Northwestern Tasmania

On February 11th, after a pleasant night at Tungatinah Lagoon, we started the day leisurely. We had to have breakfast in the car again because the weather was still wet and cold. However, the view of the lake was still beautiful from the car.

We continued driving north and made a brief stop at the Center of Tasmania Monument. It turned out to be less spectacular than expected, just a small stone in the landscape. It was more of a war memorial.

We then made our way to Lake St. Clair National Park. On the way, an echidna crossed the road right in front of our car. We have a soft spot for these little spiky creatures. We often see them sitting by the side of the road, and this wouldn't be the last one we encountered that day.

After a short discussion at the tourist information center, we decided to go on a relatively short hike. We walked along an Aboriginal Walk, which once again highlighted how cruel the Indigenous Australians were treated by the arriving Europeans.

There are hardly any Aborigines left in Tasmania, at least we only encountered one during our three weeks there. This topic had already put us in a sour mood, but we continued walking to Watersmeet and Platypus Bay. There are supposed to be numerous platypuses there, but we were there at the wrong time of day. The lake was also quite rough, making a sighting even more unlikely. To top it off, there was dense fog over the lake, making it difficult to even see the opposite shore.

The rain that started didn't improve our mood either, but luckily we were well equipped with an umbrella for the weather. After hiking for 1.5 hours, all we had seen was fog and rain. Not very rewarding...

But at the end of the hike, we spotted another echidna, which lifted our spirits a little bit :)

Now we needed something sweet for lunch to lift our mood even further. We chose pancakes at the pretty Derwent Bridge Rest Area. That helped a lot. Other tourists also came by and commented on how delicious it smelled. However, the satirical TV show 'Die Anstalt' that we watched at the same time made us shake our heads again.

We continued our journey in the recurring rain to the Franklin River Nature Trail. Since our feet were already wet and cold, we took shelter from the rain by snuggling into our warm bed in the back of our car.

When the rain stopped after 20 minutes, we felt much better and started walking along the river. It was a very nice walk in the wet forest along a boardwalk, which somehow lifted our spirits even more.

Our next stop was Nelson Falls. We waited for the rain to stop before walking to the waterfalls. We had finally come to terms with the rain and were happy again. Kenny even composed some silly songs and melodies, which annoyed Krissi at first, but they were catchy. We had something to laugh about again. The sight of the magnificent waterfalls added to our excitement. It seems that rain isn't so bad for a waterfall after all. :)

The day was coming to an end, and we decided to spend the night at Lake Burbury Camp. At the end of an old road, we could camp with a view of the lake. The night was rainy again, but we didn't mind, as we had become accustomed to it. During the night, we heard a noise that we are almost certain was a Tasmanian devil. Of course, we didn't actually see it.

On Tuesday morning, it seemed relatively dry, so we took some beautiful photos of the lake when we finally ventured out of the car. After breakfast, we headed towards Queenstown. Someone had left their clothesline in a tree about 50m from the camp. Kenny decided to fetch it for us since we didn't have one. However, it was higher in the trees than we thought. That's probably why it was left there. Well, Kenny didn't mind and quickly climbed the wet tree to retrieve it. Just as he reached the top, a hailstorm started. Great, but now that he was already up there, he went ahead and conquered the clothesline. Yay.

We then continued to the Iron Blow Lookout, which was situated in an iron ore mine. From there, we had a good view of the landscape all the way to the lake where we had camped. There was another beautiful, blue lake right in front of it. It was stunning, and we had a brief moment without rain.

Just a few meters away was the start of the Horsetail Falls Boardwalk. Luckily, we walked on wooden planks the whole time, so our feet stayed relatively dry. The waterfalls themselves were visible on the opposite slope thanks to the rain.

We made a brief stop at the Queenstown Lookout just before Queenstown. It was nice, but somehow we had imagined Queenstown to be bigger. Well, it seems that apart from Hobart and maybe Launceston, there are no larger cities in Tasmania. However, Queenstown is beautifully tucked away in the mountains.

In Queenstown itself, we spent most of our time at the library. Krissi was preparing for an upcoming job interview, while Kenny was struggling to upload the photos for the latest blog post.

We were kicked out of the library at 5 p.m. and decided to have lunch. After a little shopping, we sat down in the city park to cook our meal. It was very cold at 6 °C, and the hailstorm that followed didn't help. The gas stove was also acting up, so it took us a long time to cook our meal. And we were very hungry.

