Mole Creek and Cradle Valley

12/10/07

 
As we drove north for our Walls of Jerusalem weekend, Mary read from the materials I had collected and we selected a place to stay, sight unseen, in Mole Creek, a tiny town at the foot of the Great Western Tiers.  As we drove up to Blackwood Park Cottages, we knew something was different and that we had made an excellent choice.  We had a delightful stay in a cottage I would be glad to live in for the rest of my life.  Our hosts were very energetic and took great care of us.  They have lived on this bit of land for 17 years, but it looks like it's been developed over centuries like some Beatrix Potter hamlet.  As we were leaving on Monday morning, we put a crazy plan together to drive over to Cradle Mountain where we had spent my birthday with the kids when they were here.  Our weather had been lousy at best and we'd never gotten a good look at this Tasmanian iconic in Cradle Mountain National Park, so off we went!  We made it home about four that afternoon and had a dance lesson at six! 

 


                                                                
The Great Western Tiers.... Our cottage for the weekend was an 1840's, convict built, sandstone structure they had bought as a stack of rubble from a site in the Midlands of Tasmania.  The interior was detailed as nicely as most of the houses in Williamsburg! 
The gardens looked as though an army kept them up, but it is really just the work of the two owners and their son.   When we asked about all the stone walls throughout the place, they just said they had to find someplace to put the stones from the garden! How's this for well manicured?

This is the view from the garden toward the high plateau.

 We couldn't believe how lucky we were.  We've talked to many, many people who have spent days at Cradle Mountain and never seen anything like this.
This is Dove Lake looking toward Marion's Lookout from Glacier Rock....  As part of our drive through the highlands, we stopped for a walk down to Liffey Falls.   
It is about a 45 minute round trip walk and well worth it.  This is part of the upper falls.  Liffey is a series of drops and the track leading to the lower falls runs right beside the stream the entire way.

 

 Walls of Jerusalem Photos

 

This site was last updated 09/04/06