Earlier this year, I was asked about my top Australian bucket-list destination – if I could go anywhere in the country, where would I pick? I nominated Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain. So it’s a pinch-myself moment as my husband and I wind our way up through the mountains in the car towards Cradle Mountain Lodge, spotting wombats, echidnas and pademelons throughout the countryside. Before we’ve even arrived at our destination, we start feeling the magic of this wild part of the world.
Cradle Mountain Lodge – part of the Peppers family – sits on the edge of the World Heritage-listed Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park (a scenic two-hour drive from Launceston). It’s the perfect place from which to set off on any number of hikes through the national park, a landscape that looks like it’s been thought up by the mind of JRR Tolkien: bright green grassy knolls that appear to be kept perfectly mowed by happy wombats; crystalline lakes with mountains reflected in them; patches of rainforest encasing secret waterfalls; and rocky inclines just begging to be climbed for an even better view.
You only have to walk for about five minutes from the lodge to arrive at a shuttle bus stop – and the bus takes you to the start of multiple trails. There are also a range of boardwalks and smaller tracks that start directly from the lodge.
Back at the lodge, the scenery is enchanting, too – also full of wombats, pademelons and even a little family of Tassie devils hiding under the main building when we visit. The view from our cabin is postcard-perfect. I say “cabin”, but you could easily live full-time in the King Billy Suite we’re staying in. It’s decked out with a separate lounge and bedrooms, a huge bathroom with a deep stone bath, a kitchenette, a fireplace, a desk space, large wardrobes and a deck with a steamy hot tub. There are also smaller, cosy Pencil Pine and Spa Cabins you can book.
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There are two places to eat at Cradle Mountain Lodge. There’s Highland Restaurant, which serves up a daily buffet breakfast in the dining room overlooking the trout-filled dam, and you can book in for a dinner (two courses for $85, or three for $105). You can have a more relaxed pub-style lunch and also dinner at The Tavern Bar and Bistro, which has a big wood fire and looks out towards the national park.
There are other experiences you can book in for – we take the Nocturnal Wildlife Spotlighting Tour, a driving tour that gives us close encounters with the creatures that call this region home, when they’re most active at night.
You can also try your hand at fly-fishing (catch and release) in the onsite dam. Book in for a treatment at the Waldheim Alpine Spa. They also have wine and cheese tastings, high teas on Saturdays, trivia every second Tuesday, telescopic star-gazing, and more. If you want to go hiking but would prefer not to set out on your own, they also offer a range of guided tours.
Cradle Mountain Lodge is exquisite in itself – I would have happily spent all my time chilling in our cabin, enjoying a Tasmanian sparkling in the hot tub, admiring the view and tranquillity. But it’s the wilderness experiences you can have in and around the lodge that make this a truly magical place to be. We had one of our favourite days ever, taking the Crater Lake walk on a clear November day, heading up to Marions Lookout (where you get a spectacular view of Cradle Mountain itself) and finishing with a circuit of Dove Lake. Bucket list experience unlocked – and it well and truly lived up to the dream.
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