In the heart of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area lies the iconic Cradle Mountain, one of Australia’s most amazing sites. More precisely, it’s located in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. We were ready and excited to explore it.

Day 11 and 12, Monday, September 16 and Tuesday, September 17: Cradle Mountain

We arrived in the Park from Launceston after driving on long winding roads. After checking in at the Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge just after 4 pm, and getting cabin #34 with a fireplace (!) for two nights, we went to check out our surroundings before it got dark.

We did the 20-minute long “Enchanted Walk”, one of Tasmania’s 60 great short walks, that took us through mossy forests along the cascading Pencil Pine Creek.

Then we visited the Knyvet and Pencil Pine waterfalls. We even spotted a pademelon and a wombat.

Tuesday morning greeted us with rain, and the forecast for the day was also rain. So, we decided to wait before we did any hike/walk. It was nice and warm in the room, a perfect place for reading and blogging. But in the early afternoon we finally gathered up our courage and went out into the wind and rain. Took the shuttle bus to the Cradle Mountain stop. Our original plan was to walk the 6 km long, 2-3 hours circuit around Dove Lake – directly beneath the mountain – and enjoying the epic views of the 1,545 meter (5,069 ft) tall Cradle Mountain.

And what was the reality? The weather was bad, the visibily poor, and despite the six layers of clothing (including our down jacket and the rain jacket on top of it) we were cold; so, we opted for only two short walks. The first to Dove Lake Boatshed, the second to Glacier Rock.

Despite the bad weather the beauty of nature was evident, but the famous mountain was playing with us. It was behind the clouds the whole time while we were there. I guess this is something you cannot predict.

When the snow started to fall, it was time to go back to the cabin. The late afternoon and evening was spent before the fireplace, sipping the Tasmanian wine we recieved as a welcome at our Coles Bay accommodation. It was the best way to end this wet and windy day.