With an impressive 20% of Tasmania set aside as a World Heritage site, it took us a whole day of driving to get to the other side of the Gordon/Franklin River site we visited yesterday. The drive took us past Queenstown, “unashamedly a mining town” that has gorged out half of a mountain in their quest for copper. Rugged mountains and lakes lined the drive the rest of the way and so it’s easy to see why so many people list Tasmania as a favourite place. That’s not to say there weren’t a few walking stops, with Donaghys Hill lookout presenting a 360 degree view over alpine looking hills to green flood plains (school time geography was useful after all!).
We also squeezed in a walk at Lake St Clair, a glacial lake at the back of Cradle Mountain, and Australia’s deepest. It was also the end point of a 5+ day walk from the mountain, and there were plenty of walkers there to put us to shame as we set off on our 1 1/2 hour stroll. Our quest to spot a Platypus continued at the enticingly named Platypus Bay, but to no avail. The views over the lake were great though, so all was not lost.