The Best of Tasmanian Nature
I’ve quickly come to realize that most of Tasmania’s beauties lie within its expansive forestry. If you’ve been following my blog posts, you might remember my post about Wineglass Bay, and how much I loved it. Simply put, that trip was just me getting my feet wet. Before I knew it, I was instantly hooked and infected by the nature bug. From here, I wanted to travel to and hike the rest of the national parks that were on my Tasmania bucket list. If pushing your body to the limit, breathing in the freshest air in the world, and seeing spectacular views is your thing, please visit this breathtaking island.
About a week after my trip to Wineglass Bay, we were already on our way to our next hike: Cradle Mountain at Lake St. Clair National Park. Known for its cradle-like shape, I remembered that this hike was home to many of Tasmania’s most beautiful and scenic hikes. Filled with excitement, we were all handed maps of the whole park. Chatter filled the bus with options of which hikes to do. Cradle Mountain is a four-hour drive from Hobart, located in northwestern Tasmania. What’s nice about a lot of the parks in Tasmania is that most of them are all-inclusive: there are numerous hikes for all types of people. Restricted by time and the size of our group, we decided to do the Dove Lake circuit which circled a sweeping lake by the side of Cradle Mountain. This hike was approximately two hours and was moderate in difficulty. Although I eagerly wanted to hike the mountain itself, I knew that this would not disappoint (and I wasn’t wrong). The whole day almost seemed miraculous. The day started off gloomy and wet with lots of wind; however, by the end of the circuit there were plentiful rainbows and not a cloud in sight. It was unlike anything I had ever seen! Our group of 16 evidently started to taper off into smaller groups, going up and down the circuit. This park was also abundant in wildlife: wombats, wallabies, and more! Near the creek, smaller, chunky wombats could be seen enjoying the water. Near the end of the hike, I managed to capture one of the most dazzling views, which made the end of this trip that much better.
Cradle Mountain behind Dove Lake. I promise the sky was clear, this cloud just happened to roll in at the wrong time!
More recently, a portion of us decided it was time for another day brimming with excitement. This time we ventured out to the southeastern end of the island: Cape Hauy. The drive was about two and a half hours, arriving at the starting point of Cape Hauy. As we pulled into the rocky and dusty parking lot, we quickly saw that the base of this hike was positioned around one of the most ravishing beaches. Water clear as you’d get from the tap, rocks with unique moss, and the most calming waves prepared me for what was about to be the most dangerous and thrilling hike of my life. To put it in perspective, the Mt. Amos hike I did at Wineglass Bay was grade 5, being the most rigorous. This hike was grade 4, which I was very enthusiastic about. The trail started off with minimal inclination, but quickly gained elevation.
Unlike Wineglass Bay, there weren’t too many lookouts along the hike until you reached where the forest cleared out near the top. There was a lot of down and up: climbing up a large amount of rocks, and then descending only to find another large incline up ahead. Once the forest started to clear out, the wind began to pick up rapidly. Gusts about 50-60 mph were starting to tip even our bodies side to side. We began to see the full shape of Cape Hauy. The trail only leads to the edge of the first cliff; however, there are two “island cliffs” directly in line with the mainland cliff that you cannot reach without boat. There were many opportunities to veer off from the track to see spectacular drops and views alongside the cliff, but the wind made this extremely difficult and dangerous. Prodding forward, sniffling through the wind, and embracing the pain, we finally made it to the lookout point that had an unreal view of the cliff. A feeling of protection followed by fear overwhelmed all of us as people tended to get too close to an edge. We ultimately met a sign near the lookout point that read “unprotected cliffs, please stay on main track” which sent chills spiraling through all of us.
After 27,801 steps, 251 flights, and 13.2 miles later we reached the lookout point. There were moments of silence as everyone took in what was around us. Water stretched out to as far as the eye can see, with perfect sight of the rest of the cliffs ahead of us. I’ve never taken so many pictures on my camera. Most of us couldn’t even estimate how high up we were from sea level, so to test it we threw small rocks off the edge and watched them shoot downwards. It took about 5 seconds for the rock to hit the water. As engineers, many started to calculate exactly how much of a drop it was: 120 meters. 120 meters! The wind gusts here were the worst of all, but it was completely and totally worth it. Adrenaline pushing through us, we ate snacks, sat on edges, and gaped over what was beneath us. The climb back to the parking lot was exactly that: a climb. Since the track went up and down in the first place, going back was almost just as hard as getting to the lookout point. Ultimately, after 4 hours of intense hiking and scenes, we made our way home. I found myself incredibly exhausted, but so satisfied at the same time.
A picture of my feet dangling on the edge of the lookout point, 120 meters above sea level!
