Cold Mountain

Travelling to Tasmania and not visiting Cradle Mountain is a bit like eating hot chips without tomato sauce i.e It shouldn't be done. Part of Tasmania's Wilderness World Heritage area, both entrances to the national park, Lake St Clair from the south and Cradle Valley in the north, are spectacular.

But another thing that's pretty darn amazing, is just how quickly the weather changes in these parts. Sure, there's tons of warnings around saying to 'expect all seasons' when you're heading off on a bush walk, but we thought the rangers were just being over cautious. It is summer and yes, it does rain a lot in Tassie, but snow in December? C'mon... But snow it did, the very night we decided to camp out at Cradle Mountain (and at $40 a night for a powered camp spot mind you, the most expensive and over-priced piece of dirt we've parked on so far on this trip).

We arrived at the national park and headed straight for Dove Lake to do the 2 hour bush walk around the beautiful waterway. Needless to say, that when we arrived, the birds were singing, the sun squeezing some shine through the clouds and we thought, "hey, this could be our lucky day!"

But exactly half way into your walk, when we were at the point furthest from any possible shelter or protection... it starts to rain. And then hail. Yep, big chunks of ice, falling from nowhere - the sun had done a runner just like Christopher Skase, all those years ago. If it wasn't for our brand new, yet-to-be worn Kathmandu rain jackets (that cost a bomb and make us look like total amateur bush walker losers - let's just say it took the hail storm for Luke and I to both get over ourselves and actually embrace the hiking apparel), we might be still shivering on the track somewhere right now, with tourists taking our photos, thinking we were some kind of drowned out marsupial rodents.

But we survived and found solace from the rain and freezing cold temperatures in the nearby Wilderness Lodge and Spa, which is a private lodge where the rich city folk stay when they visit the bush and conveniently mix their walks with a couple of facials, a mud body wrap and some time in the spa, sipping on champagne. Luke and I went for a coffee but when the staff mistook us for paying lodge guests and served our coffees in 'the lounge' in front of a log fire and with free pool table, we thought we better make the most of their hospitality before we went back to our freezing camping spot. And freeze we did. Kombi vans really should come with their own heating system - wearing a beanie to bed is a little too bogan for my liking.

But we were told that it did, in fact snow the night we stayed at Cradle Mountain. Thankfully not on us, but on the mountain peaks and probably on any poor soul who decided it was a good idea to challenge themselves and complete the 6- 12 day Overland Track walk, that takes you all the way from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair. Kombi's are cold, but tents are colder.

Yours in the great outdoors,

Odette