Cradle Mountain

Friday, March 06, 2015
Cambridge, Tasmania, Australia
We drove to Cradle Mountain via several small towns today, stopping at Zeehan to stock up on food to take to our chalet. The weather started off cloudy and stayed that way for most of the day but at least it didn't rain.
We stopped at McKenzie dam on the way and had a look at the lake there . It looked like it would be a nice fishing and boating spot and there were a couple of people camping there.

The countryside was mainly rain forest and when we came close to the National park there was a lookout which looked towards the mountain and over the tussock grass which is rare and is inhabited by ground nesting parrots and rare brown butterflies.

The cottage we have here is all wood and beautifully crafted. It is spacious and has a full kitchen and is nestled in the bush and very quiet and private - just bliss! It also has a lovely view of Cradle Mountain through the lounge room window.
We went for a hike around Dove Lake this afternoon as it fined up and was perfect hiking weather.
The hike was 6,5kms and took just under 2 hours. The views of Cradle mountain were spectacular and the track wasn't too bad although got a bit steep in some spots.
We saw a Spotted Quoll on the track but unfortunately couldn't get the zoom out quick enough for a photo. I did see a gorgeous Robin red breast and his mate and there was a lot of other bird life that was very hard to spot. It was a lovely walk and was nice and cool even with the sunny blue sky weather.
On the way back from our walk we spotted a wombat grazing on the tussock grass so we stopped for a closer look. There were actually quite a few of them grazing on the grass near the boardwalk and we even spotted a mother and baby as well as a mating pair chasing each other and grunting loudly. It was easy to get photos of them and they were very cute!

On our return to the chalet there was a pademelon Wallaby grazing around our chalet. It was tiny and was not fussed about us taking close photos of it.
It is supposed to be wet again tomorrow but we are hoping that there will be a decent fine break so that we can hike up to the Cradle mountain lake. The track up there looks like it will be spectacular.
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