Lake St Clair is situated in the south of the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park. Surrounded by mountains, it is Australia’s deepest lake as well as one of its highest and certainly one of the most beautiful. There are a number of short walks from Cynthia Bay from where there are good views across the lake and of Mounts Oympus, Rufus, Ida, Hugel, Little Hugel and the Traveller Range. The weather is grey and surprisingly cold when we set out to do the Watersmeet, Larmairremener tabelti Aboriginal cultural walk and Platypus Bay circuit which takes us about 2-and-an-half hours. The Watersmeet walk follows the crest of a glacial morraine for part of the route and passes through eucalypt and rainforest to the junction of the Hugel and Cuvier rivers. The Aboriginal walk recognises the indigenous people of the region through a number of information boards and is rather disappointing in that respect, but not in terms of the natural flora and fauna. The Platypus Bay circuit runs alongside the lake and the mouth of the Cuvier River and a small waterfall. There are some hides for viewing platypus carrying extensive information about these notoriously shy and peculiar creatures which only come out in the early morning and evening – so no chance of us being able to spot one today. The 90-minute circuit takes us two and half hours as we take our time enjoying the diversity of the area.
We drive as far as Ouse another x km along the Lyell Highway before we find a shop where we can buy some lunch. Where do people shop around here? There is just enough time to make a brief stop at the Mount Field National Park to do the Russell Falls walk. It is only a 25-minute walk through rain forest but well worth the stop as the falls are amongst the most magnificent we have seen – the water cascading from a great height across several tiers of rocks.
The drive towards Hobart takes us down the Derwent Valley through rolling paddocks and crosses rivers that have been harnessed for hydro-electric power, the enormous silver pipes cutting a swathe down the hillsides. This is an area of opium poppy growing (for medicinal purposes), orchards, hop fields and oast houses. This area provides the hops for the whole of Australia. We arrive back in Hobart around 6pm for our last night with Helen and Adrian before we leave Tasmania for Darwin tomorrow. Suitably marked by a delicious Indian at a local BYO restaurant.