tasmania, part I

Hiking in Tasmania is serious business...hilly business.

Hike #1: Wineglass Bay/Hazards Bay Circuit; Freycinet National Park.

12.45 kms / 7.74 miles
4 hours 8 minutes



A classic Tassie "walk." We had to basically go up a mountain to get to the Wineglass Bay lookout (worth it) and then hike all the way back down again to get to the beach (also worth it). Then we made our way through a swamp to Hazard's Beach and back around the mountain to get back to where we started. By the end, my legs were shaking. My dad looked pretty beat too. Vincent showed off by carrying all the water the whole way and not even breaking a sweat. Hm. I guess that's what hip surgery and old age to do people. Vincent's day will come.

Tiring as it was, the scenery and weather couldn't have been better. Little did we know how our hiking-luck was going to keep up!

Hike #2: Crater Lake/Lake Lilla Loop; Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park

approx. 5 kms / 3.1 miles
approx. 2.5 hours

I didn't bring my super-awesome-gps-running-watch on this hike, because we thought it was going to rain. Thinking back, I don't know why that stopped me since it's water proof for up to 30 minutes in metre-deep water. Next time. In any case, this hike was a bit on the fly because our originally planned hike turned out to be an un-maintained trail which would require a little extra "gear." My father and Vincent took that as a sign that I was trying to kill them. They decided we would choose another hike. No trust. Thus, we did Crater Lake/Lake Lilla loop, which basically, once again, took us up a mountain to Crater Lake and then down to Wombat Pool and Lake Lilla.

Cradle Mountain is basically an alpine rain forest! The scenery is impossible to describe--I'd never seen anything like it. 1/3 of the plant life on Tasmania is found only here. They also have wombats...and tasmanian devils.

Hike #3: Dove Lake Circuit; Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park

5.89 kms / 3.66 miles
1 hour 56 minutes



Our last hike in Tasmania. Sigh. This was our easiest hike with the least elevation change and the shortest route. It was me, dad, Vincent and Bec! The view was beautiful and the weather held out for us. But we had to bundle up it was probably in around 4C/40F in some places/at some moments (my estimation). We walked right to the base of Cradle Mountain, which of course is the main attraction!

I'm secretly (or I guess now, not so secretly) planning another trip. Lemme know if you want in!