Marakoopa Caves and Cradle Mountain

Hey everybody, as you all know Matt and I went to Tasmania for a short holiday over Anzac Day where we had a day off from practice. This gave us a 5 day block of time to fly down to Tasmania and check out many of the things the massive Island-state has to offer.

For those of you who don’t know Tasmania is in fact a state of Australia just like Victoria, or New South Whales. Some people who will remain nameless back home thought it was either A) a separate country entirely or B) confused with Tanzania a country on the eastern coast of Africa. It is just a large Island south of Victoria that was only about a 50 minute flight from Melbourne.

Anyways, Matt and I got up at 4am to get dressed, gather our things together and leave for the airport by 5 to catch our 7:20am flight to Launceston (the second largest city in Tasmania) in Northern Tasmania. We got through security quickly, got on our flight and landed in Launceston by 8:15am. We then got our rental car settled and were off to get to Cradle Mountain, which is in the western part of the island, which is mostly uninhabited.

On our way to to Cradle Mountain we saw signs for King Soloman’s and Marakoopa’s Caves and we decided we had to stop and get a tour of one of them. We decided to go on the tour for Marakoopa’s Caves and we are glad we did. It was an absolutely surreal experience. I have never been in a cave that I can remember that had stalagmites and stalactites before and they are amazing things to see in person. Columns of sediments that were left from literally millions of years of dripping water. There were even some as tall as Matt and myself. As we found out during our tour this was also one of very few caves that still has multiple streams of water running through it to this day, one of which you can occasionally see platypus’s hunting for crayfish if you’re lucky.

 

There were two main highlights from our hour long tour, the first of which was while we were somewhere in the center of the cave our guide told everyone to turn off all electronics and he shut down all power in the cave so we could experience what it was like to be in complete darkness. This turned out to be one of the wildest feelings I’ve ever had. Once all the lights and electricity were turned off he asked to wave our hand inches in front of our face to see if we could pick up any movement, which I could not. Then he prompted us with the question how long do you think it would take for your eyes to adjust to complete blackness, which turns out would be never because there is no source of light in the cave and without any light at all your eyes cannot adjust. Over the course of the 5 minutes or so we stood there in the dark I could literally feel my pupils straining to get wider to absorb as much light as they could, but this didn’t help because there was none to absorb. It was a somewhat scary, but wild sensation. I didn’t know what pitch black really meant until I visited these caves.

Secondly, on our way back towards the front of the cave our guide had us stop in a large opening that had a high ceiling of about 40 feet and once again he shut down all of the lights. Except this time instead of being in pitch black, we saw hundreds of little greenish yellow dots moving on the ceiling, which our guide informed us were little glow worms living on the ceiling. This was an amazing sight that I wish I could’ve photographed for you all, but unfortunately you need to have a very long term exposure camera to do it without injuring the glow worms.

On our way from the caves to Cradle Mountain we happened upon this amazing rainbow just off the side of the road!

We got to Cradle Mountain later in the day than we had anticipated but we were determined to see it, Dove Lake and the other attractions at the National Park anyways. Right after we parked it started raining at the base of the mountain, but we weren’t going to be deterred because we knew we would probably never get back to Cradle Mountain. After taking a brief walk around part of the Dove Lake, Matt and I decided to embark on a hike up to Marion’s Lookout and up to the Summit if we could make it (a minimum 6km return and up to 11km if we were able to make it to the top). We started out at a solid running pace up the path until it got a bit too steep for running in wet conditions and then we climbed as fast as we could comfortably go. Along the way up we saw some cool things like the Wombat Pool, some small waterfalls and Crater Lake which is a lake farther up the mountain. Once we got up to Crater Lake it started to hail and sleet on us but we decided to go on to at least to Marion’s Lookout. The higher we climbed the colder it got, and the harder the wind blew up to Marions Lookout, we happened upon a section that had no path and was just chunks of rock with a chain attached on the side to help pull yourself up them (this is particularly difficult with a camera in one hand in the hail and sleet, but you do what you gotta do) luckily that was only for about 10-15 feet and we were back to a path and stairs. Once we got up to Marion’s Lookout it proved worth it, the views were incredible!

