Lake St Clair

 

Lake St Clair is the deepest fresh water lake in Tasmania, 170m at its deepest. It was formed by glacial movements, hence the ruggedness of the surrounding mountains. It certainly puts on a show with sunrises and sunsets!

There are many beautiful walks to do at Lake St Clair in the National Park. Actually there are many spectacular walks all over Tasmania! The Overland Track is the most famous. It is a 6 day, 65km hike that starts at Cradle Mountain and finishes at Lake St Clair.

I have done my fair share of multi-day hikes around Australia. All beautiful. Initially when I started working I wanted to do the track. After living in Tasmania for a couple of months I had quickly changed my mind. The weather is very unpredictable in the mountains and changes quickly. From the information centre at Lake St Clair, located at Cynthia Bay, there are many day walks ranging from 20 minutes to 7 hours. Most of these overlap the last section of the overland track. You can catch the ferry from Cynthia Bay up to Narcissus or Echo Point and walk the final leg of the track back to Cynthia Bay.

The first walk I did at the park was a 7 hour return trek to Little Hugel. This walk also passes Shadow Lake and Forgotten Lake, but choosing to go all the way to Little Hugel. My breath was taken away by the insane amount of beauty up here! I could even see the Pumphouse! There is much rock scrambling in the last hour of this walk/ climb. I would only recommend if you have rock climbing experience. I would also recommend doing it with someone. Cameron was not yet in Tasmania at this time, and I did it by myself. I regretted it. Going up was a challenge, but coming down was even harder as there is not many markers indicating the path. There are many boulders and they all look very similar. If you have someone with you it is easier to scout.

In March we climbed Mount Rufus. Again, the views were insane! Imagine 360° views of mountains, rivers, valleys, clouds, lakes. 100% nature. It was a 7 hour walk as we did the full circuit, but you can do it in 5 if you just go to the summit and back.

There is food available from the information centre, Lake St Clair Lodge, they decent pizzas, and pub food, which is really appreciated after a long walk. There is also the Derwent Bridge Hotel 5kms down the road that specialise in Sri Lankin currries.

At Derwent Bridge is an interesting place called 'The Wall in the Wilderness'. We have no photos from here as photos are not allowed, but if you are interested in woodwork and woodcarving it's worth checking out, even if you're not all that interested it is wonderful. It is incredible how much detail is in the woodcarvings. The wall itself is 100m. You can view both sides. Each panel is 3m tall, and the panels tell the story of Tasmania. Made from Huon Pine. 

Happy Travels 

 - Jeni