Fields of button grass.
Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake and the road to them.
Cradle Mountain from the other side.
Goodbye Cradle Mountain.
Friday,
December 23rd
I
was awake early and very stiff and sore. I had the provided breakfast
and then drove back to Cradle Mountain National Park. I went first to
the Canyoning company to talk to Ryan, but he wasn't in yet so I
drove to the park entrance and did the short 'Enchanted Walk', which
was a boardwalk loop along a creek and through a rainforest area.
Just like you would expect to find in Lord of the Rings.
When
I went back I found Ryan. I wanted to thank him for the
recommendation for the Devils at Cradle exhibit. But I also wanted to
complain about the photo package from yesterday. I was very
disappointed in them. They cost $40 and although there were about a
150 photos, most were of other people and a lot were bad or had water
on the lens. I explained that I appreciated how hard it was to take
photos in that environment and carrying the camera is a pain but,
when you only get about 10 good photos it's not worth it. I told him
that when I went on other adventure tours the company often provided
generic photos of the location. I said I would like to have shots of
the canyon as I couldn't take my camera in with me and I would love
to have a copy of the promo video from the website as it showed all
of the things we did. He took my e-mail and said he would send photos
and refund my money. Then he took off to drive the next group.
After
that I decided to take a helicopter flight over the park. The company
had one other single guy who wanted to go so, away we went. I took
the front seat. The flight was excellent. Stunning views of this
immense wilderness and the lakes surrounding Cradle Mountain. The
pilot gave us lots of information and at the end he pointed out the
changing area from yesterday and Dove Canyon as we flew over it.
When
we got back I decided to go for another more gentle hike. I wanted to
see part of the trail we took yesterday because it was beautiful and
I didn't have my camera and then I wanted to continue on the Cradle
Valley Boardwalk from the ranger station to Ronny Creek. It was a
great hike. No one around, no traffic and nothing but the sounds of
the birds and the gentle breeze through the trees. The whole hike was
along a wooden boardwalk. This protects the environment and makes it
easier to walk over the terrain and plants.
When
I got to Ronny Creek three hours later, I continued across the road
past the pond where I saw the platypus to where there was a number of
Richea
pandanifolia pandani plants
growing along the creek. They are really strange looking plants.
I
was now very tired so, I took the shuttle to Dove Lake for one more
look at the lake and the mountain and then took the shuttle back to
the visitor's centre. It was now 3pm and I decided to leave a little
early to make the drive to the airport more relaxing. I thoroughly
enjoyed the drive as it meandered through a variety of environments
from sub alpine to rainforest, up and over and around a couple of
mountains and finally through the rolling hills of cattle farms along
the western tier.
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