On our second day in Tasmania, we went on a road trip to Cradle Mountain. We left Hobart very early in morning and only had coffee and beef pie for breakfast. According to different travel websites, travel time from Hobart to the mountain is approximately 3 to 4 hours. Ours lasted for 5 hours! We had a total of 3 rest stops. The first one was spent on lunch, the second was for Rudel to rest and the third was unfortunately an unscheduled, unplanned stop. WE GOT LOST. Our GPS (a.k.a. TOM TOM) suddenly went crazy and kept on bringing us to private properties and suggested that we should go inside those properties to reach Cradle Mountain road. That thing almost had us arrested for trespassing! We decided to go back to the main road after 30 minutes of trying to figure out where inthe world we are!
Meet the ever reliable (NOT!) TOM TOM loaded in iPad.
Tip: Have a back up, use GOOGLE MAP or a real map for that matter. GPS are not always 100% reliable. I’m glad Rudel was aware of this and thus loaded Google map in his mobile phone a few minutes before we started the trip. We had to stop so he could show me how to use the thing. I was (unfortunately for him) his navigator hahahaha…..
Farms everywhere
We saw a lot of this along the way and dead animals too! Didn’t have a chance to take a photo of those though (too gross I tell you!).
Sheep and sheep and more sheep!
I told you, really really great weather!
Beds of flowers. Wish I knew what these are.
(click to enlarge)
After 4 hours of driving, seeing this mountain was really a big relief for us. We knew right then that we’re getting nearer and most importantly that we were on the right track HAH!
All pictures above were taken while the car was moving. I was really tempted to ask Rudel to stop in the middle of the road so I can properly take pictures but alas it will just prolong our travel time so I had to ‘improvise’ and tweak the camera a little bit. Looking at the pictures above, I just have to say not too bad, not too bad at all :)
Road trip to Cradle Mountain is really easy breezy. Just make sure you’re well prepared and have enough rest stops. Here are some safety tips from http://www.tq.com.au
- read and obey road signs, for example at waterways or on roads
- drive on the left hand side of the road and obey the speed limit
- always wear your seatbelt
- don’t drink alcohol and drive
- be aware of driving long distances and fatigue – plan journeys and share driving
- check weather conditions
the sun is strong in Australia – drink plenty of water regularly and protect your skin from burning. Cover up with clothing and wear a sun protective hat, sunglasses and SPF 30+ sunscreen. - tell people of your plans if travelling alone (friends, accommodation provider, police)
- use accredited visitor information centres (yellow and blue i signs) for local and regional information.
