Inhospitable, but definitely there
It was pretty cold and dreary when we arrived at Cradle mountain, but we raced on down to have a look. We kept stopping to take photos in case the weather closed in before we got to the lake.
Just as well we did, the weather was even nastier for the remaining two days we stayed! One night had a wind chill of -2.2C! That was particularly cool in the caravan, but we survived by rugging up and wearing beanies to bed, and so the night passed without too much hassle. The weather never cleared while we were there, but we still took the opportunity of doing a couple of little walks in the area.
The first evening, after we had seen cradle mountain, it being late, we went to get a bite to eat at Cradle Mountain Lodge. Emma went in first to ask if they had room for us, and they said that would be fine as we were fairly early. Only after we were on our way to the table did we realise that the joint was a little more posh than we had first imagined. There was the full service and an outstanding menu, and we were dressed in hiking/wet weather gear. No one really minded, least of all us, and dinner passed off remarkably well. The children were little angels the whole night and ate their dinner without any fuss at all. I think Marsie and Parsie were particularly impressed.
The rest of our visit to the Cradle mountain area was great, but cold. There was also plenty of rain, with a tiny smattering of clearer skies here and there. A lot of the days were spent by the fireplace in the camp kitchen trying to keep warm and getting a little school work done from time to time. We had a great excursion to the devils@cradle, which is a little zoo where they are keeping a disease free population of Tassie Devils to ensure survival of the animal into the future. We got to pat one of the little guys and see a few others getting some tucker. They are pretty amazing creatures that consume their prey entirely, bones and fur and all. What I remember most of, however, is that it was bitterly cold, and that I almost wouldn't have minded my bones being eaten by a Tassie Devil, if only they would warm them up a little.
The rest of our stay at Cradle was great, with a few walks here and there, along with quite a few wombat sightings. You could tell they were nearby, by spotting the little square poos around the place. All in all, thumbs up for Cradle Mountain, just maybe a little earlier in the year, before the chill sets in.
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