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Today was a decision day. I wasn't really sure what to do. I had 2 options. Move on and change to another location or head down to Cradle Mountain.
Since the weather seemed quite sunny, I thought it'd be best to see Cradle Mountain. The road was hilly and windy, and only took a bit over an hour.
I arrived at the Cradle Mountain Information Centre, not really knowing what to expect. I could see the mountain was still a fair distance away. So after a quick chat to the very helpful staff, the only way to get to the mountain was by bus. Since I had already purchased a National Parks pass, it included a Cradle Mountain bus pass. Well now I understood what it was for.
So I donned all the warm gear, and jumped on the little 12 seater bus. The driver was very informative telling us all about all the different walks. Most of these made no sense to me as I didn't know the locations he was talking about. The bus stopped at a couple of locations to drop off and pick up more passengers.
After about 20 mins, we arrived at Dove Lake, and could plainly see the mountain, and it looked magnificent. The weather was perfect. There was still a bit of snow on one of the peaks.
I'd heard that it was possible to walk around Dove Lake, and I was keen to do this. After signing in the visitor's book and reading all the signage I was undecided what walk to do. There were two short walks to either Glacier Rock, or the Boatshed. The Dove Lake walk was stated to be 1 to 2 hours, and it was still my preferred option. So that's what I wrote in the visitor's book detailing my anticipated walk.
So off I go. I decided on a clockwise direction for no reason at all. I reached Glacier Rock in just a few minutes, which had nice views of the lake and mountain. A few quick photos and off I go again. It wasn't' long before I encountered a group coming the other way. I asked them how long it'd take to do the walk and the guy said if fit, maybe 2 to 3 hours! WTF! I contemplated turning back, but thought no, I'm committed now, and continued on.
As I encountered people doing the anti-clockwise walk I stopped to chat (and also catch my breath). Everyone was pleasant and chatty, which was nice. At about the 50 min mark, I encountered a guide and a group coming the other way. We chatted for a bit and he said I was about ½ way. So much for 3 hours J.
I stopped often to take photos and also catch my breath. And of course I chatted to more people. The western side, and also the latter half of my walk seemed to have a few more hills and steps. I was huffing and puffing a fair bit, but I put this down to still recovering from a cold.
About an hour and half into the walk, I reached the Boatshed. This was quite scenic against the backdrop of the mountain, so obviously another photo opportunity. From the Boatshed it was only a short walk back to the bus park area. I completed the entry in the visitor's book saying I had completed the walk, and it was quite a wait for a bus to arrive for the return back to the Visitors Centre and carpark.
I had turned on my GPS tracker a short distance into the walk, but basically it was 6.54Km and took 1hr 48min to complete, with 1 hr 22min travelling time. So I had stopped for a total of 26mins. So the info was correct, 1 to 2 hours is spot on. The guy that claimed 2 to 3 hours was way off!
The bus eventually arrived and it was another 20min journey back. Again the driver explained all the different walks and pointed out some wombats. I was all walked out, so I wasn't really paying a lot of attention.
Once I arrived back at the Visitors Centre, I spoke to same lady as when I arrived. She recognised me and asked what I did and how was it. Obviously I was overwhelmed with the whole experience. It's a must do!!! She also gave me some tips about Leven Canyon which is my next port of call.
I drove back to my camp at Forth a different way which probably only took an extra 15 mins. I couldn't be bothered cooking, so Fish and Chips from the local shop was the go. One of the other campers recommended them, so why not. Not great, but certainly nice.
I was feeling a bit tired, so it was an early night.
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