The Way Home
The best thing about not having travel plans is it’s easy to change! As the roads were closed due to the fires, we double backed a bit and headed down (up?!) to Cradle Mountain for a few days. We had some pretty chilly nights, but gorgeous clear sunny days so we did the Dove Lake walk the first day, followed by Marion’s Lookout the next day, about a 4-5 hour walk which is up to the base of the Cradle Mountain summit. It’s a 4 hour plus hike. We were pretty impressed with the kids as there was some steep & vertical rock climbing in parts. These were the fun bits for them, I think Lucas was born to be some kind of mountain goat, but there was no complaining or whinging, no one’s legs hurt and no one was tired….a miracle!
SP: Kyles forgot to mention that we also took some time out to check out the Tassie Devils and Quolls @ Cradle Mountain which for me are the equivalent of drop bears! Yes they do exist and yes they do jump from trees to kill their prey. Fellow campers beware!!
Quolls are definitely one of my favourite animals of all time but sadly facing the firing line of extinction due to loss of habitat. Something that the Tasmanian Government is NOT good at managing.
Tassie devils also have a fight on their hands due to the devil facial tumor disease which has drastically reduced the devil population and now threatens the survival of the species.
Side note rant! – Tasmania Government Hello, the natural beauty of what Tasmania has to offer and the ongoing tourism dollars generated year on year for generations to come plus the jobs created from this, (see winners list from recent Tourism Awards, you can do it) far outweighs a dozen or so men raking and stripping down trees in their big machines for as far as the eye can see. And for the morons that think by not chopping down 30 meters either side of the road this hides the devastation. Seriously your kidding!
It has been 10 years since we last visited Tasmania and we have noticed a big difference, sadly it wasn’t positive on this front. So put the axes down people and change the laws to protect your own back yard, you are so so lucky to have it!
….and breath.
Related posts
Martine and I went to cradle mtn for our anniversary. We saw the Devils/quolls too, and climbed to the summit, which was in snow. A very special part of the world!
Wow, what a stunning place, and I adore those photos of the Tassie Devils!
Thank you for the rant by the way, I had no idea what was going on with the (lack of) environment management down there. Not especially surprised to hear that, but informed is always a good thing.