Lair of Flying Green Song Rabbits

Okay entry 3!!

Okay so woke up that morning being super cold since sister and I had to share a blanket.

Finally got a look at a view of that "Chalet" we were staying at with the lake.



Breakfast was super bland and plain =(



As I was outside snapping pictures of the lake my brother and dad walked past me in the exact same walk and posture.... I told them to freeze and took a photo. How cute are they!!


As we were leaving everyone got super excited at seeing little peaks of snow caps on the mountain!!

Our hopes were dashed though as we drove up the mountain as there was no snow in sight... Then suddenly out of no where we saw little bits of melting snow on the side of the road.... then some snow coloured shrubs... and around another corner these sites greeted us!!




Look at all these snow covered land!! We were still driving and our driver told us not to get our hopes up as our final stop was over the mountain so it might not be snowing there!

Seeing us all sad he decided we should make a stop at one of the hills.



The car stopped and we got out here. The sun was shining so there really was no hope in us seeing faling snow but many people were seeing snow for the first time! Including my whole family!!


First step into the soft snow!! It marks my 3rd time seeing snow! 1st at the snow trip, 2nd in Tian Jin China.

Many family photos ensue. My mum is super excited Asian style!


SNOW!!!

It was super bright the snow made us all squinty.


My brother wanted to see what snow tasted like! (A lot of other people were also stopped here to experience the snow so there's heaps of photos with background people sadly)


My mum restraining my bro for a photo lol


My brother with snow on hiis head...


I made a heart shaped snow ball!


More family photos. I realise I do not have a single family photo where someone hasn't blinked squinted or looked away T_T


I was desperately trying to make it snow so I was throwing snow up into the air....


My family friend, with all the excitement of the snow decided to take a snowball onto the coach and keep it...

When we reached Cradle Mountain it was snowing. No wait not just snowing... it was a blizzard!!! Crazy cold and windy and snow slapping our faces so everyone bundled into the giftshop/clothes shop and rugged up.


My mum's answer to defeating the wind! She goes the wind won't penetrate into her if she's got a plastic raincoat on T_T

A bus picked us up from there to go to the walking trails. On the way up there was a mixture of rain and snow and we weren't sure what we'll be getting!

We got to the pit stop and there was snow all around us!



The view from the pit stop. My grandma didn't go on the walk with us as it was freezing and her old bones won't let her lol.


We signed our names for the shortest walk and started walking! The mountains had snow everywhere but it wasn't snowing so it was perfect! The thing that looks kinda like a cradle is cradle mountain!


More glorious mountain + lake


I took my hand out of my pocket to scoop some of this water to drink. It was freezing but very very clean!


My family friend and I standing on a rock comparing heights!


My brother posing lol


Halfway along our track it started to snow really hard!! My sister here is trying to hide her face!


You can't really see the snow here except for that white streak across my jeans! But it was snowing a lot!! I'm wearing sunnies because of the glare from the white snow and to shield my eyes from the wind!

You can see the snow a lot better here.

We got to the top of a small peak to take a closer picture of cradle mountain but the weather unexpectedly took a worse turn and the clouds covered everything! My mum and dad got super cold and had to wear extra rain jackets.


My sister and I braved the cold trying to take photos where you can see the falling snow!

My super chirpy mum.


Look at all the snow on my back!!

We quickly went back to the cabin at the pit stop as it was freezing!!! As soon as we got back the sun came out again... Seriously Tasmanian weather is super unpredictable...


My brother and family friend decided to add to their snow man.


Arms!

I took out an instant hot chocolate to drink! At a convenience store on the first stay I bought a self heating hot chocolate in a can and Cradle Mountain was the perfect place to open it up! It wasn't hot T_T just warm...

Afterwards we had lunch at the cafe near the base of the mountain where we waiting ages for food and had some very rude cafeteria people....

Our next stop was honey farm!


Honey farm!!

There was heaps and heaps of honey to taste test! creamed honey, honey infused with certain flavours, flowers etc.

Dad decided to buy tubs full of honey -.-

I decided yo have some ice cream!


I was the greadiest one in the shop as I asked for 3 scoops and 3 scoops weren't even on the menu XD


Our hotel room for the night! This is a massive upgrade from our previous one!!

After dinner we went to a Chinese restaurant to eat dinner.

Restaurant interior: definately a chinese restaurant designed for westerners. The food was alright and everyone was starving so we gobbled it all up but it was really salty so we had heaps of water after.


Sister and I playing slaps!

Okay so where was I... (I will finish blogging about my 7 days!!!)

Yes breakfast was devine!!

