Tasmania
how not to go hiking!
We flew back home to Sydney two days ago! Our biggest adventure and highlight in Tasmania would be our hike in Cradle Mountain National Park. At the time, it felt like a misadventure though! So let’s set the scene a little: There were 12 of us ranging from 20 months through to 64 years old. And we went to see Cradle Mountain. One cannot come to Tasmania and NOT see Cradle Mountain. The original plan was to walk Dove Lake Circuit because it was flat and therefore would be manageable with kids, a pram and a wheelie esky (a.k.a cooler bag).
In the group we had: – a 64 year old with gout in his left foot – a 30-something male who had pulled a hamstring during a spontaneous beach race on our first day in Tasmania – a 7 year old who had only just recovered from a 24 hour tummy bug the day before – a 20 month old asleep in a pram What was meant to be an easy walk turned into something extremely ambitious! Instead of walking the Dove Lake circuit which was a 2 hours walk around the lake (we all deemed it would take “too long”). We decided that we would walk the Lake Lilla Track to get to Ronny Creek so we could jump on the shuttle bus back to the Visitor Centre. How hard could it be, right? The map showed that it was mostly boardwalk so off we trot. Lake Lilla Track turned out NOT FLAT nor EASY nor QUICK especially if you were hiking with the four candidates listed above. We hadn’t prepared for this walk and this is when things started to get interesting!
Up and down the rocky pathway through the wilderness we walked with an infant asleep in the pram. Two of the men in our entourage carried the pram so Little Miss could continue to sleep, in hope that we would reach boardwalk soon. The path was narrow, and there were loose wet rocks as we hiked in single file. On and on we went, stopping occasionally to let passer-bys overtake us. We are sure they all thought we were mad! There were moments where we stopped to discuss whether to continue or to turn back as boardwalk was simply not in sight.
And always timely, we would see other hikers coming in the direction we were headed… Let’s ask them! So we did and the responses were similar: “You guys should turn back especially with the pram!” “The boardwalk is only at the very start of the hike, the rest will be rocks and water.” “There is a lot more rocks before you get to boardwalk.” “It’s pretty rough up ahead for you guys.” But did we heed their advice? Hmm… no! We pushed on because we had come so far already! There were times when we felt prematurely excited because there was boardwalk. We would celebrate and cheer, only to find that the boardwalk lasted 50 metres and we were back to gravel, uneven paths again! Were we EVER going to find civilisation?
Finally 2 and a half hours later, we arrived at boardwalk! Normally, it probably wouldn’t take hikers that long but with the entourage we had and our unpreparedness, it DID take us that long. Our reward for finishing was not only boardwalk but seeing wombats at the finish line! We had one wombat climb onto the boardwalk and walk right across our path. We also saw a baby wombat and its mum.
Regardless of our reward at the end – let us finish by clearly stating: THIS IS NOT HOW TO HIKE! It is so crucial to be prepared, to plan your hike to know where you are going and to notify a responsible person that you are hiking in case you don’t return. It was only after we arrived back at our motel, that we realised that we hadn’t done ANY of those things. We had one 600mL bottle of water each (if that) – we were not dressed for abrupt change in weather. We didn’t really know where we were going. We hadn’t told anyone what we were doing. We had changed our original walk plans and turned it into a hike. What was meant to be only an hour or two at Cradle Mountain National Park became a 3 hour visit. We can laugh about it now, safe and sunburnt but wouldn’t have been laughing if something dire had happened out there. Call us crazy or foolish, we learnt our lesson, we won’t be going unprepared again for bush walks or hikes!
Share this:
tassie here we come
So Christmas is now behind us and New Year is about to come knocking! We will be bringing in 2014 in Hobart this year. It’s the second year in a row that we will not be in Sydney!
Seriously?! Where does the time go? We cannot believe that this time last year, we were on a Caribbean cruise and this year, we are trying to think of what to pack for Tasmania.
We’ve googled the forecast for the next few days and the temperature ranges so much: from the lows of 9 to the highs of 28. A mix of winter and summer clothes are needed here!
