Tasmania Day 10 - Cradle Mountain
For our last day in Tasmania, we travelled to see Cradle Mountain, located in the Central Highlands of Tasmania. Cradle Mountain is the fifth highest mountain in Tasmania and it is made up of dolerite columns.
The Drive
The farmland scenery of Tasmania is a contrast of red earth, green fields, yellowing crops, and gorgeous blue skies.
Forestry is one of the major industries in Tasmania. As you drive along, you see enormous tracts of land covered in trees planted in straight lines. Every now and then, you see what happens when those trees are finally harvested. The land looks devastated. Completely clear cut with discarded twigs and branches littering the soil.
To add to this dismal scene, the dead eucalyptus trees appear as ghostly figures. Central Tasmania has a huge amount of dead trees, as a result of rural tree decline (RTD). RTD is a problem that occurs as a result of a number of problems. Drought is a major factor that can cause tree death. The land management of areas surrounding these trees can also cause tree death - soil compaction, excess fertilisation, and competing with seedlings. Possums can also push a struggling tree population over the edge as more and more possums rely on less and less trees. Finally, insect and disease can cause RTD.
Cradle Mountain
Arriving at Cradle Mountain, we were greeted with a huge, full carpark. We found a park and headed into the visitor centre. The best way to see Cradle Mountain is to catch the shuttle bus provided by the National Park. We weren't that keen on the idea at first, but we were definitely glad that we did that in the end.
The shuttle buses depart regularly, and we weren't waiting long. The shuttle buses communicate with each other by radio, announcing their location and direction as they pass the segments of road designed for one way traffic. The system was very efficient and we were at the start of the walk within about 20 minutes. A pair of girls got off the bus a stop early to do the Overland Track, a six day trek across the terrain.
We got off the bus at Lake Dove. The weather was cold and miserable despite being the middle of summer. We decided to do two short walks, one to The Boatshed, the other to Glacier Rock.
Cradle Mountain was immediately visible -
The Boatshed
We chose to walk to The Boatshed first, passing another one of those bumblebees. Bumblebees aren't on the Australian mainland and were introduced to Tasmania about 25 years ago.
The view at The Boatshed is quite pretty, looking across Dove Lake -
Glacier Rock
Our destination was evident as we walked back around the way we had come -
Glacier Rock is so named as its surface has been marked by the movement of rocky debris as the glacier moved down from the summit of Cradle Mountain and formed the basin that would become Dove Lake.
The view from Glacier Rock -
Walking back, some flora caught my eye -
And a few more angles of the mountain and the scenery -
The Garden
Our accomodation for the evening was about halfway between the mountain and Launceston, where we were flying out of the following morning. The accomodation had a nice garden, where I tried to take a few more photos so that I could maintain some credibility as a blogger who concentrates on plants.
Final Thoughts
This day marked the end of our Tasmania tour, and it was a nice way to finish off the trip. We saw a lot of amazing natural scenery and had plenty of opportunities to take photos. I would recommend Tasmania to anyone looking for a quiet adventure. Everything we did was easily accessible with a car, and nothing was ever too far away.
To catch up with the whole trip, check out the links below -
The Nut & The Edge of the World
Tessellated Pavements, Tasman Arch & Devil's Kitchen
MONA, Salmon Ponds & Russell Falls
The drive from Launceston to Hobart
I'd love to read your comments, hear your thoughts or see your own photos, so please leave a comment below.
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