On to what is possibly my favorite continent of the world, Tasmania!
Tasmania was not in my initial plans, as I wanted to go Brisbane/Gold Coast instead. Not sure what drew me there, but I ended up researching on it and found it to be an incredible must-go.
K & M were also excited about the idea, so off we went!
Upon landing in Launceston airport, we picked up our rental SUV and headed off to grab some breakfast! We chose Launceston for the proximity to Cradle Mountain, because landing in Hobart would mean a drive of more than 4 hours which did not make sense!
Over the course of the next 5-6 days, we will be driving down to Hobart and flying out from there. This is a plan I would recommend!
Tassie's cafe scene is not as vibrant as Melbourne's! So it wasn't a tough choice to decide on which to visit. Well, their cafes are of a different vibe, so what may be a "cafe" to locals would probably not be the hipster kind that we were looking for. Quick search on Zomato app led us to Inside Cafe in Launceston.
Somehow the pictures I took of the food ended up quite blurry :/ So this is the only relatively clear picture I have of the boys' choice: fried egg, bacon, swiss cheese & tomato chutney on a toasted new york style bagel, with baked beans.
M & I had eggs on toast I think!
After breakfast we stopped by Woolsworth to buy groceries for our BBQ dinner!
And also picked up some beer from the bottleshop.
Gorgeous views accompanied us every minute on our 2 hour drive to Cradle Mountain.
Initially thought we were nearing Cradle Mountain when we saw this but this is actually Mount Roland!
We were one of the rare cars on the road so we could just stop the car in the middle of the bridge, wind down the window and take pictures haha.
And we finally made it! This is our spa chalet at Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village. This was actually our second choice, but the cabin we wanted at Highlanders was sold out!
Very modern decor. Spacious, well-heated and very clean!
The other side is a small kitchenette. Size was no issue because we will be BBQing outside on the balcony tonight anyway!
That is Joel bringing in our luggage to our room located on the right side of the pic. It's so great travelling with two guys. The two girls can relax in the backseat while the guys navigate and drive (: They also settle the manual labor and logistics. Haha.
This is Joel & my room. Really comfy and cosy, I don't recall waking up at all during the night!
And the married couple gets the room with the big bed at the other end of the chalet.
I forgot to take a picture of the toilet, because we were rushing out, but since we booked this spa chalet, the huge spacious toilet came with a shower, AND a hot jacuzzi tub! We didn't use it unfortunately. (Why did we even book this chalet then haha)
After quickly unloading the car, we quickly set off again to make full use of the daylight hours left! In winter the sky gets dark around 4-5pm so we really have to rush. It was just a short 5 minute drive to the visitor center where we bought our national park pass for the car at AUD24. You will require this pass to visit all the parks in Tasmania! So it's good to have more pax in the traveling party so the cost can be split. AUD6 for one person is super reasonable!
MIND BLOWN!!! Dove Lake featuring Cradle Mountain. This is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen in my entire life, no kidding. And the air! Omg the air was so crisp and fresh my lungs were rejoicing. Tassie has one of the cleanest air in the world. #fact
And the popular little boat house.
You can take about a 2-3 hour to complete the Dove Lake circuit, but we did not have much time so we decided to just take a walk to Lake Lilla and back.
Modeling for me with Lake Lilla at the back lol
Best traveling squad!
Drove two minutes away to Ronny Creek! There are soooo many walking routes here that range from 20 minutes to a few hours, to days! So pick and choose whichever is suited to your timing. It was a pity we could not stay in Tassie longer, and thus spend more time in each location. We adopted the strategy of touch-and-go! After all, as a first time visitor, we wanted to take in as much as we could. Perhaps one day we will come back and just go back to our favorite places (i,e, Cradle Mountain) and spend a few nights each!
Onward to Ronny Creek!
We were trying to spot some wildlife, but all we saw were their poop (mostly dried up) so every time we saw fresh poop we were super excited and will start searching nearby. LOL
It is really easy to "hike" because of the boardwalks! I think it is also to protect the foliage from being destroyed from human trampling. I guess the boardwalks also serve a good hiding place for the wildlife! I'm not sure about the more advanced hiking trails, which I reckon don't have the boardwalks.
We started spotting wallaby and wombats randomly going about their business! Our excitement at spotting wildlife was quite hilarious. #cheapthrills #goondu
And some will stare back at us curiously as well, before hopping in the opposite direction.
We saw a few more along the way, but were either too far or hiding in the bushes.
We were walking back to the car when we spotted a baby wombat!!! I think this little one has never seen humans before because it started coming towards us.
It came so close to us! Joel insisted on leaning in for a closer look.
*Disclaimer: we did not touch it, carried it, nor feed it. Nor do anything to provoke or disturb it. We were sure to respect the animal by maintaining a distance and did not make sudden movements or sounds so as to not startle the animal. I do not condone the actions of those tourists in the news who find a dolphin/animal and pick it up to take selfies! Those animals died!!!! I will never ever do something like that.*
Anyway, the wombat (we named it Woolly haha) spent a good ten minutes wandering around the area near us as we quietly watched it. This is the first WILD wombat we have ever seen up close. So cuteeee!!!
(Although, you can see many captive wombat up close especially at the petting zoos around Aussie.)
When we were heading back, we spotted soooooo many wombats, pademelons and wallabies along the road! All of them came out because the sun had set and it was night time. No pictures cos it was too dark but our car was crawling at snail's pace, and we wind down the windows and stuck out our heads out spotting the animals. Cuteeee!
Okay it was time to head back for our BBQ! Yummy!!!!!!!!
That's it for our first day in Tasmania. It was really off to a great start! Tassie, I already love you.
xxxx
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