Search for the Tiger

Come morning I, as well as my tent, was frozen. A cold night, meant I slept very little. I tried to burrow down in my sleeping bag, but as the only one in the tent, and without all my personal gear, I suffered from cold feet for a majority of the night.

I did not realize just how cold it was outside however, until I crawled out of my tent and saw the frost and ice on the tent. A fellow camper had a glowing fire going that caught my eyes. I made my mind up then and there, that no matter what, I was going to make friends with him and warm up by his fire - even if it meant we would not be departing from the campsite at 7am like we planned. Simply put - I was just that cold and wasn't doing anything until I warmed up.

By the Lake

After it had warmed up a bit - the ice began to melt 

Sunrise. Sunrise...

By the river

Dew this morning was more like ice...

At the campsite that morning we did indeed get to warm up by the fire, and how lovely was it. Slowly I regained feeling in my toes and fingers and was feeling much happier and ready to conquer Craddle Mt.

When we got to the visitor's center we picked up a map of the area, seized up our route and headed off. To our delight, the trek took us across a portion of the Overland Track, the famous track that many thru-hikers camp along, which traverses Tasmania. 

The 3 amigos overlooking Dove Lake L-R Mesha, Gwenne, Manuela

view of Craddle Mt.

Mesha with Dove Lake in the background

Craddle Mt. again...

view from half way up the summit of Craddle Mt.

With the sun out and temperatures rising - it was definitely the makings of a fantastic day! It was often hard to put the camera down and to just take it all in...Along with the views, I enjoyed talking to other hikers along the way. Many people we met were from Melbourne, visiting Tazzy on holiday for a long weekend, but one couple strangely enough where from Coeur d'alene, Idaho, which is very close to where I attended uni, in Spokane, WA. This was a reminder of just how small the world sometimes is.

The openness of the tracks in Craddle Mt. National Park thrilled me. I loved being able to look over the valley, down at Dove Lake, and across the land. 

When we got to Kitchen Hut, an emergency shelter at the base of the summit of Craddle Mt. we found many other people resting up for the steep and semi-technical climb. We ate a snack and prepared. I was not sure how far I would hike, as my ankle had started to swell and my hip had been bothering throughout the day. I followed behind my mates up as far as perhaps half the summit when I decided to give in. I didn't want to further agravate my ankle, especially with us having a 3hr hike back to the car already. So I parked it on a nice flat rock and cheered them on. 

Mesha at her nap sight, halfway up the Summit of Craddle Mt. 

I can admit that upon that flat rock, that I soaked up the sun and great views of Craddle Mt. and Dove Lake, and took a nap. It was the best nap I have EVER had. 

I greeted hikers as they both came up and down from the summit. Most of them where worn out, out of breath, and happy to stop for a breather to talk to me.

I anxiously waited my mates to return from the top. As time dragged on, i considered fleeing to the car, to escape the park before dusk...I wondered if they were okay - and then then finally returned. We took an alternative track back to the car. We kept a fast pace at first - thinking if not, that we'd be caught in the dark. - But luckily we were faster than the predicted pace and made it back to within the car park long before the sunset. 

What greeted us along this last stretch of the hike was quite a surprise - Wombats! They were right along the track and oblivious to us. Cute and fluffy - I was tempted to give it a hug. I obviously didn't and took heaps of photos of it instead, as it munched on the grass. 

Craddle Mt. National Park

Wombat! We saw a handful of them! So cute.

That night at the campsite we met up with our friend from the previous morning, Jason. He was a solo traveler from Victoria that was enjoying Tazzy like us. He had a fire going which enticed us to join him for the night. Along with good conversation, we sat around the fire delighting in the splendor the the great outdoors and the full moon.

In the morning we packed up and went our separate ways. We decided to move on towards Hobart and to take time to see some more scenic sites along our route - like the Highland Lakes, Mt. Field, and the autumn colors present along the countryside. 

The Highland Lakes

Horseshoe Falls, Mt. Field National Park

Last campsite. I was delighted to wake up to sun!

Autumn Colors...

And then we headed back to Hobart, to hike around Mt. Wellington, before Manuela & I returned to the airport - to fly back to Melbourne. 

overlooking Hobart from Mt. Wellington

This guy was not far from the car park. - an Ekidna

After Mt. Wellington, we went part way down the Mt. to hike. We went to some water falls and enjoyed a picnic lunch before returning to the heart of the city.

We did a little shopping before heading to the waterfront for a nice last dinner in Tazzy. We went to Mures, for seafood. The fish, beer battered onion rings, and wine was superb. A great end to an amazing holiday, for sure. 

Back at the car we said our goodbyes. Gwenne was staying another week in Tazzy, while Manuela and I were flying back - to return to work.

The next 24 hours was quite long. There wasn't as much traffic as we predicted, and we finished dinner earlier than expected...and thus we returned the car and checked into the Hobart airport 3 hours before our flight - it was 7:30pm, Tuesday, April 19th. I wasn't back, in Eildon at my house until nearly 7:30pm, Wednesday. (I slept at the airport due to our flight getting in so late, and then had to wait around Melbourne until 4pm to catch the one and only 3 hour bus service to Eildon.

All in all, no regrets. I had a fab time in Tazzy and would enjoy going back in a heartbeat. I was lucky to have such good travel companions, the ability to borrow gear from work, and to have welcoming flatmates to come home too.

The only thing I regret is not seeing a Tasmanian Tiger. I was determined to see one...and attempted track them with little success. I guess I should be happy I saw wallabies and wombats up close and a Tazzy Devil run across the road.

But that does mean, the search for the Tiger continues...