Cradle Mountain

Lat, Long:  -41.6845, 145.9515

I’ve rented a car to get me around Tassie for the rest of the time I am here.  The original idea for my visit to Tasmania was to do long hikes and camping along the way.  But it turns out that the weather has been bad, even by Tasmania standards. With rain almost every day and 5°C (40°F) temps at night making the hiking and camping option less inviting.  I also played with the idea of getting a camper van, but I got a large SUV instead.  When I lay out the back seats it has more room than my tent.  But to be honest, with as cold as its been, I’ve only slept back there the one night at Cradle Mountain and have been sleeping in motels otherwise.

Mount Roland (On the Way to Cradle Mnt)

Driving has taken me a little while to get used to again.  But over the last few days I have become comfortable with it.  Except I still approach the left front door to get in (out of habit from driving in the US for 30 years) and have to walk around almost every time, so I can actually sit behind the wheel.  Maybe I’ll get out of this habit by the time I leave Tassie.  I also still have to give a lot of thought to which hand to use to turn on the indicator (turn signal), so I don’t turn on the wipers instead.

Tasmanian Countryside

Pencil Pine Falls

The day I drove up to Cradle Mountain had by far the best weather since I arrived in Tassie.  Clear skies and warm.  It made for a really nice drive.   I was hoping it would hold up for the next day so I could make an attempt at summiting Cradle Mountain.  But by the time I woke up the next morning it was raining off and on with the forcast of showers, especially in the afternoon.  But the rain stopped by the time I got myself going.   

So I compromised and decided to walk about half way to the peak and hike up to Marions Lookout.  This avoided the possibility of getting stuck on the summit in an afternoon rain storm.  This worked out really well, because the weather kept getting better all morning, except that it got windy.  The sky was nearly clear by 1pm.  But soon after I returned from the walk in the afternoon the clouds rolled in and it started raining again.

There were still patches of snow at the lookout.

It was very windy at the lookout. Nearly had the camera blown away taking this selfie.

Dove Lake