Cradle Mountain - Day 1

Seven hour drive from Hobart to Cradle Mountain National Park

With some stops along the way

For pictures!!

And to rest from car-sickness...poor Sofia had her eyes closed all the way!

Getting ready for the first hike

There it is...Cradle Mountain on the back, Dove Lake on the front.

That day we went for the shorter circuit around Dove Lake, leaving the summit for the day after (when it was supposed to be sunny)

We stopped at the Glacier rock for a lookout.

Sofia and Sofia, as Stina likes to call us

Me and Stina

And another stop at the small "beach" for some tree climbing and jumping pictures (that I still don't have with me, but soon will show you)

 Nothofagus fall leaves

The sun did show up once in a  while

More Nothofagus

And suddenly, another rainforest

That ended down here!

Autumn certainly looks beautiful on Cradle

There was a bit of Winter too!

This bird, and one of its friends (crow-like), followed us and our lunch sandwiches for almost an hour!It was creepy. One of them even had the guts to steel the food from Stina's hand! We nick-named it "the enemy"

And almost at the end of the circuit...what might look just as a normal cabin, but was a surprisingly special place!

Having finished the Dove Lake circuit we took the shuttle bus and went for the short Enchanted Walk

And it became a tradition, that wherever there was running water, Stina and Sofia would stop very still with their cameras and try to make the best photo ever. I must say they did succeed, and that this is not one of those photos. As I didn't have the same patience, I won't ask them for their master pieces!

That was when I kept walking and took pictures of trees instead...figured it was easier, as they tend not to move :)

And Wombat holes!

And moss!

And, my personal favorite, sunsets!

This was were we "saw" a platypus. By "saw" I mean we saw some movement in the water, and a very nice local old man told us that was the resident platypus coming to surface to breathe.