From Cradle Mountain National Park to Burnie

by Petra Bucheli
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Sunday 12th February, 2012

Under the blue sky I made a walk to the Dove Lake. Then I bid farewell to the Cradle Mountain National Park and drove northwards. The drive went over the country and a saw some farms. They are about to harvest the potatoes. I Stanley I stopped to go up to the Nut. The Nut is a 143 m high rock where you may walk. With a chairlift it goes steeply up. And while walking at the top I could enjoy the great view. As it was not very late yet, I decided to drive further along the north coast. I stopped a Sister Beach. I enjoyed a bit this beautiful beach, but to take a bath it is too cold for me, even as I changed today the from long trousers to she short ones. My destination today was Burnie. I did not go for sightseeing as it was already late afternoon. I went a bit to the beach to enjoy the sun before the clouds came out again.

Hiking in the Cradle Mountain Nationalpark

by Petra Bucheli
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Saturday 11th February 2012

I enjoyed breakfast viewing two grazing wallabies. Then I took the shuttle bus until Dove Lake. There I hiked via Lake Lilla to Crater Lake. As it was not very far from Marions Lookout, I also went up there. The view over the lakes Lake Lilla, Dove Lake and Crater Lake is gorgeous. To enjoy the view I had to pass a very steep section. The steps were nearly to big for me and I had to pull myself on the steel rope. Down the same way for about 30 minutes. Then I walked down to Crater Lake and hiked further to Ronny Creek. The last part was a boardwalk and there I saw a grazing wombat.

Then I took again the shuttle bus to another stop and walked to two waterfalls. The Knyvet Falls can only been seen from the side. On the way there was also a dam constructed by platypuses. I did not see any animals as they only get out shortly before dawn.

In the afternoon it got sunny. I walked for another our on the boardwalk and enjoyed the nature. There were many lizards and I had to make sure I did not step on one. As I wanted to look for wombat in the later afternoon, I went first to the Devils at Cradle Park. There they showed first a film about the Tasmanian devils. The animals are endangered because many of them die due to a infectious face tumour. I could even pet a devil, it has a fine fur. The Tasmanian Devils seemed to be very relaxed and the keeper could go to them. Then it started to rain slightly. It got stronger and I decided to go back to the accommodation. As I arrived it was coming down in buckets.

Cradle Mountain Nationalpark / Dove Lake

by Petra Bucheli
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Friday 10th February, 2012

Without a big brake I drove from Strahan to the Cradle Mountain National Park. Just before noon I arrived there. First I visited the visitor center. Here I learnt that there are shuttle busses in the park. Cool, like this I can walk from one point to the next. First I took a ride to Dove Lake. Like everywhere in the park, you need to write down your intended way. So I can be sure they will search for me if something happens. Then I started the hike around Dove Lake. Here you can see Mount Cradle from each side of the lake. A beautiful path led along the shore and through the forest. At the beginning I saw an echinda, but it did not let itself disturb while having lunch. Due to the black clouds, I decided to do small walks only. Along one of those tracks I met a Wombat. It was thinking already in the afternoot that it is now evening and was already about to get dinner. After this short encounter it started raining and I returned. I drove to my accommodation and found a hut with everything I need. The rain stopped again I went for a walk into the park. I saw a few birds, some of them of an to me so far unknown species, and a small wallaby. While I was preparing the dinner, there was also a Wallaby grazing outside.