Lockdown Walks Down Memory Lane: Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, Australia

Welcome back to yet another lockdown walk down memory lane. As I’ve fed you rather well on the last one, even doubled up on haggis, I thought I give you a chance to work it off today while taking you to one of my favourite places in the world, which has loads to offer while still being somewhat forgotten by most tourists visiting Australia.

I’m speaking of the wonderful little island Tasmania, home of the Tassie devil and many more cheeky creatures we might come across today when exploring Cradle Mountain, Alum Cliffs State Reserve and the Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary. Despite being another great location for a walk, Cradle Mountain also represents another stepping stone (or rock in this case) on my journey to becoming a wild camper, wherefore I’m quite excited to tell you a bit more about it.

Formerly known as Ribbed Rock, Cradle Mountain was officially named in 1827 by the explorer Joseph Fossey who associated the mountain’s dipping profile between the main summit and Little Horn with a gold prospector’s cradle. Ribbed or cradled, the mountain is a spectacular sight and starting point of the Overland Track, probably the most famous long-distance track in Australia.

The 65km (40 miles) track, which takes about 6-7 days to cover, leads through a rugged landscape speckled with glacial formations such as tarns, moraine deposits, cirques, U-shaped valleys, waterfalls and glacial lakes, finishing at Australia’s deepest one, Lake St Clair with a maximum depth of 215 metres (700 feet).

Experienced hikers describe the trail as moderate, especially if you’ve done multi-day hikes before, whereby adverse weather conditions can quickly turn it into a more challenging feat. On top of that, one should keep in mind the beginning of the track when packing your bag as you’ll have to climb over the shoulder of Cradle Mountain, something that might make you reconsider if you really need that extra pair of pants or not.

I do recall spotting little glimpses of regret in the faces of trail hikers we came across in 2018, something that was instantly washed away when encouraging words were uttered, probably the moment I decided that’s something I’d like to do one day. Especially after we already visited the finish at Lake St Clair where I chatted to a trekker passing the metaphorical finish line with a big smile worth a million bucks distracting from the otherwise weathered state he was in.

Unfortunately, my globetrotting future only had one year of Australia on the cards for me wherefore I had to wave goodbye three years ago today actually, opening up a completely new chapter of my life that brought me back to the UK after a six months detour, a time I would never exchange for the sponsorship I was hoping for.

Being kicked out of a country I envisioned myself living in for much longer ended up being a blessing in disguise, and so did last year, when a Yorkshire Three Peaks event got cancelled due to existing restrictions making me sign up spontaneously for the wild camping weekend which gave me the kick in the bum (or inspiration, whichever you prefer) I needed to finally put my stories out there. And who knows, now being fully skilled and equipped, Tassie better watch out…

But, where were we? Yes, today’s walk on which I’ll attempt to be a bit more quiet, so you can enjoy the views and sounds of nature instead of trying to follow my little tangents about life and such. I’ll provide a few more details on the things we’ll see after our stroll for the ones interested. Before we head out though, one quick safety note in case you decide to wander off and get yourself lost in the beautiful scenery. I hope you won’t but just in case you do ever get yourself lost in the Australian bush, remember to shout “Cooee!” (/ˈkuːiː/) from the top of your lungs as that’s the official signal to indicate your own location and attracting the right attention as it blends in with the sounds of nature.

Sounds like a random word I just made up (I swear I didn’t), but it carries quite far, especially in places such as Cradle Mountain where we practiced it ourselves and the echo was just incredible. But enough from me, let the landscape do the talking:

No scrumptious snacks today but I hope you enjoyed the sweet treat in the end, which you truly deserved having covered a track that usually takes about 2-3 hours and involves quite a few steep areas, so honestly, well done!

If intrigued and hungry for more views as well as regional sounds, here another trail to consider leading you around the foreshore of Dove Lake, where we started our walk and actually parted with some of our fellow travellers who were keen on a more relaxed stroll — apologies I did not give you the option in advance but I’m sure you don’t regret working up a sweat given the views from Marion’s Lookout, right?!

