[Mid-November]
It was our second day in Tasmania. Encouraged by the short distances between locations, we decided to drive to Cradle Mountain to check it out. The closer we came, the wilder the landscape, the steeper the roads, the scarier the serpentines.
Then the surprise: a huge carpark with separate areas for buses, caravans, and cars, a modern visitors centre with a Nordic-looking design, a gas station and a dump point, and a fleet of minibuses to transport visitors to the respective walks. Everything appeared extremely well organised. Even though the weather was freezing and their was an icy drizzle, the car park was half full and we saw groups of people rushing towards the entrance. In the distance, we could make out the iconic top of Cradle Mountain half-hidden in a grey cloud.
Fresh from the ferry, we were totally unprepared and could only muster the coffee shop, which was packed with shivering folks. We decided to wait until it was warmer (the forecast for the following week was subzero temperatures and snow) and come back again.
Two weeks later we were in luck: It was relatively warm and supposed to be clear. Still we took everything with us: thermals, gloves, beanies, rain jackets, hiking shoes, and sun hats. By now we knew that the warnings about the constantly changing weather were not to be ignored. Our “base camp” was at Gowrie Park, a 40-minute drive from the east at the foot of Mt Roland.
Liz Mike Travels 