Greetings.
It is now Day 3 into my Cradle Mountain Adventure. But first, if you haven't already, be sure to read my previous blogs posts about the first two days of my trip. And subcribe to my blog so you don't miss out on my next photography adventure.
Sunday 27 Oct:
Sunday morning, can you guess what the weather was doing? Yep, it was raining. When the rain finally slowed to a drizzle around 10ish, I got into my waterproof gear and out I went. This time I walked the Lake Lilla Track beginning at Ronny Creek. This track (which is also the beginning of the Overland Track) starts of as a boardwalk across the open plains which were really boggy after the rain on Saturday. Pretty soon, the boardwalk ends and the trail changes to a rocky track and starts climbing up into the hills. While walking this track, I saw a miserable looking wallaby munching on some grass, and a couple of Grey(?) Currawongs. I say grey because they didn't seem to be as black as the other Black Currawongs I've seen so far.
As I marched higher and higher into the hills, the rain steadily increased in intensity, and the rocky track turned into little streams of water flowing downwards. In fact, the rain got so heavy that I started taking photos with my phone because I didn't want to get my camera wet. The camera may have been splashproof, but the rain really was quite heavy. Anyway, can you tell which photos I took with my phone?
Finally, I arrived at the end of the walk at Dove Lake. If it hadn't been raining, I would have attempted a short detour to Wombat Pool (or Poo, as all the signs seemed to have been altered). I guess I'll just have to come back again to finish all the other walks around Cradle Mountain. Certainly the Lake Lilla Track was a very nice walk, and would have been even better without the rain. Ah well, back to the cabin for lunch and watching the rain pour down.
Late afternoon, while I was waiting for 6pm for one final drive to Dove Lake, I ventured out to the open area at the start of the Knyvet Falls Walk. So far, I had taken many photos of wombats, Black Currawongs, Tasmanian Nativehens, and pademelons. I was determined to get a photo of an echidna, and as luck would have it, there was one browsing for dinner at the start of the Knyvet Falls Walk. And so finally... I got my photo of an echidna.
6pm came and back I went to Dove Lake, stopping one last time at Ronny Creek to look for wildlife. I just love that place. And lo and behold, there was a wallaby with a joey in her pouch. In fact, I saw another echidna, more wombats and Tasmanian Nativehens. All in all, I'm pretty happy with my wildlife shots. A platypus would have been the icing on the cake, but it was not to be.
As for Dove Lake, well, the rain finally stopped but Cradle Mountain was still obscured by low cloud. Perhaps one last look on Monday morning? Anyway, one last foray at Ronny Creek for platypus, but sadly, still none to be seen, so it was back to the cabin for a hot shower and dinner. And for the first time in 2 days, I went to bed without the sound of rain pouring down.
