Cradle Mountain, Tasmania

Cradle Mountain located in the Central Highlands of Tasmania is so named for its similarity in appearance to a gold mining cradle. A wander through this vast untainted landscape will explain why it is dubbed an iconic Australian experience.

When we arrived, we were unable to take our vehicle into the park due to road works. The only way in was via buses provided by the park. In principle this is a great idea and the buses were efficient and warm. Not always being the most patient and having a few cameras with big lenses in tow made the buses less than convenient as they were full.

After relaxing at the base lodge and taking in the crisp fresh autumn air we decided on a two-pronged approach… one by air and two by land.

So off I went to the flight office to discuss a helicopter ride over the park. I explained that we are professional photographers who wanted to take photos during the flight. The gentleman at the desk did not miss a beat and immediately responded “Oh so you would like us to take the door off the helicopter” … to which I immediately responded on behalf of my partner who was not in the room, absolutely! So off I went tell my partner our flight was booked and he (not me) would be enjoying his ride without a door.

For the second part of our trip we succumbed to the bus trip to Dove lake. We lightened our load a bit taking only one camera and swapped lenses for something a little more compact. Once off the bus we explored the beauty of this remote location on foot, it was a brisk day void of sun making it quite pleasant for walking. Before leaving we grabbed a photo of the iconic Cradle Mountain and its reflection in Dove Lake.

Chifley Cave at Jenolan Caves

We seem to always be travelling and, on this occasion, we were heading home … the back way. The road took us through Kanangra Boyd National Park located in the Central Tablelands of NSW. Our destination … Jenolan Caves. We had been to the caves a few times and given the complexity of the site we had not yet seen them all. The caves are renowned as the oldest discovered open caves in the world.

Today’s expedition, Chifley Cave. As the story goes in 1880 it was the very first cave in the world to have been lit with electricity, this only eight months after Thomas Edison patented his vacuum light bulb. The original light bulb still features in the cave.

Jenolan Caves are limestone caves. The formations within the cave were fantastic. Our personal favourites were the shawls. Two of the features in Chifley Cave are still illuminated using a modernised version of the historic coloured lights, lending a totally different feel and mood to the formations. The coloured lights were part of a tradition of old and still maintained in select locations.

For us the old world feel of the property is beautiful. We have stayed and dined in the main house and can attest to its charms. The sense of stepping back in time has a way of taking one away to another time and place.

With one more cave on our list ticked it was time to continue home.