Cradle Mountain Day 1

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Cradle Mountain is a must see for anyone coming to Tassie. We had been here 6 years ago for 1 night and it wasn't enough, so we decided on 2 nights this time. There has been a lot of changes in the past 6 years. A brand new visitor centre and ranger station has been built and shuttle buses take you through the park, reducing the impact to the environment by visitors. It is a populat location for walkers and although we are not dedicated bushwalkers, we do enjoy walking through nature and absorbing the ambience. 

We planned to do the Crater lake walk on one day and the Dove lake walk the next. The weather was fantastic for the first day and we set off around 930 for our Crater lake walk. It is recommended you get off at Ronny Creek and follow the boardwalk across the Wombat Plains.  You don't have to go too far to see Wombats in the wild. These magnificent Aussies are digging and eating machines. When you see them up close you just want to give them a big cuddle but I would strongly advise against that.
The boardwalk soon disappeared and the track started to climb the side of the hill. We stopped to let a young couple pass us. Not because we were holding them up, but because we were fed up with hearing the conversation. I swear the woman didn't take a breath at all for 15 minutes! OMG I am getting old!!

Finally in a peaceful environment we took our time and absorbed the surroundings as we made our way to the lake, stopping occasionally for a rest, drink or to just take in the view. We pushed on and after an hour we finally made it to Crater lake. We could feel the serenity (cite:The Castle), but was this the highest point? Apparently not. We could have gone hight to Marion's Lookout, but the climb was a bit too difficult for these old bones so we just enjoyed what we had. 
Not surprisingly, the trip down the hill was a lot easier, but we were not returning to Ronnys Creek. The loop took us past Lake Lila and ended at Dove lake. Having perfect weather for this made it all worthwhile, and we arrived at the shuttle bus just in time to go back to the visitor centre. All up the walk took around 3 hours including the shuttle bus. Hopefully this exercise will cut back our cholesterol and weight we have gained whilst at our club round up.

Back at the cabin, we rested up for the remainder of the day and kept the fire warm for the cold night ahead. 

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