Continuing on from our last Tasmanian post, we’ve got more incredible sights to share with you on our journey down south *snigger* (I’ve got the mental humour of a 5 year old seriously).

We left you just as we were on our way to the town of Sheffield, a quaint little town which has a lot of wall murals on display. It’s an open air gallery for anyone who is driving through and it was only a minor detour on our way up to Cradle Mountain.

Our favourite mural is the one below as the artist has even captured the reflection of a photographer capturing a shot. Inception! Mind blown!!

Sheffield “Town of Murals”

How and when did it all begin? According to the information I’ve managed to glean from the Sheffield website, this all started a quarter of a century ago.

It was pretty straightforward really. They needed something to lure the tourists in and to do so, they started several research on how to do this successfully. One of these researches turned upon a particular town in Canada suffering the same fate which had turned their fortunes around by having murals painted onto their town walls.

And so the town of Sheffield began its journey to become Tasmania’s Outdoor Gallery and even hosts an annual International Mural Fest.

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As we were walking around the town happily snapping pictures of the murals that caught our eye, I couldn’t help but notice a quaint and welcoming entrance to an antique store. As a lover of all vintage shops (as this is where we find most of our props for styling), I couldn’t help but feel my feet being pulled in that direction.

The Boy, all to knowingly acquiesce and traipse behind me into the store where I promptly found three bone handled knives and beautiful forks!

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Cradle Mountain

After our brief pitstop at Sheffield, it was back into the car on our journey up, up and away!

I kept myself busy and awake as the navigator for The Boy by constantly keeping an eye out for any stray wildlife that may have crossed the roads, there were a few roadkills we came across on our way up 🙁

The scenery proved to be quite marvellous with its rolling hills and idyllic countryside and we couldn’t help but gasp in surprise as we approached the area where Cradle Mountain was located.

It looked as though we were entering through a desolate and unforgiving landscape.

I was half expecting orcs or mountain trolls to show up at any moment. Indeed I have a very active imagination!

Luckily the desolateness and bleak landscape didn’t last forever and we arrived at the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park area in no time at all. The first stop you will come to is the Visitors Centre and Transit Terminal which is where you park your car, purchase your tickets and have a snack at the cafe located on site.

After buying our tickets (for some reason we paid about $30-35 for the both of us instead of the advertised $24 per person), and as per advice from the rangers at the visitor centre, we drove and parked our car at the Interpretation Centre and Ranger Station before hopping on the Shuttle Service (to reduce traffic up and down Cradle Mountain).

You can also take a hike and walk up to Dove Lake itself via the boardwalk. As we had arrived pretty late in the day (about 2:00pm) and with the rain and wind, we decided to forego the walk and take the shuttle bus instead.

As we arrived at Dove Lake, our breaths were simultaneously taken away. All conversation stopped as we gazed into the distance across the lake and rested our eyes on Cradle Mountain.

If you are a keen and avid hiker, Cradle is the starting point for the world-famous Overland Track, an awe inspiring, jaw-dropping 6 day walk that will take you through the heart of some of the finest mountain terrain. It made me feel as if I was on the set of some fantasy adventure.

There are several circuits at the Lake Dove stop ranging from short, half day, full day and days. Do remember to register your name, details and tell someone before you embark on a trip. You never know what might happen out there tracking!

The Boy and I were so engrossed with the beauty and the scenery that we managed 10% of the Dove Lake circuit (which takes roughly 2 hours to complete) and spent our entire time climbing up and down rocks and discovering little creeks and rivers running through the area.

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The view from Glacier Rock.

For more information on Cradle Mountain, Park Passes, Walks and Trips, visit:

• Cradle Mountain Website
• Access to Cradle Mountain
• Tasmanian Parks Entrance Fees

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Edgewater Devonport Accommodation – Devonport, TAS

As you can imagine, we were exhausted by the time we took the second last shuttle back down from Dove Lake and then another 2 hour drive back to Devonport where we would be slumbering for the night.

When we finally arrived back to Devonport and checked-in, we walked into this magnificent scene.

The wonderful team at Spirit of Tasmania had checked us into the Executive/Spa Suite at Edgewater! You have no idea how much I longed to fill the spa up and just soaked the days journey out of my bones (I did just that after dinner and was so relaxed!).

The Boy being of the male variety, couldn’t help but entertain himself with the two television sets in the room.

What the Executive/Spa Suite entails:

• King Size Bed
• Ensuite with Spa
• TV (1 in lounge area, 1 in bedroom)
• Iron/Ironing Board
• Hairdryer
• Tea/Coffee making facilities
• Microwave
• Bar Fridge
• Private Courtyard

The Executive/Spa room has a private courtyard that faces the river where the Spirit of Tasmania docks. It was very tranquil and we were very pleased with the view despite the heavy downpour we experienced that evening.

The Port

For dinner, we booked into The Port (part of the Edgewater Devonport Accommodation) and were quite surprised with the taste of the ‘traditional’ modern pub flare it was going for.

We ordered an entree and two mains to share between us but were defeated with the huge portions. Weaklings we were!

The Boy fell in love with my choice of entree which involved Asian inspired prawns in a coconut gravy with rice. It was delicious!

And because we were dining in a gastro pub, I had to have the Roast Meat on special (of pork and apples) and The Boy had to have the Steak and Chips. It was the thing to do.

After our rather filling dinner, we waddled back to our room through the heavy downpour before settling into a relaxing spa bath and bed time to recharge our batteries.

Edgewater is a pretty convenient location to catch a quick night’s nap and rest before embarking (or disembarking) from the Spirit of Tasmania.

Address:
4 Thomas Street
Devonport East TAS 7310
Phone: (03) 6427 8441
Bookings: Online Booking
Accommodation Options: http://www.edgewater-devonport.com.au/index.html

[Ms I-Hua & The Boy stayed & dined in Edgewater Devonport Accommodation as guests of Spirit of Tasmania]

Previous Tasmanian Posts:

On Board the Spirit of Tasmania from Port to Port
Tasmania: Cradle to Coast, North West Tasmania