Lake St Clair

11/12/2014 - 11/12/2014 23 °C

Lake St Clair is at the southern end of the world famous Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

Carved out by ice during several glaciations over the last two million years, this is the deepest lake in Australia and the headwaters of the Derwent River, upon which the capital city of Tasmania is located.

The area around Lake St Clair offers a wealth of walks, ranging from leisurely strolls to overnight bushwalks, as well as beautiful forests to explore.

Lake St Clair is also the end point of the famous Overland Track, a long-distance walk which runs from Cradle Mountain in the north to Cynthia Bay on the southern shore of Lake St Clair.

The Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park shares a "Twin Parks" agreement with the World Heriatge listed Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve in the People's Republic of China.

The walks start at the impressive park centre where innovative displays take you on a trip through time that shows how the Lake St Clair area has developed from ancient times through to the present day. Discover the effects of glaciation on the highland areas of Tasmania, learn how Aborigines and early white explorers interacted with the environment and explore the relationship between animals and their habitat.

The metallic skink is the most common and widespread lizard found in Tasmania. Metallic skinks vary tremendously in colour and pattern and give birth to live young. They are the most common "garden skink" in Tasmania.

Metallic skinks are born with a head and body length of about 28 mm, mature at about 42 mm and reach a head and body length of about 66 mm.

This common species occupies a wide variety of habitats including dry sclerophyll forests, dense forest and alpine heath. Metallic skinks generally shelter in dense vegetation and ground debris, beneath bark, leaf litter, rocks, logs and log fragments.