Tuesday 13th November 2007

Because Cradle Mountain is about 100km away from Deloraine, we set the alarm nice and early this morning (about 7am). We all got straight up, had showers and some breakfast and were all ready to leave, but then couldn't be bothered. The view from the hostel balcony was absolutely stunning! It reminded us of the one from the terrace at Cameley Lodge, where we had our first breakfast as Hubby and Wife - so we sat outside eating our toast, but then couldn't be bothered to move. The weather was just as good as the view, and we eventually left at about 8.30am... d'oh!

All the way to Cradle Mountain, the beautiful morning weather was slowly disappearing - and everywhere was suddenly overcast. Thankfully, after the two hours it took to get there, the clouds had broken and the National Park looked awesome! We drove up to a place called Dove Lake and parked the car - before going for (another) walk. The walk took us about an hour and a half - and was much easier than the others we'd been doing lately - but was just as special. Cradle Mountain is HUGE and has one of Tasmania's highest peaks, at 1617m. Whilst on the walk it was as if we were the only people in the world - it was so quiet and peaceful. We got back to the car, where we had a sarnie for our lunch and then drove on...

We spent the rest of the afternoon and the start of this evening driving across country, up into the North West and a place called Stanley. Steve is absolutely unbelievable... he slept almost the whole way - we're sure he's narcoleptic! Some of the roads are so windy - it must be like riding a rollercoaster in the back off the car - but nothing wakes him... it's crazy! The drive really reminded us of some of the roads in New Zealand, with rolling green hills everywhere we looked.

Tonight we managed to check into a small cabin on a lovely campsite and had some cheese on toast for our tea. We had a quick walk along the beach, which is right outside - but then had to come inside because it looked like the weather would change for the worse again.

Me, Nikki and Steve... Walking experts!