We continued South of Waratah and the Cradle Mountain turnoff as far as Tullah. We then took the Mackintosh Dam road for about 6KM to a free camp site on the other side of the Dam. The road out was very good although there were one way sections over the dam and spillway. We arrived a few minutes ahead of the Ransleys and explored a couple of areas on foot. Although there was a small area down near the water by the second boat ramp we decided to remain in a large gravel area at the top. Not quite as scenic but we were more comfortable setting up in an open area with lots of solar. No facilities at this site but it is in a nice location and would make a good base for our Cradle Mountain exploration.
In the afternoon we took a drive into Tullah to explore. Not the nicest place as the whole town looks a bit like a work camp. Glad we chose to stay at the Dam. From there we travelled a bit further South to Rosebery as Rans wanted to top up the diesel to explore Cradle Mountain. Another town that won't be on our to do list. We described it as a poor man's version of Port Hedland. Definitely a mining town but without most of the conveniences of the larger, wealthier versions. We took a drive by the caravan park and it looked terrible. Glad we didn't try to stay there. The girls did a quick shop through the IGA which again was very poor. We jumped back in the Ranger and happily returned to our gravel pit at the dam!
Saturday morning we were up early and on the road to Cradle Mountain by 8:30. The road was good but as we are becoming accustomed to was winding and hilly. We had one stop at a lookout point where we walked to the top of a gravel road which overlooked the Cradle Mountain area. Was a good view but unfortunately the cloudy skies covered most of the mountain peaks.
Once at the park we checked in at the main office and purchased our National Park Pass which gives us access to all National Parks in Tasmania for 2 months. The have limited parking spots within the park itself so run free shuttle buses on a regular basis. It's a great way to get around the park as the roads are really narrow and we never waited for a bus for more than 10 minutes. We took the shuttle bus to the last stop at Dove Lake. We completed the 5KM Dove Lake Circuit walk from there. The weather improved as we went and the clouds eventually lifted off of the mountain peaks. There was next to no wind which is unusual and made for great walking conditions. The walk was good although there were a fair number of narrow parts and several sets of stairs going up and down. Some of the highlights would be Glacier Rock and the Boathouse which were both good locations to get photos. The track got busier as we progressed but was never too bad considering how many cars had been parked at the main office. We took a couple of hours to complete with a lot of photo/rest stops.
We jumped on a shuttle and returned to the main office to enjoy our picnic lunch. We did a couple of really short walks near the Interpretive Centre after lunch. The Enchanted walk which was along a creek on either side. It was nice rainforest but nothing that special. We then did another quick waterfall loop behind the Interpretive Centre. Again it was nothing spectacular but we did spot a Pademelon with a small joey sleeping near the boardwalk.
We jumped back on the shuttle bus again for the short trip out to Snake Hill car park. Had a really obnoxious bus driver who was very negative and continually lecturing the passengers about not approaching the animals or touching any fauna. Fair enough that he provided the warnings but he railed on and on and we couldn't wait to get off the bus (and touch some fauna or ride a Wombat). Just kidding!
We followed the Cradle Mountain boardwalk for a few kilometres from the Snake to Ronnie Creek. This was a fairly flat walk that was mostly boardwalk. It crisscrossed the creeks and traversed through some different landscape. Lots of Pencil Pines and other unique vegetation. Quite enjoyable but we were tired by the time we finished. Ironically enough we observed a couple of young guys well off the designated walkways approaching a Wombat at the Ronnie Creek Car park. Wish our overzealous bus driver had been there to chase them down. One more shuttle trip back to the main office with a much nicer bus driver and a quiet trip back to our campground at Lake Mackintosh.
Our friends from Harrington arrived in Tullah this afternoon and we arranged to have dinner with them the following day at our campsite. We decided to go our own ways exploring Cradle Mountain the following day as they were doing the walk we had already completed.
Sunday morning we had another early start and were on the road by 8AM arriving at the park before 9. We drove in as far as the Interpretive Centre where we parked the car. We took a shuttle bus to the Ronnie Car Park. From there we set off on a couple of hour walk. We would pass buy Crater Falls, Crater Lake, Wombat Pool, and Lake Lilla on route to the Dove Lake car park. The wind was quite cold when we set off and we weren't really properly clothed to deal with it. We kept up a good pace until we got to a more secluded area where the wind was more tolerable. The walk was quite interesting as we followed Crater creek through some fairly thick rainforest. Had a nice view of Crater Falls which were flowing quite well.
Continued on with a fair bit of climbing (both rocks and stairs) until we reached Crater Lake. This was quite pretty and we mostly had it to ourselves while there. Got some pictures including the boathouse there which were quite good. We personally thought that this section of the walk was superior to the more highly rated Dove Lake Circuit we had done the day before.
The walk which followed the 6 day Overland Track continued climbing until we were at the base of another lookout. This one was a very steep climb and fully exposed to the elements. The group decided this wasn't necessary for our experience. We continued on our planned route which involved a lot of stairs both down and up for the remainder of the trail. We got good views of Wombat Pool and Lilli Lake. Near the end of the walk we re-joined the Dove Lake walk which returned us to the parking lot. We also got some great views of Dove Lake from near Lake Lilla. The skies were not quite as blue as our first day but the clouds were completely off the peaks at Dove Lake. We were all pretty tired by the end of the walk and Sandra's back was playing up a bit. She decided to call it a day for walking.
On the way back to the campsite we took a detour via Waratah. This was a pretty little town and much nicer than Tullah or Rosebery. The houses, gardens, and town in general seemed to be well maintained. There is a caravan park there which looks quite good as well. We found the Waratah Falls lookout which are right in town. Very impressive and was part of an old mine. Not too much OH&S back in the day by the look of some of the pictures at the lookout. We made our way back to the campsite arriving just after 4PM.
We had a quick shower and got the BBQ ready for our company. They all showed up about 5PM and brought salads and their BBQ meats with them. They all had a good laugh about our two caravans sitting by themselves in the middle of an open field when they came around the corner. After several pre dinner drinks we enjoyed a lovely BBQ. We had to cook in a couple of shifts but everyone appeared to enjoy the end results.
We all were leaving the next morning for Strahan so we didn't have too late a night. All in all we enjoyed Cradle Mountain but wouldn't recommend Tullah or Rosebery too highly. Waratah would be the place to stay if you wanted a nice looking town and caravan park from which to explore the area. Cradle Mountain itself was nice but we didn't think it was one of the more spectacular places we have been. Sandra and I may be a bit jaded from the Rocky Mountains in Jasper/Banff/Lake Louise. Nice but not spectacular in our opinion.
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