Mitchell and I were very disappointed to leave Cradle Mountain without reaching the summit. But the morning after the rainy disaster it was still very cloudy and unable to see the top of the mountain. We decided to depart, given dry shoes were essential and a 4 hour drive was before us. As we left, we saw multiple backpackers that appeared ready for a long walk on the Overlands Track, they waited out the rain yesterday before beginning their trip. We were happy to leave the cabin, having been served over priced pizza which was more accurately just a bread-lined swimming pool of cheese. Along the way we saw some views on this trip, such as the image above.
Along the way from Cradle Mountain to Hobart we stopped at many locations. One place that we stopped at that I particularly enjoyed was the Pencil Pine Forest which was next to Pine Lake on the Central Plateau of Tasmania, an altitude of over 1200m where trees often find it hard to grow. From my research the pencil pine (Athrotaxis cupressoides) is an ancient Gondwanan species that evolved before flowering plants and is only found in the Tasmanian highlands. Pencil pines can reach ages in excess of 1200 years. It is one of Tasmania’s rarest trees. below is a photo of a particularly twisted and gnarled tree which was very characteristic of most trees in this forest.
From here we continued on to visit Tasmania’s second (but first high output) hydroelectric power plant. It has been turned into a heritage listed area of great engineering accomplishments. the turbines were shipped from England during the First World War and were in operation for over 50 years. We were the only people at this museum and the person there gave us some background information on them.
As it was getting late, we decided to head directly to Hobart from here. We were staying at the Grand Chancellor Hotel in Hobart. Upon arrival, we went out to dinner at the Corner Boys, a New York style restaurant where I had taco pockets and Mitchell had two hotdogs. We also had potato skins which were very nice.
After which, we went for a walk along the water of Hobart walking past the Antarctic research facility which looked very impressive. We had a late desert at the Drunken Admiral.
The next morning, I took a photo of our view from our hotel across the water which is below. Mitchell booked a very nice place.
Today, we didn’t really know what we had planned. We booked a cruise from Bruny Island that Mitchell’s parents recommended for Sunday. But today we began with finding coffee. Also visiting the Maritime Museum. It was a small museum with only two floors and gave a bit of information on Tasmania’s proud Maritime history.
We decided to go for a walk to visit the Mount Nelson Signal Station. The signal station was first established in 1811. It provided a communication link between Port Arthur and Hobart. It also let people know when new ships were in Harbour and when the post had arrived from the mainland. It was superseded by the telegraph in 1880.
But in order to get to the above Signal Station, we needed to walk there. I didn’t track precisely how far we walked, but it was over 17 km. We decided to pick up lunch at the University of Tasmania and saw some of the protests there. Protesters were camping in the main foyer in tents with Palestinian flags flying above them. There was multiple security guards wandering about, one of the security guards smiled at me as I took a photo of the display. “Free Gaza” can be read on the signs.
We picked up lunch at the university cafe and continued on our journey up the hill in the wrong direction. It is not unusual for Mitchell and I to go in the wrong direction for anyone who would like to read about past events I will include a link to our three day walk in England here (https://myscribbles.me/day-21-continuing-the-oxford-canal-walk-from-rugby-to-napton-on-the-hill/). In this particular case, the situation was somewhat complicated given that Mitchell had purchased lunch which I refused for him to put inside my backpack as it was a bowl of yoghurt and quinoa without a lid. He said he purchased it as he hesitated at the counter and succumbed to pressure. This meant that he needed to carry it by hand up a mountain in the wrong direction and off the beaten path ducking underneath fallen trees. Below is the photo of Mitchell halfway up mountain carrying his lunch as we were both determined to eat at the top of the hill.
Once finally at the top of the hill, it was a very pretty view. We got to see the signal station before it rained. We moved inside and had a coffee until the rain stopped. We then descended the correct way down the hill. Upon getting back to the hotel, we were both fairly exhausted. We ordered fish and chips for dinner.