In contrast to the views from up top, the Dove Lake Circuit, which takes about 2 hours, gives another lovely perspective of Cradle Mountain while passing by sub-alpine plants and temperate rainforests. I mentioned regional sounds to go along with it, so if you’d like some background music while circling Dove Lake, maybe give Xavier Rudd’s 🎶Follow the Sun🎶 a go, one of the many artist our fantastic tour guide Matt introduced us to adding another layer to our Australian experience.

If still not done with the rocky views and keen on making it a whole day, you might want to consider the Cradle Mountain Summit hike for your future endeavours. It’s a 6-8 hours return track for serious bushwalkers in search of ultimate panoramic views reaching as far as Mount Ossa, the highest peak in Tasmania.

Be it high up, or down below, I do hope you enjoyed exploring Tassie with me today. As promised, below a few more bonus facts if so inclined. Otherwise, I wish you a lovely rest of the day and hope to see you again next time! ⛰️🎒🙋‍♀️

Devilled Bonus

I think I covered Cradle Mountain plenty and there’s not too much more to say about Alum Cliffs State Reserve either, besides the fact that it’s a 40-minute walk to the lookout and back, piece of cake for you guys just having tackled the mountainous track.

Something I would like to talk a bit more about though is the Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary and its native inhabitants who made our day and hopefully got you to smile a bit as well. Despite being terribly cute, they are also rather intriguing creatures, squared poo and all.

That’s right, let’s start with our all-time favourite, the Wombat, who’s not only known for buns of steel, or rather cartilage, but also for pooping in cubes, the latter preventing their droppings from rolling off their marked territory such as rocks or trees, …and to sit perfectly on lake signage apparently. Their well armoured rear on the other hand, serves as their main defence mechanism. If a predator is in sight, these ingenious mammals dive down into their burrows and block off the entrance with their big behind which is very resistant to scratches and bites and could even crush skulls if need be putting iron-assed walnut-crackers to shame — did you know there was a world record on that…?!

But back to the Wombat. You might now understand why we couldn’t help but fall in love with those clumsy looking creatures which apparently are the closest living relative to the Koala. Not an obvious comparison but both species have backward-facing pouches, unlike the kangaroo version we’re familiar with and saw in the video. That feature is particularly useful for Wombats who love to dig and would otherwise just fill their pouches with dirt if not upside down.

Funny creatures indeed, but don’t let looks fool you as these marsupials can run at speeds of 40 km/h, that’s just 7 km/h slower than Usain Bolt?! Hard to believe but so is squared poo, so I shall give them the benefit of a doubt and move on to the animal we do associate with speed and destruction, the Tassie Devil.

Their scientific name “Sarcophilus harrissii” translates to “Harris’s Meat Lover” thanks to the scientist Harris who described the Tasmanian Devil. Fairly fitting description given our stereotype which is further enforced when considering their start to life as a mother gives birth to around 20-40 Joeys at once while only having 4 teats to offer — survival of the fittest at its best one might say.

Furthermore, they have one of the most powerful bites in the world estimated to be around 544kg per square inch which helps them crash bones to consume while also being able to open their jaw 75-80 degrees. I’m sure the urge to give them a little pat on the head hereby quickly vanished, so let’s better stick to the quoll for that one.

While all of them are pretty nifty creatures, they are endangered, especially the devils which were almost wiped out be an aggressive non-viral clonal transmissible cancer (devil facial tumour disease), wherefore one of the main missions of the Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary is being a safe haven for healthy creatures while trying to repopulate the species on the main island where the disease is still causing havoc.

Trowunna hereby might be the best metaphor for Tasmania itself, a place that still feels rather untouched, unspoiled, and somewhat undiscovered by frantic tourism. A safe haven for the adventurer soul with loads of quiet corners to explore, a variety of activities to try which you rarely get in one country alone, while being surrounded by some of the friendliest people in the world who truly enjoy sharing their beautiful island and its little surprises with you, our tour guide Matt most likely being the embodiment of such mindset.

So, if you ever get a chance to go, please do, I promise you won’t regret it! If still not convinced, stay tuned, as there might be a few more Tassie stories coming your way…

When was I there? 6 January 2018