Cradle Mountain

Day 1

I now know how Mary & Joe must have felt in Bethlehem that night with no room to stay. Reason being, I arrived at Cradle Mountain without making any prior booking thinking rooms at the Cosy Cabins were easily available. And boy I had a hard time finding a room. First I went to Cosy Cabins and they said they had absolutely no rooms. Then I went to the Wilderness Village and there was a sign saying no more rooms but i still asked anyway and the lady said there was a Spa-cottage left which costs $**0 (the price is almost vulgar). So I trudged to Highlanders, and a kind Korean (?) guy helped me to call other places. His Verdict: Only 2 rooms left at the Cradle Lodge which cost $*90 and $*20 (extreme vulgarity). No choice.. i went back to the Wilderness Lodge (or I will really have to stay in the wilderness of the mountain) and took the $**0 room. The lady offered to swop rooms for me so that I could stay in a cheaper $**0 room. Mind you the moving from place to place to look for a room was by no means easy cos' the inns/cottages were all located relatively far and the Wilderness was up on a hill. Anyway this picture below sums up the moment (Mary will well understand):

Well, the $**0 cottage was lovely. took pictures to remember it forever.

I then started my walk to Cradle Mountain. Decided to take the 2-hr walk around the lovely Dove Lake. And it was really breathtaking. The clouds threatened to rain but it dispelled everytime I sang a Christian song or prayed. I kept looking out for snakes to make sure I didn't step on one. And boy I really saw this black menacing snake later on. Body looks like a cobra. Ewww. Also saw a porcupine-looking thing and a wombat. Here are some pictures to let you visualise the stunning beauty of Dove Lake + a pic of the "porcupine".

After the 2-hr walk, I decided I couldn't walk anymore. The $**0 cottage kept me company throughout the rest of the night, which I immensely thank God for. lolz. Watched cartoon network, news, animal planet etc and cooked stuff to eat.

Day 2

Bade farewell to my cosy cottage. The horse-riding was far too expensive so I decided to take one of the paths of the Overland Track. It took me 2.5 hrs and this time with a heavy backpack. Along the way I saw people going up the Marion Lookout which is a kind of like a peak where you can look down at the three glacier lakes and everything else. I stared up at the peak and told myself I can never make it up there. But Andrew's "It's-now-or-never" (the snake grabbing incident) resounded in my mind. So I decided it will be a "now". So up the steep and jagged terrain I went knowing one wrong move will lend me the lead role in Humpty Dumpty reprise.

finally I made it.

I didn't even know how I did it. Those 30-yr old rusty joints were forced to move and get to work once again. Good training for my upcoming ippt. Anyway the experience was worth it all. Looking down at the lakes etc at the bottom and where I had started from simply amazed me. Minutes ago i was just telling myself I could never make it up there. I decided to have lunch on the mountaintop cos' how often do you get to eat at such a high altitude? Oh and it snowed! It was just so... nice. (Lost for words)

took one last look at the Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain, cos' I know I will probably never come back here again. back to Launnie with an aching back, feet and some other joints of my leg.

Thank God for Cradle Mountain. Will talk about the inspirations I got another time. Thanks for reading!