There was the usual bacon, eggs, toast that basic places offer however this place also offered hashbrowns, they actually had a selection of teas of which green tea was one of them yay! They has had more than 1 choice of juice AND they had a selection of fruits. The one and ONLY place to have a selection of fruits. I absentmindedly picked up 2-3 strawberries cuz they looked quite nice and was suprised by the awesomeness that I experienced. My god I had NEVER tasted such delicious strawberries in my life. I read somewhere Tasmania produced some of the best strawberries in Australia and this is absolutely true. They were massive, super juicy and very sweet. I can't believe I nevertook a photo of them. After I ate those strawberries I bought a new punnet everytime we passed woolies. Although also nice it never beat those ones I tasted at the hotel again.

Okay enough about strawberries.


Back to sweeping landscapes from the bus window.


My brother's sleeping pictures! (I have more cuter ones!)

Our first stop was Mt St Clair- Cradle Mountain National Park. But on the 2nd day we were just visiting Lake St Clair instead. The tour guide said there are often travellers who go trekking around ther whole national park; taking days to complete the camp out since the route is very scenic and clean air. (Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world)


We had to make a brief stop at a hydrolyics place for a breath of air. Water from up the mountain is collected here and used to power electricity. The air felt super clean and crisp but the grass was littered with dog poo T_T and the toilet was really really disgusting. We only stopped for tea and biscuit breaks which I got really addicted to during the trip.


This is the only photo I have of Lake St Clair cuz it looked really boring... The weather was kinda gloomy so the whole place looked grey and boring. Also I got lost and almost missed the bus out of there...


Rain on the window!


We went past Queenstown, the copper mining city. As you can see especially on the left, the mountains were very bare due to the extensive deforestation and fumes created from mining. This place was such a small small town with a population of only 5000. We made a very brief stop there only for a toilet break and the town was a ghost... The winding mountains made everyone super sick though... both my grandmother and mother were vomitting and I was feeling quite ill in the stomach that I later bought some anti-nausea medication.

Our last stop was Strahan a very small fishing port city with a population of only 700. We went on a Heritage cruise along the Gordon river for 5 hours... Yeh... It was REALLY long but I was super looking forward to it because our guide said there was seafood buffet for lunch. The boat was really nice and steady, big with chairs and tables and everthing.


My sister at the cockpit where the captain of the boat was! That guy managed to convince me that fish can dehydrate in the water T_T

At first it was pretty exciting exploring the boat but soon it got really boring only listening to the captain point out touristy bits. It was really windy and cold outside so we mainly stayed inside. My brother discovered a little lane on the side of the boat that funnelled a lot of wind through and we had a lot of fun taking crazy hair photos.


This shot looks so model like hehe. The stipey thing wrapped around my neck isnt a scarf it was actually my dad's sweater; it was Sooooooo cold!!


My brother and I running against the wind!


Look at the view!! I'm not sure if you ntoice but the water is a very dark blue. Infact up close the water was very dark and infact tea coloured (I have a photo later). This is not because the river is polluted but because tannins from the trees that line the river leach into the water and turn it very dark in colour! Tannins are the stuff in our tea that turn the water brown.


Scarf in my face. It was REALLY windy! But it lead to a lot of photos of trying to get my scarf floating in a pretty way for photos. I think I tok like 30 photos of myself on that cruise... that's how bored we got.


My hair after being outside in the wind.

Scarf looks like a turban!!


See how the water is brown?? Tannins!

We made a stop along the way to Sarah Island. A convict island for hardened criminals who have reoffended. The place was completely isolated and empty except for a tour guide that stays there repeating the same thing again and again.


Pretty landscape! The tour was pretty interesting. The guide told it as a series of mysteries to eb solved along history and we find out what happens in the end!

We also stopped at antoher island later to look at a Huon pine area. Huon pine is one of the most prized and oldest living pine there is. It is extremely rare now due to it being extensively logged previously. It's prized because it has a special resin that prevents rotting so great for building boats!! Problem is though that it takes years to grow. Something like 50years (may be making this up) to grow to a decent size. However a tree can grow to be 2000+ years old.


This is the trunk/roots of a fallen Huon pine. It was left as it wasn't straight enough for logging and I think it's like 5000years old. After it's fallen it's supporting something like 200 different lifeforms through the little ecosystems that now exist on the fallen tree. The tree is currently protected and many Huon pine products are recycled. Luckily the piners (?) didn't venture too far into the island when logging so a few of the species still survive deeper in the forest.


Back on the boat. My brother and his friend having a staring competition hehe.


I'm sheltering myself from the heavy rain!


After the rain comes rainbows!! Weeee it was so pretty and I saw a full half arch! (contradictory?) Couldnt snap the whole thing though.


Another picture of me cuz there's nothing else >.>

That night we stayed at a really shitting motel with no heating, no electric blanket and smelly old rooms and crappy breakfasts!!