Cradle Mountain - 8 September 2013

Well, it is our 40th wedding anniversary today. To think we have put up with each other for 40 years! We are very content with our life and enjoy ourselves.

It rained again during the night and there was a misty rain falling this morning when we went down to brekkie. It was 2 deg. While we were at brekkie, Gill and Mike rang to pass on their congratulations. It was their 40th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. We also got a great text from Ian and Yvonne with a great cartoon of Kevin Rudd out the front of the Lodge with his bags packed saying "My name's Kevin and I've got to zip!!"

Bruce's nephew, Luke, is getting married today. He and Josipa flew over from Perth on Friday, together with Josh, Luke's brother, and are having the ceremony at Mike and Mandy's place. We rang and spoke to Luke and wished them all the best. We would have liked to be there but we had booked our trip to Tassie back in January. Matthew and Katrina flew the flag for our side of the family. Katrina will take lots of lovely photos no doubt, so we will be able to see those when we get home. Luke was saying a few of them had a game of golf yesterday and there were more bottles than clubs in the buggy!

About 11.30 we drove to Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain to tackle the Dove Lake Circuit. We last walked this circuit in the year 2000. At that time there was no timber boardwalk along any of the track. Now there is a lot of the timber boardwalk along the track and they are still working on it.

The Dove Lake Circuit is 6.6km long and takes 2-3 hours to complete. We did it in just over 2 hours. It is not a difficult walk but a little bit harder than easy. We had rain for most of the time we were on the track, but only a misty rain. We couldn't see Cradle Mountain until we were right underneath it and then it was still fairly misty. At the beginning of the walk we past a fellow with a fishing rod. He had been fishing for trout in the Lake. He had no luck but enjoyed himself. We also met a couple and the fellow had recently retired. He said he had slipped into the retirement lifestyle very easily. They had booked a one way ticket on the boat with no return date. He said he did have an appointment in mid October with the accountant for his tax but he said the Tax Dept owes him so they probably wouldn't stress if he didn't get it in then! We also met a group of 2 fellows from Hawaii and a girl from Hobart.

The track goes through The Ballroom Forest about half way along the track. It has stands of myrtle, sassafras and king billy pine trees with a creek running through it into the Lake. A lovely spot.

This is a photo of Cradle Mountain today, misted in with the rain.

For dinner tonight, we booked into the fine dining restaurant, The Highlander. It is where we have brekkie of a morning. The other nights we have had dinner in the tavern and we have been very happy with the meals. But tonight was special so it was The Highlander.

We had a very nice meal, beautiful presentation, but it was a case of big plates small helpings. It was okay for me, but Bruce has a very healthy appetite. There is a wine cellar in the restaurant and you could go down and pick out a bottle of wine. Or you could order by the glass. One glass is enough for me so Bruce just ordered a couple of glasses.

The staff at the Lodge have been very good. They have been very friendly and will go out of their way to help you. One of the waitresses we had tonight is from Estonia. She has been out here with her boyfriend for a few months, starting in Perth, then Adelaide and then here. They will stay another 3 months before moving on. They are here on a 12 month working visa.

While we were at dinner, Matthew rang to tell us how Luke's wedding had gone. He and Katrina had really enjoyed themselves and spent a bit of time talking to Josh. Josipa's 2 brothers had also come over and walked 'down the aisle' with her. Sounds like it went really well. Pity we couldn't be there.

It was a great way to spend our 40th anniversary at Cradle Mountain - out in the open with breathtaking scenery. Couldn't ask for more.