Cradle Valley

Mount Roland

Cradle Valley was earmarked as one of the highlights when we were planning the trip and today was the day to explore it. We set off early as there was a long drive to ge there and we wanted to beat the crowds. As we tracked south the escarpment of the central plateau came into view in the form of Mount Roland.

Dove Lake

The weather was overcast, windy and a bit cooler than we had expected. Having checked in at the visitor centre, we caught the shuttle bus to Dove Lake (above).

The majority of tourists walk part the way around Dove lake or the full circuit and that is the limit of their Cradle Valley visit. Considering that Cradle Mountain towers over the lake, that you have seen some of the best that the valley has to offer. However, our plan was to venture beyond Dove Lake and hike up to Crater Lake. After a short distance around the lake, we veered away from the lake and up hill.

Some clever cloggs altered pretty much every sign pointing to Wombat Pool (above).

As we climbed, we kept glancing behind us to look at the saddle of Cradle Mountain (above), still towering above us.

Lake Lilla

The trail up to Crater Lake passes two other water features beginning with Lake Lilla (above). The lakes in the area are all black thanks to the numerous tea trees that leach sap into the ground water.

The trail started to go more vertical after Lake Lilla via boardwalk steps. The boardwalks have been added to the trails to reduce the spread of dieback (a fungus that kills vegetation) and to reduce damage and erosion to the trail by the huge number of visitors each year.

Wombat Pool

As expected, Wombat Pool was void of wombats because that's what happens when you name a geographic feature with an animal name. It scares them away! This is a known worldwide phenomenon. Wombat Pool was interesting, despite the lack of wombats. Once again the dark stain tint in the water was prominent.

The trail got even steeper as we turned up the ridge above Wombat pool. The boardwalks also vanished, turning it into a scramble of sorts with loose rocks. We had just connected with with the Overland Track that starts at Ronney Creek shuttle stop. As we gained elevation we found ourselves more & more exposed to the howling wind.

By the time the trail leveled off above Wombat pool (below) we had unobstructed views down the Ronney Creek Valley and the shuttle stop we would descend to later.

Dove Lake / Crater Lake Lookout

We all made it to the lookout on the top of the ridge fatigued, but otherwise unscathed. On the eastern side Dove Lake & Lake Lilla were far below us. To the west, Crater Lake has a backdrop of a steep rocky ridge.

Marions Lookout

The team were keen to head back down the valley but I wasn't satisfied with the lake lookout. My mission was to complete the next section of the Overland Track as far as Marions Lookout. After a fairly sedate walk along the ridge (left of the above picture) the trail suddenly turned much more vertical. The previous scramble seemed like a doddle compared to this. I was finding to challenging with a day pack and a camera bag. There were others with full hiking packs that I was certain were going to topple backward and find themselves back on the ridge in pieces.

The views of Crater Lake became increasingly impressive. The origins of its name became more obvious the further up the steep slope I climbed.

I was in a world of hurt by the time I reached the lookout. I was under time pressure to make the lookout & descend in time to catch the others so I was charging pretty hard on difficult terrain. The effort was worth it though, and I wanted to soak in the spectacular views.

Finally I had a clear view of Cradle Mountain. I felt like it was drawing me to hike over to it, but that will have to wait for another time. Dove Lake seems so far below. Had we really climbed that much in the space of a couple of hours?

The lookout is high enough that you can look east across the central plateau and notice that it isn't as flat as you would expect. It is some of the inaccessible wilderness that Tasmania is famous for. From the lookout, it felt like you could just reach up and touch the underside of the clouds. Maybe if I was another foot taller.....

Crater Lake

The scramble back down to Crater Lake was even more challenging than the climb. I made it without incident but there were quiet a few near misses.

I followed the trail off the side of the ridge at the Lake Lookout and followed Carter Lake's shoreline. Down there is was protected from the wind which was a nice reprieve and I could enjoy the scenery in some level of comfort.

Crater Lake overflows via an obscure little stream that vanishes under a log (above).

Ronney Creek

The creek reappears a little way down the valley and topples over a rocky shelf forming the twin waterfalls called Crater Falls. This is the headwaters of Ronney Creek.

Ronney Creek initially meanders through the forest before the forest gives way to a vast marshy  grassland. This was where I managed to catch up to the rest of the party.

We were very lucky to see a wombat munching away on the lush grass. The poor critter was being harassed by a hoard of march flies.

We caught the shuttle back to the visitor centre and had a picnic lunch in the back of the car. We didn't have time or the energy to go back out and try to tackle another trail. I suspect we'll be back at some point to explore this area more thoroughly. I'd like to take on the overland track some day.

We decided to take the alternate, slightly longer, roads back the Devonport. We did start to question our judgement a bit when we saw signs like the one above. The road took us past the Cethana Dam(below). There isn't anything especially remarkable about it.

Marakoopa Cave

 As entertaining as the wildlife sanctuary was, we weren't done exploring. It was nearing lunch time, so we drove a little further down the road to the Marakoopa Cave visitor centre to book our tickets for an afternoon tour. With that taken care of, we had some lunch (with about 100 march flies) and did the short rainforest walk that tracks along Marakoopa Creek.

Marakoopa Cave is nowhere near as spectacular as some of the caves we have been to closer to home in the south west of Western Australia, but that didn't mean we didn't enjoy the cave tour because, like most limestone caves, it had it's own unique character.

 The dominating features of this particular cave system are the many very fine straws hanging from the ceiling and lots of water.

Other types of structures like curtains and terraces also adorn the caverns.

As you exit the cave, you are greeted by a lush green rainforest.

From the cave, we drove north to Devonport, were we would be based for the next couple of days. We had a well kitted out cabin in a caravan park, right on the shore of Bass Strait.