Our next major adventure started after two "buffer days" that included sleeping in, trip planning, doing laundry, and finishing Season 7 of Game of Thrones (What an ending. Am I right?). Indecision plagued our plans until the night before we were set to venture out of the house. Originally, we planned on a day in Launceston before heading down to Southern Tasmania. The weather took a turn for the better, so we ended up scrapping that plan. Instead, we set off for Mount Field National Park around 8:30am on Thursday morning.
The drive down was quite scenic. I've come to realize that there's a pretty stunning view no matter where you are in Tasmania. There are plenty of hills, farming fields, little towns, mountains, and lakes to keep the drive interesting. After our three and a half hour journey (during which I spent forty minutes napping after enduring motion sickness for most of the drive) we arrived safely at Mount Field. Unfortunately, the road to the top of the mountain, where the longer hikes were, was closed. Finding out about this was quite frustrating, since we'd taken the liberty of calling ahead to make sure the whole park was available to the public (namely people with two-wheel drive, since four-wheel drive is a must in most national parks when the weather negatively impacts road conditions). Luckily, Russell Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Tall Trees Circuit, and Lady Barron Falls are at the same part of the mountain as the information centre, so it was open for business.
The walk can be adjusted to accommodate different time preferences and limits. Individual walks, such as to Russell Falls, are a mere thirty-minute return trip. The walk we took was around three hours since we included every possible mini walk in the area. It linked up with the Tall Trees Walk which was simple and informative. The vegetation in this area varied widely, and was absolutely breath taking. Parts of the trail made it feel like you were walking through a rainforest. There were sections where the trees were so tall that you had to stand and stare at them for a few minutes just to grasp the monstrosity that they are. Near the end of our trek, there were very Australian looking trees that Ethan said reminded him of the mainland.
We took our time on the trail, stopping multiple times for pictures and just to take in the nature surrounding us. Once we completed our walk, we stopped in the café for cake and tea. There was also a nice little gift shop with a decent selection of Australian themed and Tasmanian based goodies. On our way out of the Café/ Gift Shop/ Information Centre, we read on the information board that the road had reopened for all park visitors. We decided to take the thirty minute drive to the top. The roads near Lake Dobson, which we intended on checking out, were covered in snow and a little slick-- justifying the road closures that had been in place earlier that day. Not to mention, the weather also took a rainy turn, so we decided to bail on our Lake Dobson excursion shortly after we reached the upper parking lot.
Exhausted from driving and walking, we headed to our accommodation which was about ten minutes from Mount Field National Park. While the accommodation itself was superb, the location was not ideal, since it was far away from any restaurants that were operating the day we were there. Consequently, our only option for a real meal was to drive forty minutes to New Norfolk. Upon our arrival, we tried looking for a pub, but opted for Maccas after looking at several pubs with mixed reviews. Our dinner choice was certainly not the healthiest. However, it was a great meal to end such a full-on day.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
- More details on Cradle Mountain- Lake St. Clair National Park can be found on the government website.
- If you're looking to book accommodation, I highly suggest taking a look on Booking.com. They have a plethora of reasonably priced hotels, motels, etc. for you to choose from for almost any destination. If you follow this link, I receive a small commission when you sign up and make a booking. You also earn $25 to put towards a booking! Thank you kindly if you use my link!
Wishing you the safest and smoothest of travels,
Jana