Cradle Mountain Overland Track

Hello everybody, we are so sorry for the long time without any post. These last months and days have been pretty crazy. We spent our last days in Sydney before leaving to our first trip: Tasmania, and not an easy one. We registered to hike the Cradle Mountain Overland Track. This famous hike is a 65kms (excluding the side trips) hike that can be done in 7 days. We decided to do it in 6 days with the side trip.

We landed in Launceston where we sleep in a pretty unconventional hotel, Pod Inn. This concept comes from Japan, and you sleep in a futurist pod. This experience was really funny for us. It looks like a spaceship ahah.

The day after, we had our booked bus waiting for us to go to the start of Cradle Mountain National Park. We set up the tent there, enjoyed a warm up hike around Dove Lake and then, an “apéro” with a good company. A Tasmanian Pademelon joined us for a snack.

The D-day: Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley – 10,7kms (side trip Cradle Mountain summit +2kms)

Here we are, the night has been cold but I think we need to get used to it here! We took the free shuttle bus to go to the starting point: Ronny Creek. The first hours of the track allowed us to adjust our backpacks and to warm up our legs and body. The first amazingly beautiful landscapes did not wait to show up. We decided to hike the Cradle Mountain Summit for a first side trip (1545m). The way was really rocky and hazardous but the view up there worth it. We also had our first lunch on our way and being in the middle of this deep nature was undescriptible. We arrived pretty early at the Waterfall Hut and we decided that for this night we will sleep in the hut instead of the campsite.

The 2nd day: From Waterfall Valley to Lake Windermere – 7,8kms (side trip: Lake Will +3kms)

The night was really, really, really cold in the hut. When we woke up, we took our breakfast outside and the temperature was higher outside than inside the hut. Ahah next night, we will try sleeping outside then. Moreover, our neighbours were snoring so strong, thinking in the middle of night to throw my flip flop to try to stop him ahah. Departure around 7am, to walk the main way with cool temperature. The sun warms really soon in the day. This day is about discovering lakes and maybe swimming in it (10°C). Let’s see! Finally, we arrived and we enjoyed a quick swim in the Lake Windemere. Really refreshing!! Then for the night, we set up the tent on the dedicated platform to avoid damaging the environment, we can’t wait.

The 3rd day: From Lake Windermere to New Pelion Hut – 16,8kms (side trip Old Pelion Hut +1km)

Despite the length of that hike, this one is a pretty easy one. Still full of beautiful. We had the chance to see the beautiful Forth Valley in our morning start. Moreover, we went through the lowest section of the Overland Track called Frog Flats where we were 730m under the sea level. On the way, we saw our first tiger snake, one of the most dangerous snake in the world. He was really big, maybe 1.50m. This is scary and really impressive. Finally, we arrived at the New Pelion Hut with a beautiful view of the Mount Oakleigh where by night, we enjoyed looking at the stars and milky way.

The 4th day: From New Pelion Hut To Kia Ora – 8,6kms (side trip: Mount Ossa, the highest mount of Tasmania +5,2kms)

Today is one of the most difficult day. We decided to climb the highest peak of Tasmania: Mount Ossa as a side trip, we had to climb his 1617m. We enjoyed a lunch up there, we felt really small in this 360° horizon views and intensely privileged. The climb was not the easiest one with some pretty dangerous parts, steep and very exposed sections. However, the other hikers we met at the huts stops told us we were really fit and quick hikers ahah. We were always arriving first at the campsites ^^.

The 5th day: From Kia Ora to Windy Ridge (9,6kms) and then to Narcissus - 9kms (with Waterfalls side trips 2,5kms)

This day will be a long day as we decided to do all the side trips AND to combine two days of hike to reach Narcissus point. We had the chance to see 3 waterfalls alongside the track (Ferguson, d’Alton and Hartnett falls). They were all really impressive. At one of those, I faced a tiger snake, he surprised me while I was on the track. Woooa, so scared, I screamed everything I could because we were really close. ^^ After a quick stop at the Windy Ridge hut for lunch, we started the second hike of the day, to reach Narcissus. Walking in the afternoon with the heat was pretty tough. That’s the reason why we were so happy when we arrived at Narcissus, the weather was really hot. We enjoyed a swim at Lake Narcissus, but a quick one, the water was still freaking cold ^^.

The 6th day: From Narcissus to Cynthia Bay / Lake St Clair (THE END) – 17,5kms

We’re reaching the final step of our track but before the end, we have to walk 17,5kms along Lake St Clair. We had the possibility to take the ferry (30 min) but we wanted to completed the whole track by foot, by hiking, we were here for that. However, I think this one was the toughest of the 6 hikes. We were tired of the previous days, our legs were fed up with carrying our backpack even if we had the lightest ones compared to the other hiker (I will tell you everything about the preparation for that kind of hike in another post). We wanted to reached Lake St Clair around noon to avoid ending the track with high temperatures, we arrived around 2pm, exhausted but so happy. We couldn’t believe that we did it. We signed the register booklet after having done a total of 100kms (main way + all the side trips).

After 6 days of nuts, we enjoyed a big burger and fries!! Yummy, but it was way too much for our smaller stomachs ^^. But it didn’t prevent us to have a Cookies’n’cream ice cream in the afternoon as well ahah plus a cold swim in the deepest lake of Australia: Lake St Clair.

Sometimes, we still can’t believe we did that track. I am wordless while re-thinking about those amazing 6 days in contact with the nature, in bush, rainforests, and mountains areas… without any internet connexion, with few but really kind people in the same state of mind as us.

Go back to reality now, we took the Tassie link bus from Lake St Clair to Hobart, the main city of Tasmania. We booked a hotel to have a more than deserved shower and warm night JAfter a night of rest we will keep discovering Tasmania… I will tell you about it later. Now, it is time to rest. Good night loves.