Honeymoon: Phase Five: Hanging out in Cradle Valley
After a scrumptious breakfast, we walked down to the Devonport Visitor Centre to catch the bus. It was a short bus ride, less than two hours, but it made us appreciate the rental car that was a very inexpensive way to travel through Tasmania. The bus dropped us off at the transit center. Here we were able to store our backpacks until one o’clock when they would allow us to check in for the Overland Track and get our room key for the Waldheim cabins. We took the shuttle bus to the Visitor Centre where we went on two short walks. 
One was along a boardwalk path that took us to a nice waterfall. The other was a boardwalk path that took us upstream along a path to the Cradle Mountain Lodge. I am sure that Jacqueline wished that we were staying at this place instead of the cabin, but for $250 a night, I did not think that it was worth it. So we had to take the shuttle back to the transit centre, pick up our Overland Track passes, then take the shuttle to the visitor centre, pick up our cabin key, take the shuttle to Ronny Creek, and walk to our cabin.
It was an annoying process and I am not sure why they don’t just have everything in one place. The cabin was not very exciting and in a way was kind of dark and dreary. So we got our stuff together and went to head out to the trail. 
We had two choices, one was the Overland Track and one went the other way, so we took the other way. It lead us through boggy grassland and we talked to some folks who said they just saw a wombat, so we were hopeful. A path lead off to the Wombat Pond, so we took that. It was a lot of steps uphill, but no big deal for the two of us. Then we finally got a glimpse of a wombat wandering through the brush. We got to watch him for a bit and then we continued uphill to the Wombat Pond. It was a nice spot and we started to get great views of the lakes and the mountains which made Cradle Valley so beautiful. 
The trail continued uphill, so we took that. We both felt in good shape right now, so even though it was a lot of elevation gain, it was no big deal. It took us to the Overland Track and a view of Crater Lake. We got a small taste of what tomorrow would bring as we hiked the Overland Track for a bit. It took us up some steep stuff which Jacqueline was not too pumped to bring a full backpack up. We almost went to Marion’s Lookout, but took a trail to the left that lead down to Dove Lake instead. This was a steep one, but it was no big deal to my gorgeous wife and I. 
We made it down to the lake, which was very nice. We finally got a good view of Cradle Mountain and it got me excited to climb it tomorrow. I was just hoping that the weather would hold for us as we had been so blessed with great weather on this trip. We headed back to Waldheim from Dove Lake. We made ourselves some dinner and then went out for another hike. There was a track that warned us that it was unmaintained and about three hours. This sounded like a good trip for after dinner. Almost immediately after hitting the track, we spotted a wombat and this time we were able to get a good look at him. 
He just ambled along and we left him to it. We brought our gaiters on this trip as I figured it would be muddy and wet. We were not disappointed. The trail climbed slowly and the views back down the valley were incredible. It felt so comfortable being out there as in places it really looked like the Serengeti. We hit the “halfway” point which was the end of the Maryland Track and the start of the Hounslow Heath Track. This one was much different. Right away, the trail climbed steeply. It eventually popped us out on a beautiful ridge by a small pond. The views were just wonderful. It was not a dramatic landscape, but more of a rolling hill clear of large debris. We followed the wet ridge for quite some time. The walking was a little bit slower, but we were making good time. Soon, it shot us down through the forest where the going got much rougher. It was very muddy and wet now. The tree roots were expose
d and it made things very slippery. There were lots of trees down and the branches were just hanging over the trail. We were starting to get nervous about the approaching night, but eventually it popped us out on this nicely graveled path. The difference between the two were so dramatic that when we looked at the trail we were on, it did not even look like a trail. There was nothing to do but go back to the cabin and get some sleep for the next day. The problem was that now we had all of this wet clothing and boots, so we cranked the heat up in the cabin. I knew this was a bad idea. We got our stuff dry, but it became so hot in the cabin that I could not sleep in my down sleeping bag. The pademelons and possums outside made us nervous to leave the door open unattended. Finally, it took me standing in front of the door for a good ten minutes until I was able to cool the place down enough to get a little bit of rest.