After trying to go farther up the peak the weather kept getting worse so we decided that was enough and started back down the mountain and we weren’t going to risk it in the more dangerous parts of the climb. After leaving the National Park we tried heading back to towards Launceston where we had a hostel already booked for us for the night. However, with no service throughout the National Park we weren’t exactly sure where we were going and ended up actually going about 100 km out of our way through Davenport on the north coast before getting back to Launceston.

The Grampians

Last Thursday morning was the start of our journey across the southeastern part of Australia. That feeling of leaving on a trip before the sun rises always reminds me of vacations I’ve taken in the past with my family. With our bags packed and camping gear ready to go, we ventured off on to the first leg of our trip; The Grampians, a massive national park with mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, and extravagant wildlife. We were traveling during Easter weekend, one of the busiest times of the year for traveling in Australia, children have off from school and long weekend getaways amongst families.  After a little traffic around the city of Melbourne we cruised on through past some small mining towns and reached the Grampians in the early afternoon.

The only problem with the Grampians is that one cannot possibly see everything the area has to offer. So, we checked in at the Brambuck National Park and Cultural Center to figure out where to go in the single day we had there. The park ranger ended up telling us to condense around closer areas in the park so we could hop out and about between hikes and climbs. Luckily, we could drive in between spots with our car.

Ben and I decided to go to MacKenzie’s Falls first. Camera’s out, hiking boots on, and backpacks set, we were ready for our first expedition. This area was absolutely stunning with a massive waterfall and a rainbow shining above, emptying out to a smooth rocky layer down below. After hiking down the falls on the narrow and windy paths, we stepped across the stones over the stream to get a better view. A better view it certainly was when we decided to climb the big boulder in the middle of the water for pictures. Trying to take full advantage of the way, we sprinted up the falls to head to the next hike- Reid’s Lookout & The Balconies.

Reid’s Lookout overlooked the other half of the Grampians. High on top of a ridge, we could see crystal clear for miles and miles. Since we could practically drive our car to the lookout, we decided to hike up to the area called “The Balconies.” The Balconies were these rock formations shaped like an actual balcony. Over looking the same area as Reid’s, this was very narrow and virtually had no boundaries. The adventurous part in myself and Ben decided to get an even better view along the ridge. Adrenaline started kicking in and we embarked on the narrow slope of the rock thousands of feet from the bottom to be at the “edge of the world.” The view of a lifetime, only lasting under a minute was one of the greatest views I have ever seen.

Next off we went to another lookout called “Baroka Lookout.” This view to me was the best view of the park. It was probably one of the highest views we saw and boy could you see everything! We saw dirt roads and paths going down the mountain into the valley. There were little towns perched in between the trees. Simply breathtaking.

As we came down the mountain along the windy roads we came across this field of what we thought were dogs. After turning around and taking a closer look we realized they were Kangaroos and Wallabys. We hopped out of the car and we ended up finding out they were wild, hopping down the mountain to have some food. Although some of them were not necessarily big, we realized they could be dangerous if you got too close.

After quick lunch break with the Joey’s we trekked back up to Reid’s Lookout for the sunset. The view we had was amazing. As it got later in the evening the sun started to set and the sky turned orange and red. A view not many people get to experience. In a matter of minutes the sun was gone behind the mountain and darkness set in. Our day hiking at the Grampians was over, but the night just started.

We went into the town of Halls Gap, a little village settled in the northern part of the Grampians. We came across a restaurant called the Kookaburra Bar & Bistro, a nice little place we could eat at after a long, exhausted day of hiking. Only one thing on the menu caught my eye, Kangaroo Filet. I have only heard good things about how good it tastes, so I ordered just that. It was glazed over in a rich red wine and gravy sauce. It reminded me of a richer type of beef. It was funny how the first Kangaroo I saw in my duration of my time in Australia, I ate one on the same day. After dinner we found a camping ground, set up our tent in the pitch black and got some rest.

