Tasmania: on the way to Cradle Mountains
The morning at Lake St Clair was cold and cloudy. It was the first time when we’d really appreciated our warm sleeping bags because until then we’d always woken up sweating almost every time we’d used them.
The initial intention of taking photos of sunrise above the lake had to be replaced by taking mysterious photos with the fog rolling above the water surface. After a few attempts, which ended up with a long black blur because Jakub didn’t run and climb quickly enough on a big boulder, we finally managed to take a shot of the two of us.
On the way back to our tent, we found a proper camp kitchen with all equipment and a fireplace. It was a nice change after cooking in a BBQ shelter the night before because we’d thought, by mistake, that it had been the only kitchen there. An Australian friendly older couple kept us company for breakfast. They were quite excited about our snake adventure from the previous day and the guy also told us how many time he’d been bitten by a snake just during last year.
But then it was time to set off.
By the time we reached the King William Saddle, the clouds had got melted and the sun had come out. We made our first little stop at Franklin River, where there was an easy 25 minutes nature trail. The walk ran along the wild river and through the cool temperate rainforest. It was nice for stretching our legs but, otherwise, nothing really special.
Further along the road, there was another short walk which climbed up to Donaghys Lookout. This walk was a more satisfying one as from the top it offered a great view of skyline with peaky mountains and a wide emerald valley spread down below us.
The thirds short walk was one to Nelson Falls. Again, it was an easy but really nice stretch through the forest when we walked along a little stream before we ended up in front of the waterfall. That time, there wasn’t much water running in the stream but still it was a cool little place.
Later on, when we arrived at Queenstown, we decided to stop and refill our supplies because it looked like the last bigger town on the way to our campsite. Obviously, a reasonable amount of money has been invested in keeping the little old mining town attractive but to us, it looked more creepy and actually quite sad. We dropped the idea to stay for coffee and rather carried on. But it should be noted that the local shop was well supplied.
The last stop of the day before heading off straight to our campsite were Montezuma Falls. As we were a bit running out of time, we set a fast pace along the historic tramway and reached the waterfall in less than one hour. Just before the falls, there was an old little tunnel in the rock. And we had a torch! For those who don’t like spider webs and spiders, it’s better to go without it. At least, you don’t see them and the tunnel was blocked up after a few meters anyway.
Compare to Nelson, the Montezuma falls were narrow and high — 104m. Immediately below the falls, there was a swing bridge over the creek. It reminded me how a bad head for heights I have. So, I rather waited on the bank while Jakub was exploring the other side.
From Montezuma Falls, we carried on to Cradle Mountains. The weather was getting worse and we were worried about putting our tent together in the rain. We were about approaching the campsite when we met a highlight of the day. A wombat! It was just standing next to the road, noshing the grass and absolutely didn’t bother when Jakub was taking a picture of it. The 40 kg of cuteness at the end of the day. Awesome!