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
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