Sarah, Nicki, Kylie, Anna, Hildegunn and I headed up to Cradle Mountain to see the turning of the fagus. We were perhaps a little too early for the full on colour of autumn but not too early for the full on autumn weather.
It started off with some rain as we jumped off the bus at Ronny Creek and headed up to Waldheim, the original chalet of Cradle Mountain national park founders Kate and Gustav Weindorfer. While browsing there, the showers stopped and we debated on whether I could be trusted with my distance and time calculations for heading up to Crater Lake and Marions Lookout, with a final descent down to Dove Lake and a tour around the lake. Well, the vote was clear, I couldn’t be trusted :P so we headed up to Lake Lilla instead on the way to Dove Lake.
Passing over wet paths, creeks, and through beech forests, we made it to Dove Lake where we stopped for a picnic of cake, scones, olives, feta cheese and crackers, and then headed off around Dove lake to see where Fergus or rather the Fagus could be found.
Eventually down at the Ballroom forest, an amazing enchanted grove of old gnarly beech trees, we found a hillside of Fagus and beautiful waterfalls. It was a sensational trip around Dove Lake, made easy with the boardwalk. Lots of side trips up to Lake Wilks, Face Track, Lake Rodway and Hansens Peak branched off this main path. It was a speedy trip around done and dusted in 90 minutes, and certainly a place to go back to for the full on Fagus colouring, more hikes into this magical park and discovery of more beautiful nature.
Thanks to everyone who joined the day out.