Tasmania to Tokeyo – Freycinet National Park / Cradle Mountain – Day 12 can be found here.
A much-needed leisurely start to the morning, along with a homemade breakfast. I’m glad of the break from the seemingless endless parade of bacon and eggs and the hundred-dollar-plus restaurant bills that follow. I even manage to make do with instant coffee, though I expect a cappucino waits for me in the not-too-distant future.
The kids start in on their homework while I get going with everyone’s least-favourite holiday task: laundry.
Fortunately, Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village has a decent-sized laundry set up and no one else seems to be doing laundry this morning. That might be because the average stay here seems to be about two days.
I do have to go back to reception to get more change – it appears that we’ll be running two loads instead of one. At least they have the washer space for it! It costs roughly AUD$10 per load – $5 for a wash, and $1 for every 8 minutes in the dryer.
They even have a bench where one can while away those extra minutes while waiting for a load to finish:
I also inform reception that our fireplace appears to be out of order. We tried everything possible last night, but just couldn’t get it working. While my inner handyman is tempted to confirm whether the gas line is turned on, I’m wise enough (or old enough, at least) to know that some tasks are better left to maintenance staff.
Laundry gets promptly switched up, and we move on to the dryer. It’s a reasonably quick process – 35 minutes for the washer, and 40 minutes for the dryer.
Once that’s all settled, we head off for a quick walk around the resort, and then through a nearby cut-through to Cradle Mountain Hotel:
They have a pleasant bar and seating area:
And yes, they do have cappuccinos (and chai lattes, and hot chocolates):
But it’s the outdoor patio that really steals the show:
There’s a walking path here too, but this preamble was just a teaser for our later hikes. Still, nice to get out and stretch our legs a bit.
Back to the room for lunch, and to do a bit more reading / writing / homework. We then head into the town of Latrobe to see if we can spot some platypus at the Warrawee Forest Reserve.
The drive takes roughly 90 minutes, back down the winding roads and once more through Sheffield. The initial Google Maps navigation directions take us to recently-purchased private land – so we’re forced to back up and try again at a different site. For anyone attempting the same route, enter Wild Mersey Mountain Bike Trails, Latrobe instead of Warrawee Forest Reserve.
But it’s a great place to start – and we spot a platypus in the river right by the parking lot:
This fellow shows no signs of wanting to head to the shore, however.
Time is running short before our dinner reservation, but we attempt to see if we can spot some more out around the Platypus Viewing Bridge – roughly a 1.5 km walk each way from the parking lot.
Sadly, no luck.
We rush back to the parking lot so that we don’t miss our dinner reservation, careful to keep an eye (and ear) out for the cyclists and scooter-drivers who share this trail. We’re passed by a group of kids who look like they’re headed off to a swimming spot.
Off for dinner at Belly’s Bar and Grill, which seems to be a popular neighbourhood haunt. Most tables are reserved when we walked in – ours among them.
Image Credit: Belly’s Bar and Grill
My son gets the burger:
I have the Tasmanian scallops:
My wife has the lasagna:
And our daughter gets the steak:
All very tasty – the scallops are perfectly done, as is the steak.
We spend most of dinner marvelling at how bizarre platypus (or platypuses but not platypi) are. From laying eggs (as do echidnas we discover) to having electroreceptors in their bills to secreting milk through pores for approximately 4 months (females) to having venomous spurs (males) which aren’t lethal to humans – only exceedingly painful – these are definitely some of the oddest creatures evolution has formed. And no wonder that in the Victoria era many people thought they were a half-beaver, half-bird hoax. Seeing really is believing for the platypus.
For dessert, the kids get the worms and dirt:
It’s about triple the dessert they require, but they offer no complaint.
We’re hoping to get back to the Warrawee Forest Reserve after dinner for one more quick round of platypus spotting, so we run errands during dinner – I dash off to pick up a few bottles of wine, while my wife heads to the nearby IGA once the kids wrap up their main courses.
Back to Warrawee again, to that same spot right by the parking lot.
At first we only spot some distant ducks:
But then – success!
As much as I would have loved to have seen these remarkable creatures on land, seeing them move through the water like this was very special indeed.
I’m glad that I brought my chonky boi (the 180 – 600 mm telephoto lens) as I needed the full zoom to get a close-up view.
Then back to Cradle Mountain. Another ninety minute drive – a lot of time in the car, but the kids say that the meal alone was worth it.
Internet here is pokey, so it takes more than an hour to upload photos. Guess we need to pass that extra time drinking wine in front of the now-functional fireplace. Shucky darn.
Another sleep-in tomorrow – and then canyoning in the afternoon.
Continue reading Tasmania to Tokyo – Cradle Mountain – Day 14.