Great Western Tiers to Cradle Mountain

Heading north towards Cradle Mountain, we took our time to stop and see some of the beautiful sights of North West Tasmania.

Doleraine 50's Diner

Where better for a mid-journey lunch than a room FULL of everything 50's!
Even the door handles were made from large spanners!

The tables used crank shafts for legs...

Every now and again along a journey, we'd see a blue 'tourist' sign and pull over to see what it was. below are some of the highlights..

View over Great Lake

The Steppes Stones

Dedicated to those who share in the love and care of the Highlands of Tasmania from the past to the future. Concept and sculptures by Stephen Walker A.M. As a gift to Tasmania in 1992.

Devils Gullet

Plunging 220 metre below is the Devils Gullet. It was carved out by ice and water moving off the plateau and down the valley. Previously the valley would have been gently sloping and U-shaped. The huge rock columns are formed of Dolerite and the joints between then have been gradually notched out by the on going activity of water freezing and thawing.
The dolerite-topped mountains to the west are those of the world-renowned Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. During the ice age these peaks were left exposed above the ice. At 1617 metres Mt Ossa is Tasmania’s highest peak.
Not that it stops the locals living up here...

Alum Cliffs

Also known as Tulampanga, is a sacred celebration place. Many tribes from ancient times met here for biggest corroboree. Tulampagna translated means ‘red ochre hill’. The ochre was held in high regard and the Pallittorree People traded much of it with other tribes.

Central Plateau

Covering over 100,000 hectares, the plateau has been fromed over about 200 million years by different processes that include the intrusion of hard dolerite rocks from deep within the earth into sedimentary rocks above, uplift of the Central Plateau along various faultlines and finally, glaciations. The plateau has been glaciated (covered by ice) at least five or six times over the last two million years. There are more than 4,000 lakes up to 4km long, that lie on the undulating surface.

Final destination - Cradle Mountain.
Our first view of Cradle Mountain was spectacular. driving down through the park, at the end of the road is Dove Lake, with quite an impressive backdrop...

The road stops at a beach...

and the boat house is one of the most photographed scenes in Tasmania

On our way to find the accommodation, we had our first Wombat encounter ... first of many!

The weather was on our side, so later that evening, we took our dinner (tuna pasta bake) down in the car to see the stars over the mountain.