The Meander River in Deloraine.
John picked us up at 0830 for our third day trip, this time to Cradle Mountain National Park. So we headed west from Launceston stopping in the arts & crafts oriented community of Deloraine and visited their folk museum and The Yarns Project - an impressive fabric art/quilt in four panels representing each season in the Meander River valley. The skill of the more than 300 fabric artists who produced the work is impressive.
The next stop was the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm where we sampled the output dipped in dark chocolate. We did a quick circuit of the grounds before heading on to Cradle Mountain. While John conducted some business at the Visitors’ Centre, we snagged a flat white and a long black coffee. After a short drive we stopped at the Cradle Mountain Lodge for lunch - burgers.
The Meander River in Deloraine.
Quilt detail: spotted quoll.
Closer quilt detail: spotted quoll.
Quilt detail: platypus.
Quilt detail: Tasmanian tiger (they're extinct).
Quilt detail: scarlet robin.
Quilt detail: lower right corner of Autumn.
Quilt detail: Tasmanian devils.
Quilt detail: wombat.
Flower in the museum garden - we first saw one of these in Tuscany, but can't seem to identify it.
This mansion, in the distance, was also immortalized on the quilt as the home of a locally famous racing horse.
Quamby Bluff - part of the Great Western Tiers.
A fancy colombine.
A fancy iris.
These alpacas, at the Christmas Hills Farm, had just be sheared for their wool
The fabric screens over the berry fields.
Newly planted raspberry canes under the cover.
A coot (Fulica atra) amongst the lily pads.
A slightly better focused image of a blue wren (Malurus cyaneus).
Black currawong (Strepera fuliginosa) are adept food thieves - outdoor diners beware!
The drive up to the lot at Dove Lake was interesting as private cars are not permitted up the road due to the narrow width. John, as a registered tour operator, was allowed up the road as he had the requisite equipment, a radio of sufficient wattage, that all vehicles use to announce their position on the road. This was so that busses that take the tourists and hikers up to the lake could use the passing lanes efficiently. At the lake we took in the view of Cradle Mountain and walked around the edge to Glacier Rock for an elevated view on well tended paths. From the lake we backtracked up the road a short distance to the Waldheim Chalet. Along the way I finally got to see a wombat. So after a few snaps we proceeded through the primitive chalet and on to the path through the rain forest adjacent. Coming out of the forest path, John pointed to the wombat browsing on the open slope below. So following John’s directions of appropriate distances, we went down to take a few more snaps and video snippets.
We left Cradle Mountain and headed black towards Launceston with a stop in Sheffield the “town of murals”. We stopped at the town park where this year’s murals and some from previous years were on display. After admiring the work, we returned to town and headed immediately to the restaurant, Stillwater, to work on our journals.
Cradle Mountain over Dove Lake.
Glacier Rock view point was the destination of our short walk.
There are about a dozen folks at the top of this ridge.
John took a snap for us on Glacier Rock, with Cradle Mountain in the background.
I was attracted by the coiling at the dried ends of the bush.
There was a rainforest adjacent to the chalet with a path.
Moss in the rainforest.
Lichen in the rainforest.
Display of murals in Sheffield, town of murals.
Jonathan examining one of the murals.
Dinner at Stillwater was probably the most distinguished of the three dinners in Launceston and also the two in Hobart. The service was pleasantly attentive and the menu more appealing. We split a starter of prawn potstickers with abalone and crispy saltbush; Jonathan had a small plate of Tasmanian blacklip abalone, burnt butter ponzu and fermented black bean, while I had Tasmanian octopus with parsley and garlic, grilled radish and lardo; we split the sides of Headlam asparagus with pumpkin seed cream and butternut pumpkin with smoked yoghurt and toasted grains.
Jonathan checking his phone.
Journaling necessities.
Prawn potstickers with abalone and crispy saltbush.
Tasmanian blacklip abalone, burnt butter ponzu and fermented black bean.
Tasmanian octopus with parsley and garlic, grilled radish and lardo.
Headlam asparagus with pumpkin seed cream.
Butternut pumpkin with smoked yoghurt and toasted grains.