After a scrumptious breakfast, we walked down to the Devonport Visitor Centre to catch the bus. It was a short bus ride, less than two hours, but it made us appreciate the rental car that was a very inexpensive way to travel through Tasmania. The bus dropped us off at the transit center. Here we were able to store our backpacks until one o’clock when they would allow us to check in for the Overland Track and get our room key for the Waldheim cabins. We took the shuttle bus to the Visitor Centre where we went on two short walks. 
One was along a boardwalk path that took us to a nice waterfall. The other was a boardwalk path that took us upstream along a path to the Cradle Mountain Lodge. I am sure that Jacqueline wished that we were staying at this place instead of the cabin, but for $250 a night, I did not think that it was worth it. So we had to take the shuttle back to the transit centre, pick up our Overland Track passes, then take the shuttle to the visitor centre, pick up our cabin key, take the shuttle to Ronny Creek, and walk to our cabin.
It was an annoying process and I am not sure why they don’t just have everything in one place. The cabin was not very exciting and in a way was kind of dark and dreary. So we got our stuff together and went to head out to the trail. 
We had two choices, one was the Overland Track and one went the other way, so we took the other way. It lead us through boggy grassland and we talked to some folks who said they just saw a wombat, so we were hopeful. A path lead off to the Wombat Pond, so we took that. It was a lot of steps uphill, but no big deal for the two of us. Then we finally got a glimpse of a wombat wandering through the brush. We got to watch him for a bit and then we continued uphill to the Wombat Pond. It was a nice spot and we started to get great views of the lakes and the mountains which made Cradle Valley so beautiful. 
The trail continued uphill, so we took that. We both felt in good shape right now, so even though it was a lot of elevation gain, it was no big deal. It took us to the Overland Track and a view of Crater Lake. We got a small taste of what tomorrow would bring as we hiked the Overland Track for a bit. It took us up some steep stuff which Jacqueline was not too pumped to bring a full backpack up. We almost went to Marion’s Lookout, but took a trail to the left that lead down to Dove Lake instead. This was a steep one, but it was no big deal to my gorgeous wife and I. 
We made it down to the lake, which was very nice. We finally got a good view of Cradle Mountain and it got me excited to climb it tomorrow. I was just hoping that the weather would hold for us as we had been so blessed with great weather on this trip. We headed back to Waldheim from Dove Lake. We made ourselves some dinner and then went out for another hike. There was a track that warned us that it was unmaintained and about three hours. This sounded like a good trip for after dinner. Almost immediately after hitting the track, we spotted a wombat and this time we were able to get a good look at him. 
He just ambled along and we left him to it. We brought our gaiters on this trip as I figured it would be muddy and wet. We were not disappointed. The trail climbed slowly and the views back down the valley were incredible. It felt so comfortable being out there as in places it really looked like the Serengeti. We hit the “halfway” point which was the end of the Maryland Track and the start of the Hounslow Heath Track. This one was much different. Right away, the trail climbed steeply. It eventually popped us out on a beautiful ridge by a small pond. The views were just wonderful. It was not a dramatic landscape, but more of a rolling hill clear of large debris. We followed the wet ridge for quite some time. The walking was a little bit slower, but we were making good time. Soon, it shot us down through the forest where the going got much rougher. It was very muddy and wet now. The tree roots were expose
d and it made things very slippery. There were lots of trees down and the branches were just hanging over the trail. We were starting to get nervous about the approaching night, but eventually it popped us out on this nicely graveled path. The difference between the two were so dramatic that when we looked at the trail we were on, it did not even look like a trail. There was nothing to do but go back to the cabin and get some sleep for the next day. The problem was that now we had all of this wet clothing and boots, so we cranked the heat up in the cabin. I knew this was a bad idea. We got our stuff dry, but it became so hot in the cabin that I could not sleep in my down sleeping bag. The pademelons and possums outside made us nervous to leave the door open unattended. Finally, it took me standing in front of the door for a good ten minutes until I was able to cool the place down enough to get a little bit of rest. 
No comments:
Post a Comment