dogs. Luckily we got to Ronny Creek (see map) and were able to get under some cover. We had a quick bite to eat and decided to take the black trail on the map past Lake Lila down to Dove Lake. So we set off in the pouring rain trying to figure out just which way to walk best without the rain hitting our faces the whole time. Finally the rain cleared up again and we were able to walk down past the Lakes and back to the shuttle pick up at Dove Lake with perfect timing: took about 4 hours to do this whole hike.
When we got back to the Visitor Center we got our bags and had lunch. We then took turns to change in the bathroom at the Center into clothes that weren’t drenched. We then waited on the shuttle bus that would bring us and a small group of others back to Launceston. When we were waiting a Wombat walked right up to the parking area and I got out to take its picture. We had seen plenty the day before but were unable to get close to one, or even take a picture. Anthony and I agreed they are a good combination of koala, pig and bear all in one. They also run very funny. A large group of people sited the wombat and took pictures and soon after our bus was off to Launceston. Our driver was also a slight tour guide and pointed out places that had significance along the way. I took a nap on the bus because I started to get a huge migraine and felt very weak (probably the whole week catching up on me). We arrived at a cheese factory where we stopped to do a bit of a cheese tasting. The cheeses were yummy, but were the standard cheeses one would try… I still ended up eating a lot. The shop also had heaps of Tasmanian made products and if purchased, all of it can go back to the main land of Australia except for the honey because it is vegetation. Plants and flora and honey are not allowed into or out of Tasmania. We checked out the rest of the cooking and dairy products, wanting to buy some but knowing it wasn’t the best idea for our money. We were the only people that didn’t buy anything on our bus but that was ok.
Another hour later and our driver dropped us off at our hostel. We were staying in the same hostel as we did our first night in Launceston. But because we didn’t want to pay another $30 to check me into the room too (again, an issue with the wording on their website) I got the little backpack of the essentials that we needed for the night, we covered Anthony’s jacket over my pink bag and he took that and the big backpack in to check into the room. Once on our way again, we walked around the city for a bit. But everything in Launceston closes really fast which was unfortunate because there were a lot of little shoppes we would have liked to check out. We walked into Myer (a big department store) and walked around each level for a bit. They had a Christmas section already set up! Finally once on the fourth floor we found all these couches and chairs. I felt really crappy from being sick and run down and so we pretended to check out the couches and sat on a bunch of them. The lady didn’t seem to mind very much that we were just chilling on the couches so we sat on these comfort chairs and I actually fell asleep for a bit in them! The store was closing so we left and walked around a bit more.
We were trying to figure out where to eat dinner or what to do because we had to wait another 2 and a half hours till reception would close at the hostel. We walked around a bit more up and down the city… it was getting very chilly and breezy. I had to find the public bathroom (which was a very weird experience since the toilet paper could only come out of the dispenser one sheet at a time and the dispenser was programed to wait about 10 seconds in between each dispensing… same with the water and even the hand dryer!). We chilled for a bit on a bench away from the wind and had some of our food that was left over from lunch. We ended up sitting in a bar for a while to get warm and had a glass of wine. Once 9:30 came around I was ready to lay down and get some rest so we snuck me back into the hostel. We talked to our other roommate for a bit: he was from the UK and had just moved to Launceston for a new job. I could hardly wait to get into bed so I got ready fast and crawled in and fell asleep. It felt so good to finally rest my migrained head.
At the Ranger Station we got out and started our walk on the board walk. This board walk took them about a year to make and cost them millions of dollars because all the material was airlifted in by helicopter. The trail took us about 2 hours to walk. For most of the trail, the rain had let up and we weren’t caught in anything. Because it was raining off and on all morning, we weren't able to see the wombats and wallabies that people typically see on the boardwalk trail: we were hoping to see a few at least. Towards the end, it started raining cats and dogs. Luckily we got to Ronny Creek (see map) and were able to get under some cover. We had a quick bite to eat and decided to take the black trail on the map past Lake Lila down to Dove Lake. So we set off in the pouring rain trying to figure out just which way to walk best without the rain hitting our faces the whole time. Finally the rain cleared up again and we were able to walk down past the Lakes and back to the shuttle pick up at Dove Lake with perfect timing: took about 4 hours to do this whole hike.
When we got back to the Visitor Center we got our bags and had lunch. We then took turns to change in the bathroom at the Center into clothes that weren’t drenched. We then waited on the shuttle bus that would bring us and a small group of others back to Launceston. When we were waiting a Wombat walked right up to the parking area and I got out to take its picture. We had seen plenty the day before but were unable to get close to one, or even take a picture. Anthony and I agreed they are a good combination of koala, pig and bear all in one. They also run very funny. A large group of people sited the wombat and took pictures and soon after our bus was off to Launceston. Our driver was also a slight tour guide and pointed out places that had significance along the way. I took a nap on the bus because I started to get a huge migraine and felt very weak (probably the whole week catching up on me). We arrived at a cheese factory where we stopped to do a bit of a cheese tasting. The cheeses were yummy, but were the standard cheeses one would try… I still ended up eating a lot. The shop also had heaps of Tasmanian made products and if purchased, all of it can go back to the main land of Australia except for the honey because it is vegetation. Plants and flora and honey are not allowed into or out of Tasmania. We checked out the rest of the cooking and dairy products, wanting to buy some but knowing it wasn’t the best idea for our money. We were the only people that didn’t buy anything on our bus but that was ok.
Another hour later and our driver dropped us off at our hostel. We were staying in the same hostel as we did our first night in Launceston. But because we didn’t want to pay another $30 to check me into the room too (again, an issue with the wording on their website) I got the little backpack of the essentials that we needed for the night, we covered Anthony’s jacket over my pink bag and he took that and the big backpack in to check into the room. Once on our way again, we walked around the city for a bit. But everything in Launceston closes really fast which was unfortunate because there were a lot of little shoppes we would have liked to check out. We walked into Myer (a big department store) and walked around each level for a bit. They had a Christmas section already set up! Finally once on the fourth floor we found all these couches and chairs. I felt really crappy from being sick and run down and so we pretended to check out the couches and sat on a bunch of them. The lady didn’t seem to mind very much that we were just chilling on the couches so we sat on these comfort chairs and I actually fell asleep for a bit in them! The store was closing so we left and walked around a bit more.
We were trying to figure out where to eat dinner or what to do because we had to wait another 2 and a half hours till reception would close at the hostel. We walked around a bit more up and down the city… it was getting very chilly and breezy. I had to find the public bathroom (which was a very weird experience since the toilet paper could only come out of the dispenser one sheet at a time and the dispenser was programed to wait about 10 seconds in between each dispensing… same with the water and even the hand dryer!). We chilled for a bit on a bench away from the wind and had some of our food that was left over from lunch. We ended up sitting in a bar for a while to get warm and had a glass of wine. Once 9:30 came around I was ready to lay down and get some rest so we snuck me back into the hostel. We talked to our other roommate for a bit: he was from the UK and had just moved to Launceston for a new job. I could hardly wait to get into bed so I got ready fast and crawled in and fell asleep. It felt so good to finally rest my migrained head.
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