Cradle Mountain & back to Hobart

Today was set aside as a travel day to get back to Hobart but we made the most of it. We were up relatively early and hopped straight in the car to beat the crowds on a mountain walk. They only let 50 cars into the national park with cradle mountain and then it's one in one out, we didn't have time to waste waiting so we were only the third car in the car park!

We chose the 2/3 hour walk around the lake at the base of the mountain and set off for a cold brisk walk. It was beautiful, silent and fresh. We saw no one for most of the route and the scenery was fantastic. It started bare and scraggly then changed to wiggly woods with tree branches blocking our path and roots tangled across the walkway. 

The mountain top was in and out of fog and there was still some snow at the top. We marched our way up rocky watery paths and got back to the car park flushed and windswept. l'm secretly proud of ourselves for doing the route in 1 hour 30. We wasted no time and we're back in the car as coaches of tourists arrived to start their walks.

We stopped off at a photographic gallery and walk around rooms of stunning views of dramatic scenery of Tasmania. The exhibition had some very good quality photography which made you stop and study to work out if they really were real places on this earth. There was also a room of wildlife photography explaining the features of the platypus, they are very strange creatures!

We then had the dreaded drive back down the mountain, I've been suffering from motion sickness, it's so strange I used to be able to read a book on a coach, now I can't even cope with looking down for a map check. I felt horrendous and left poor Edd to drive whilst I tried to sleep through the winding mountain roads. 

We made it through the worst bit and arrived at a glorified little chef cafe, the only food stop we had seen all morning. We had a basic lunch and grabbed a few cakes for the road. Edd, bless him offered to continue the driving whilst I was in charge of the sound system.

If you ever get the chance to try lamington cake grab it! I think Edd already wrote about it, sponge with chocolate and coconut, amazing! I fed one to Edd as we continued the journey.

We stopped off again in a town to visit a flour mill and were a bit surprised by how few people we saw, we did a lap of the town and decided not to waste any more time there. We stuck our heads in at the refurbished working mill which was cool to see but nothing much to report.#

We drove back through Richmond and went back to the sweet shop we had passed two days earlier. I had bought, what I thought, were a lot of sweets for our journey but had struggled to keep up with having my fair share as I watched them being gobbled up! So this time I made sure we had plenty! What I didn't think about is that we have to eat everything before we leave Tas because of the strict import/export rules at the airport so we may be buzzing on sugar when we board the plane to NZ the day after tomorrow.#

We have been against the clock since we arrived in Tas because we can't really drive in the dark, so each day it's been a relief when we have made it close enough to not be chasing the sun. Today we realised that we would be fine to stop at another vineyard before the dark caught up with us so Edd had a sample of 5 wines from a very small family run vineyard. I understand that the Riesling was exceptionally good, due to the hot weather they had last year.

I took over on the driving having let Edd drive over 4 hours of the journey today (he did offer!!) we arrived at our hostel to be shown round by the owner. It's such a lovely hostel, it's boutique so there are antiques everywhere but not in an fusty old way, I love it. The couple who run the place live here too so are around in the kitchen etc. It's interesting to see what they have done and I have to say I love it. I could almost see Edd and I running somewhere like this, who knows, maybe a future project!

We headed into town for dinner at the local fish and chip cafe on the harbour, our good old friends from Melbourne had recommended and again they didn't let us down. The cafe was simple but the food was good, and big dishes. Up until now I have really enjoyed eating out and haven't felt too over full but I think we've pushed our luck lately and my bodies letting me know! I think NZ needs to be lots of vegetables and not much else, I can't do any more amazingly rich, big portioned restaurant meals!

We found a great bar/pub on the way home which was extremely cosy with old armchairs, moose heads on the walls and wood fires. Edd had a tasting paddle of beer and reached his 100th unique Aussie beer just in time before we leave for NZ.

We are now back at the hostel with a good old cup of tea to finish the day off.