Cradle Mountain

4th December 

We left Strahan and headed for Cradle mountain

Cradle Mountain is a locality and mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Tasmania. The mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. At 1,545 metres above sea level, it is the sixth-highest mountain in Tasmania.

In the left of this picture - at the base of the mountain - you can just see the layers of sedimentary rock. At one time the mountain was completely covered in sedimentary sandstone rock and over time - ice ages and weathering - the sedimentary layers have worn away to reveal the igneous rock underneath.

Our bus & trailer:

Group photo:

There was a choice of which walk to do. I decided to do the harder option, a hike above the lake to Marion's lookout, which gave amazing views of Cradle and the surrounding mountains. Last week, Joe said they couldn't do the tough walk as it was too wet and windy, -7 degrees and they had snow up the top of cradle, which you couldn't even see. - Shows how changeable the weather can be.

Some of us did a longer walk down which was really lovely, dropping down through a wooded bit then out onto an open plane which honestly felt 'other-worldly' as the scenery was like nothing I'd ever seen before

We were lucky enough to see Wombats on the way. These are in the same family as the Koala, which Tasmania doesn't have.

and this lovely Echidna

We visited Sheffield - quite unlike the one in England - famous for it's colourful murals

and then to our motel accommodation in Launceston, which was really nice! We had a room with a sofa & kitchen. There was a small pool and spa too, so we got to have a swim and I had my first beer in Oz. They have a size between a pint & half pint called a schooner - Australian beer explained:

Australia is more strict about where you can drink  - not on trains or some public areas - I may have already mentioned. If you are going to work in a pub, or somewhere serving alcohol to the public, you have to do a course and test - the RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) - where you have to record your response to serving someone who is clearly too drunk or getting rowdy. This exam is different in different states too.

And below, a bit of proper Aussie Culture we learnt about from Joe: