Christmas in August

In August 2005 we took a few days off and visited Cradle Mountain. As we don't like having it rough, we booked the Cradle Mountain Lodge resort for 5 nights.

We flew to Launceston on a cold but sunny morning and jumped in our hired Hyundai Excel. Having stopped at a couple of places on the way - mainly for some warming liquor provisions as well as the necessary accompanying cheeses, crackers etc - we arrived at the resort. It was no longer sunny but not that cold either - however we were drawn to the fire in our cabin and got it going quickly!

After a relaxing spa, pre-drinner drinks and dinner, we studied the guides and brochures - walks, tours and the "must experience" Spa Sancruary, situated in the resort.

The surprise of the holiday came the next morning - 15 centimetres of snow all across the resort and the nearby places of interest. We found it hard to walk around as we were not prepared for the snowfall! But we tried our best and it was a good way to kill time. Not that we were bored but to put it in context, a 25-minute walk in dry weather took over an hour in icy conditions.

Cradle mountain is a unique place on Earth. We read about the Europeans who found it and fought to preserve it as part of the National Park. The pictures we took capture some of the magic of the place. There's more for me to upload, hang in there...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kostasw/sets/72057594060073354/

My favourite spot, if I had to pick one, was Glacier Lake. Due to the slippery walking conditions we didn't walk all around Lake Dove and a couple of other walking tracks. But we saw nature to its purest, winter elements, chewed pure white snow, carefree wombats walking around in slow pace and crows tapping on our cabin window for a snack.

To me, it was an unforgettable experience. I can't wait to go back, for some more walking and discovering. From now on it'll be hard to choose the warmer states in winter from this piece of paradise.