Cradle Mountain

As we planned this trip we expected today to be one of the more physically active days. Instead it has been the most relaxing day. That was down to the weather which we had always expected to be cold but hoped might not be wet.

By the time we went to bed last night the forecast for today was 95% chance of rain with a maximum temperature of 7ºC. We woke late to drizzling grey skies and walked down to our 8:00 am breakfast with the temperature at 4.5ºC and the BOM app suggesting it felt like -3ºC.

We enjoyed the buffet breakfast with all the usuals of muesli, yoghurt, fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, and beans accompanied by good coffee. Filled and warmed we walked back to our cabin and relaxed. Majella had a book to read and sudoku to complete. I checked the news and caught up with some email that had been languishing as we travelled.

Around 11:00 am we drove up to the National Park Visitor Centre to see what might be happening. The buildings have been upgraded since we were here in 2016 and could accommodate a much larger crowd than was there today. We spent a few minutes to read some signs inside and, having decided there was little point in entering the park when visibility was so poor and we would be cold and wet, stepped outside again. 

There we spent a few minutes reading the outdoor signage explaining how Cradle Mountain meets 7 of the 10 criteria for World Heritage listing. That makes it equal top of the listings with an area of mountains in China.

We drove back to our cabin to find a couple of large black birds in the trees outside but they soon departed when disturbed. It was almost midday so we  walked down to the resort tavern where Majella had another mulled wine, I had a glass of red, and we shared a bowl of sweet potato wedges with chilli and sour cream. That counted for lunch and by 1:00 pm we were back in our cabin for more relaxing.

About 3:30 pm there was a pause in the drizzle and I went out for a short walk. Although there had not been a great volume of rain it had been persistent and everything was well soaked with water running down hill wherever it could. I walked around the Enchanted Walk circuit again, stopping for photographs of the variety of fungi and of a wombat that cooperatively looked up to show its face.

Then it was back to the cabin for more relaxing until dinner time. That was a simple affair. We walked down to the tavern and shared a pizza. The Waldheim, named for Gustav whom we heard about last night, was topped with spinach, blue cheese, red onion, balsamic, and rocket. It was simple but tasty and enough to replace the little energy we had expended today.

We walked back to our cabin and finished the evening with a glass of Goaty Hill Pinot Noir. It had been a very relaxed day.