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| Erin, Glenn, Marcel & Eveline at Cradle Mountain on a cold, windy day! |
| Erin's Tasmania Journals 12-22-02 Today we were lazy. It was wonderful! We had the cabin all to ourselves for the whole morning, and we could see how cold and nasty the weather was. The wind had been howling outside since early in the morning, and we were comfy with the heater on. We had a slow breakfast, then watched a sickening movie about a mousy secretary-gone-mad who was killing off co-workers one by one and leaving their decomposing bodies downstairs in her house. Gross! Finally we knew we had to get out and see the mountain and do a short hike, so we bundled up and drove to the Cradle Mountain Visitor Center, where who should we run into but Eveline and Marcel!!! Of course!!! They too were shocked at our timing - again - and we all prepared to do the Dove Lake Circuit Walk together. It was a relatively easy, 2 hour hike around Dove Lake at the foot of Cradle Mountain. The weather wasn't the best, but we still got some pretty spectacular shots of the mountain and lake, with the s un occasionally peeping through the clouds and the wind gusting unexpectedly to freeze our ears. By the time we were done, it was about time to go back to the cabin, but we stopped to do a short hike down to Pencil Pine Falls near the visitor center for some photos. Then we stopped at the caravan park to pay for the night, and saw a rainbow across the whole valley! Cradle Valley is known for its fast weather changes, and we saw several! After unloading, we all took turns in the shower while I started dinner. We'd brought chicken and pasta and broccoli for dinner the previous night, but didn't eat it then as our friends hadn't joined us! The meal was a success tonight though, and we watched a couple of movies as well. Around 10:30pm, Glenn, Eveline and Marcel went out with flashlights to walk through the campsite areas looking for the nocturnal animals that abound here. I finished the last 30 minutes of Swordfish before donning shoes and jacket to join them, and found Glenn half-frozen, ready to go in. They'd seen few animals, and Glenn gave me his flashlight so I could try my luck. Marcel and Eveline joined me, and we saw several bandicoots, as well as a momma & baby wallaby, before returning to the cabin and bundling in for the night. |