Tuesday 12th March 2019 - to Cradle Mountain

A day of driving today, leaving the east coast of Tasmania, travelling over to Launceston and then to Cradle Mountain. We left Freycinet in the rain, had glorious sunshine through the central part of the state, although there was a cold wind, and arrived here in rain! It is cold here in the mountains, with a frost forecast for tonight 🥶

Having left the coastal region the landscape changed, becoming more open and rolling, with plenty of agricultural land. We stopped in Campbell Town for a coffee before going on to the cataract gorge in Launceston. This is the site of the first dam for HEP in Tasmania and is a beauty spot and leisure area.

We had lunch here and then time for a quick walk where we spotted some wallabies on the path.

Then back on the road for another 2 & 1/2 hours to Cradle Mountain and our hotel for the night. The closer we got the more forested the area became and there were lots of plantations too. We have seen lots of dead eucalyptus trees left standing and have learnt today how important thes are for some wildlife and birds in particular. Although gum grows quickly it is the old trees that provide large hollows, particularly for birds to nest in. It is only the older trees that are big enough for large boughs to break off, creating the hollows. Logging of old trees that are not allowed to suffer broken boughs, or just to die naturally is creating a problem for wildlife.

We had an early dinner tonight as Ludger said he would drive us a short distance at dusk to spot wildlife. We were lucky, seeing wombats, wallabies - loads of them so it is no longer quite so exciting! - and bandicoots, like wallabies but smaller. All good fun!