This is a family holiday, we have 12 people aged between 1 years old (our niece) through to 64 years old (the patriarch of the family). The last time we did this, there was only 10 of us and we were driving a mini-van around Western Australia… After that experience, we have decided this time to split up into two cars for our sanity!
So our itinerary for this 10-day trip goes a little something like this:
Flying into Hobart for a few days, onwards to Bicheno for a few more, up north to Launceston and Sheffield to finish off. There will be day trips in between no doubt but these will be our “hubs”.
Thinking back to our visit here back in 2008: we are looking forward to eating fresh fruit and visiting the different farms, seeing wildlife and the beauty of nature… and who doesn’t love a good ole road trip!!
Share this:
you can farm anything
Tasmania seemed to have a farm for everything: there are potato farms, lettuce farms, poppy farms, honey farms, cheese farms, lavender farms. Let’s talk about some of the farms we visited.
We certainly did not go hungry in Tassie. There was delicious and fresh food everywhere. Driving around the state, there are numerous fruit farms you can visit. We visited three: Hillwood Strawberry Farm, Kate’s Berry Farm and Sorrell Fruit Farm. 
We had NO idea that there were so many types of berries. So for 10 days we indulged on cherries, strawberries, waffles and sundaes! The great thing about these farms is that you can pick your own fruit if you are that way inclined.
Fresh seafood is also not lacking here. There are salmon farms to visit where you can feed the fish and then there are places where you can eat fish (not necessarily the same fish you saw at the farms). While we were down on the east coast, we ate at an amazing Japanese place, Kabuki in Swansea. Lovers of seafood will NOT be disappointed in Tasmania.
But let’s not forget the final stop for us… the chocolate farm – well, its registered name would probably be the Cadbury Factory! That was quite an experience. We saw them making, wrapping, packing, stacking the chocolate. We got to eat lots of chocolate on the tour too. We walked through the the factory with our hair nets, white lab coats and shoe protectors… Willy Wonka eat your heart out! The one place we did not get to see was the FORBIDDEN FACTORY – actually, it wasn’t really called that. It’s the part of the factory where Flake and Twirl are made. The recipe and process is so top secret, Cadbury could not risk the secret getting out!
Share this:
enjoy the view
Tasmania really has it all. There is something for everyone here. History buffs would enjoy Port Arthur or Richmond where the first bridge in Australia can be found!
And for anyone who enjoys scenic holidays – Tassie will not disappoint. There are waterfalls, monoliths, mountains, bays, beaches.
On the northwest coast, in beautiful Stanley sits a volcanic monolith, the Nut. You can walk to the top or you could use the chairlift to get a view of the town. The day we were there was too windy that the chairlifts were closed – and we opted not to climb to the top so can’t really comment on the view.
Also in the northwest coast is Dismal Swamp. Yes, the name doesn’t sound overly cheerful but it is a very pleasant blackwood forest to visit. It is a sinkhole of blackwood trees and believed to be the only one in the world. There are two ways to get around, one is the walkway and the other is to jump down the big slippery slide that will take you to the bottom.
Towards the centre of Tasmania, there is Cradle Mountain. The area is serene and the Dove Lake perimeter walk is easy with a magnificent backdrop. Definitely NOT to be missed whilst in Tasmania.
Then on the northeast coast, the Bay of Fires – the coastal views are really incredible. Seeing the contrast in the boulders splashed with red, the white sand and the wild waves crashing ashore…. one could just spend hours walking along the coastline.
Moving south, no one should miss Wineglass Bay. The walk to the top for the view down has about 600 steps to climb, just short of 1.5 km. But that view is divine! The day we were there, we had perfect weather and our advice to all who wishes to attempt it: Start early and bring water! It was incredible how many people we saw heading up with no water and starting out at lunchtime when the sun is obviously at its peak!!
And finally in the southeast, around Eaglehawk Nest: there is the Tasman Arch, the Devil’s Kitchen and the Tessellated Pavement.
And to be fair, the list can go on and on. This list is by no means exhaustive. This is just a snippet. And as you can see, we haven’t even touched much of the west at all!
Share this:
- ← Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next →
wise monkeys abroad 