Finally, when we were done, we left Queenstown and headed north again. We briefly saw the Great Western Railway, an old train that is still in service here, from a distance. We spent the night as the only ones at the Montezuma Bush Camp, where we planned to go hiking the next day. We didn't even need to mention that it was raining again.

On February 13th, we started the day by hiking to Montezuma Falls. This turned out to be difficult as the streams seemed to have spread mostly over the paths.

So, Krissi had wet feet after a short while. Kenny decided to put on his uncomfortable and heavy work shoes with steel toe caps, but at least they were waterproof. Why didn't we think of that earlier... The waterfalls themselves were, of course, amazing thanks to the rain.

We could even see the waterfalls from a distance from a suspension bridge. Truly beautiful, making the wet feet worth it.

After a total of 10 km of hiking, we warmed up in the car and drove to Roseberg. There was a brief moment of sunshine in a small park, where we had lunch. Krissi even spotted someone looking for a geocache there and struck up a conversation with him.

We decided to book a campsite for the next night as we needed electricity for our electronic devices, a washing machine for our wet clothes, and a warm shower. So, we drove to Tulla Lakeside Lodge. We found all of that and also a large restaurant with a fireplace and a view of the lake, if the weather cleared up. For travelers, there was a chalet with a sink, shower, and toilet. It was perfect for us and only cost $15.

In the evening, Krissi had an important job interview. Fortunately, the Wi-Fi worked well because the mobile reception in Tullah was quite poor. The interview went well, and we treated ourselves to a hot meal in the restaurant. Kenny ordered a steak, while Krissi wanted a schnitzel. Both were delicious, and we went to bed satisfied.

On Thursday, we finally went to Cradle Mountain. Many people had told us that it is the highlight of Tasmania. In addition to spectacular hikes with great views, we were finally supposed to see some wombats there. So, we were excited.

Upon arriving at the visitor information center, we had to leave our car and take a shuttle bus into the national park. We prepared ourselves for a long hike. This time, Krissi tied plastic bags around her socks to keep her feet dry in the shoes. However, the weather still wasn't very good, so we mainly saw fog while slowly getting wet from the drizzle. At least our lower bodies were protected by the umbrella.

We completed the Enchanted Walk first, which only took 20 minutes. At the end, it showed us what we had hoped for. Two soaking wet wombats chewing grass on the meadow. They weren't shy at all, so we were able to get very close to them. It was amazing.

We then took the shuttle bus to Ronny Creek. From there, we walked across beautiful, but wet, meadows (luckily on boardwalks) and then up the mountain to Crater Lake.

After a 1.5 hour hike, we arrived there quite wet and could only imagine the lake in the fog. The view was really limited. We skipped the path to Marion Lookout and took the supposedly shorter Link Track back to Dove Lake. However, what we didn't see in the fog was a very steep climb where we had to climb at times, which was still ahead of us.

Higher up, strong winds joined the rain. The Link Track turned out to be very steep as well, and we struggled to keep our footing on the wet rocks. At the foot of the mountain, the Dove Lake awaited us, which we could at least see a little bit. Unfortunately, we didn't see the famous Cradle Mountain at all.

After this strenuous hike, we went back to the visitor center and stayed there for a while because Krissi had another job interview and needed cell phone reception. The reception was quite good there, so she found a covered seating area and conducted the important conversation.

After it was over, we drove to see the wombats again because it was so beautiful. Besides the two wombats, we also encountered numerous wallabies and pademelons. :)

Well, this day with the hike didn't turn out to be what we had expected. The weather was still good, so we decided to see more of Cradle Mountain. Of course, we took our thick jackets and umbrellas just in case. We were running out of food by now, with only an apple and a can left for lunch. We didn't plan to walk too far, so it was enough. We took the shuttle bus again and this time started at Dove Lake. The view from here was already much better than the day before. Suddenly, we could see Cradle Mountain.

We planned to walk to Marion Lookout and then take the familiar Link Track back to the parking lot.

We started with the path that led past Lake Lilla to Wombat Pool. Some pranksters had consistently removed the L from the signs, so we walked to Wombat Poo. It fit quite well because wombats mark their territory with their droppings, which they place conspicuously on stones or pieces of wood. We found it quite funny to walk to Wombat Poo. Although we didn't see any wombats there, the small lake was very beautiful to look at.