We decided to leave the Grampians late morning, but wanted to get one last hike in before the drive to Adelaide. We journeyed to the area called the Pinnacle. We thought the climb would take only about an hour there and back, but boy were we wrong. Wanting to catch sunrise, we practically sprinted up the mountain, through the “Grand Canyon” up in between narrow rocks and up the “stairway to heaven” in what seemed like a never-ending path. It was a total of 2+ kilometers up the steep mountain. But, as the great athletes Ben and I are, we got to the top just in time for sunrise. We had the whole “Pinnacle” to ourselves. It was a great way to end our stay at The Grampians.

-Matt & Ben

Our First Big Trip!

Over the last week and a half Matt and I have been planning our first big trip,(almost a week long) of our stay here in Australia. After a lot of deliberation between us and a lot of help and input from our amazing hosts Ralph and Tina. We have decided we are going on a camping road- trip through Victoria and South Australia totaling about 1400 miles! This decision was made because we figured we should hit a lot of these things before it cools down a little here because It’ll always be warm up north no matter when we decide to go there.  Over Easter we don’t have practice on Sunday and we haven’t started working yet so we have a full week off to travel.

Sorry this is a bit long and involved with some youtube videos, but I promise they are worth it to watch, so you can see the things were going to experience on our trip!

The Grampians

The plan is for Matt and myself to leave Mount Eliza early on Thursday Morning, sometime around 7 am and head to the Grampians. The Grampians are about 150 miles west of Melbourne so that about a 3- 3 and a half hour drive for us because were about 45 minutes outside of the Central Business District. Ideally we will arrive in the Grampians sometime around 10:30am so that we can maximize our time hiking, climbing, picture taking and roaming about! Hopefully we will see some amazing picturesque views, lots of wild kangaroos, wallaby’s, koalas and if were lucky even wombats. Then once it starts getting dark we will choose a place to camp out for the night in a huge tent that our teammate Richo and his wife Jody are lending us. It is a family sized tent that sleeps 5 so Matt and I should have plenty of room to stretch out. Ralph and Tina are providing us with all sorts of lights, sleeping bags and other camping necessities! Thank you Ralph, Tina, Richo and Jody for helping us make this trip a reality!!

Adelaide

Then in the morning Matt and I will pack everything up and head off to Adelaide which is about 400 miles away and should take somewhere between 6 and 7 hours to get there. Adelaide is the Capitol city of South Australia, and from all accounts is beautiful and has lots of parks, cafes and bars to hangout, eat in and see. We are camping just outside the city which has buses that run into the city every 15 minutes or so so it is very easy to get in and out.

Kangaroo Island

On Saturday morning Matt and I are getting up early to head out to Cape Jervis ( about 90 minutes south of Adelaide) for out 9am Ferry to Kangaroo Island which is a huge island (1700 Square miles) off the south coast of Australia that is almost entirely a massive wildlife reserve. Once on the island Matt and I have got a car rented so we can drive around the island at our leisure and see the specific things we want without having to be stuck in a tour. We can check out some of the caves, beaches, kangaroo, koalas, seals and penguins the island is known for.  We will have the car for 9 hours until 7pm, a half an hour before our ferry leaves to go back to the mainland in Cape Jervis. We will drive back to Adelaide for the night because it is easier for us to stay there near the big highways.

The Great Ocean Road

The last 3 days of our trip will be us meandering down the southern coast of Australia along the Great Ocean Road. We will stop in three different places along the way for the night so that we can stop anywhere we like at our leisure without having to hurry home. This enables us to see as much of the great ocean road as possible. Including the 12 apostles (even though there are only about 7 or 8 still standing lol), Great Otway National Park, Bells Beach, and the Rip Curl Pro Surfing Competition going on while we are in the town of Torquey! We will be visiting/ staying the towns of Robe, Millicent, Warnambool, and Lorne for sure with many others as we go along as well.

We are extremely excited to be going camping for a week all around southern Australia to see a lot of the things that were on our bucket list for our trip even started. And its even better that we are getting to do it within the first 3 weeks here. We will try to blog while we are on the road, but no guarantees for anything substantial. However once we are back, you can expect several incredible posts about our amazing journey!