Cold, Rain and more Rainbows

The alarm was set for 6am but didn't go off as I forgot it was a weekend, and the alarm was only set for Monday to Friday. Luckily, we both woke up just after 6 and got to the restaurant just as they opened.

After brekky, we checked out and began the drive to Cradle Mountain.The road was very twisty and the weather, once again, alternated between sun and showers. We stopped for petrol at an automated petrol station at Zeehan.From there we promptly headed the wrong way, soon realised our mistake, turned round and began heading once again to Cradle Mountain.

After a couple of hours we zoomed past the Visitors Centre, past a police car that was frantically signaling to us to slow down (I think Alicea thought they were waving at her) and stopped at the barriers next to a sign saying that we needed a day pass to enter the park.

We went back to the Visitor Centre (at the proper speed) and bought a day pass each ($33) This included a free shuttle bus ride into the park and back (about 20 mins each way) which we decided to do.

By now, as we were up in the low lying clouds, it was cold and constantly drizzling, so we were well wrapped up in coats, scarves and hats.

We caught the shuttlebus down to Dove Lake and we were planning to do a short walk to Lake Lilla. However, due to the cold and wet, Alicea decided to stay undercover at the car park hut, and I decided to brave the elements on my own.

The walk was very picturesque and quite wet. More than once I wished that I had brought my walking boots as some of the path was a bit slippery and my socks were gradually getting wet as my runners are not the most waterproof footwear.I was also having problems taking any decent photographs as, every time I tried, the rain would just coat the lens. The rain did stop a couple of times, just for a minute or two, and the sun shone through, and then it was back to the drizzle.

Once I'd reached Lake Lilla, I turned around and headed back to the car park. As it came into sight, I saw one of the shuttle buses leaving, which meant a 20 minute wait for the next one. I rejoined Alicea in the hut and the rain began to bucket down. I'd got back just in time! We got on the next shuttle bus back to the Visitors Centre where we had a nice warm drink and a snack before setting off in the car again.

We drove out of the Cradle Mountain National Park towards Launceston and then headed south towards Hobart and saw some amazing full and double rainbows on the way. We stopped in Perth to have some lunch (veg soup and garlic bread) at a pub and then continued onwards to Hobart.

Our plan for tomorrow morning is to do the Huen Skywalk, so we headed through Hobart to Huenville and then onto Franklin where we found a little B&B (Huon Franklin Cottage) to stay the night and went to a restaurant called Petty Sessions for dinner. The food was okay, nothing special, but there were some fabulous pictures - photos and pencil drawings - dotted around the walls that were done, we were told, by the owner's partner.

After dinner, we retired back to the B&B.