On this day, there were many more tourists than the day before. In any case, they had been smarter than us because the views on this day were simply stunning.

When we reached Marion Lookout (1223m) after 2 hours, the view was simply spectacular. We had to climb quite a bit, but we enjoyed it and regained our enthusiasm for hiking.

All of a sudden, Kenny was so motivated that he suggested we continue walking down the other side of the mountain or even along Cradle Mountain to the opposite mountain range. Krissi wasn't so thrilled about the idea as our water was running out and we only had an apple left to eat. After much persuasion, however, we continued walking towards Cradle Mountain. Unfortunately, that part was not marked on the map, so we didn't know exactly where or if there was a path where we wanted to walk. Luckily, there was a path that didn't lead over the top of Cradle Mountain. After we discovered snow and refilled our water from a mountain pond, Krissi also thought it was a good idea to continue hiking a little further.

So, we walked along the lower part of Cradle Mountain and even decided to stay on top and walk along another mountain range, which must also lead back to the parking lot. We had seen that from Marion Lookout.

Along the way, we met a German woman named Simone, whom we hadn't seen in a long time. She had already climbed up Cradle Mountain and was quite exhausted, so we gave her water to drink and accompanied her for the rest of our hike until the parking lot. She was very grateful to us.

On the way, we had some great views of Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain, and the other side of the mountain. We later found out that we had walked along Lake Rodway Track and Hansons Peak

After this long hike, we wanted to show Simone the wombats, but unfortunately, they were no longer there that day. We were lucky to have seen them in the rain the day before. When we got back to the car, we drove further north this time. We stopped at the Black Bluff Lookout, took one last look at Cradle Mountain, and said goodbye.

It was almost dark by now, and we saw more pademelons and kangaroos along the roadside than ever before. Krissi squealed a few times as they hopped across the road in front of us, but Kenny drove slowly and braked in time. However, driving the 70 km was quite tiring, and we didn't arrive at the camp until 11 p.m. Yolla Tavern provided free camping space. Krissi fell asleep immediately after our long hike, but Kenny lay awake for a few more hours, listening to the loud villagers dancing, laughing, and apparently arguing. Apparently, Friday night is party night in the bar. But it was free, so no reason to complain.

February 16th was our last day in Tasmania, and we had to visit the northwestern corner to check out a few attractions. So, we drove 120 km to Trowutta Arch.

At a sinkhole, nature has created a natural arch, which we viewed up close.

30 km further north, we reached the coast again and had lunch at Stanley Beach. In Stanley, there is a huge rock called 'The Nut' that you can either hike up or take a lift. Considering the price of $18 per person, we decided to walk along the zigzag path. The slope was pretty steep.

On the summit, there is a 2 km circular path that we also took, stopping at every lookout point.

Along the way, we saw a baby pademelon, which amused the tourists and us.

But now we had to start making our way back because Devonport, where our ferry would depart from the next morning, was still 100 km away. We made a brief stop in Burnie, where we once again had a free hot shower. After the past few days of strenuous hiking, it was much needed.

We also made another stop in Penguin, where there is a giant penguin statue, but no real penguins to be seen.

Since we were starting to get hungry again, we stopped at Turners Beach to eat. But the sunset Tasmania gave us for our last evening was much more beautiful.

By now, it was already dark when we arrived at Lillico Beach. There, we finally saw real penguins. First, lots of baby penguins crawled out of their nests and waited for their parents to bring them food.

The adult penguins came out of the sea a little later and made their way to the nests, which was a long and rocky path. The whole event was supervised by volunteers who answered questions and illuminated the penguins with gentle red light. Normal white light and flash are strictly prohibited to avoid scaring the penguins. Unfortunately, there are few usable pictures of the penguins, but they were very cute as they stumbled around and flapped their little wings.

Since we didn't want to drive back to a camp, we stayed directly in Devonport, in a quiet side street for some thrilling wild camping. It was just more convenient to catch the ferry in the morning.

On Sunday, we boarded the ferry again at 8:30 a.m., managing to check in as one of the last passengers once again. In between, a bus next to us in line tried to poison us with its exhaust fumes, but we skillfully stayed out of its fumes. Ew.

Sorting the car on the ship went smoothly, and now we are sitting on the ferry, writing our experiences for the blog.

We will continue in Melbourne, where we will sell our car. :(