Day 1 Melbourne to Devonport to Cradle Mountain

We headed to Tassie on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry which leaves from Port Melbourne in Victoria and lands in Devonport, Tasmania roughly (literally) 10 hours later. We took our trusty van, The Duke, and had a day sailing (all that was available) with no seat allocation, so thought I’d share some tips for making the most of the journey here:

Ferry Tips:

If you’re in a car or van, try and be last on the ferry (as you’ll be first off).

• Take lots of water and snacks, books and any medication with you as water and food is very expensive on board and you’re not allowed back to your car for anything!

• There’s comfy lounge chairs on the top desk near the bars and pizza bar. Pizza bar has a big queue so get in early.

• Good tables for lunch, trip planning on lower deck near the tourist information area.

• Cafeteria only open 8-10 am and 12-2pm on day sailings for hot food. Otherwise only other food is from the general store (water $4 small bottle!) which has pre-packed salads and sandwiches and crisps etc.

• If rocky and rolly go see a movie as its in the middle of the boat in the dark and you can’t sense motion as much – book tix as soon as you get on from the general store.

• If you sit still and don’t move around it minimises motion sickness. As does taking a mild seasick tablet (we used Travellex).

Drive from Devonport to Cradle Mountain:

This is very pretty but rather windy and forested so try not to do at dusk as lots of pademelons and wallabies. There’s very little accommodation and no services for food or fuel on the way so stock up in Devonport. There are two free places to park a van (roundhouse coffee near Cethana and Lake Gairdener another 20 mins on) but with no loos or facilities and both were v crowded when we were there in early March.

Day 2 and 3 Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain Lodge cabins are cute and comfortable with a big bed, wet room, spacious bathroom a fake gas-log fire. Kettle, fridge/mini bar and glasses and pates.  No TV, limited mobile reception (no Optus) and no wifi except in lodge but even then unreliable.

Food: A small general store at Cradle Mountain Lodge sells cheese, wine, chips and souvenirs open 9-5 daily. No other stores in area so bring supplies in with you!

The Highland restaurant at Cradle Mountain Lodge serves buffet breakfast and a la carte lunch and dinner. Small menu but excellent food and service and delicious local wines. The Tavern attached to the front of the Lodge is open to the public from 9am-10pm and services good basic pub/café food from pizzas to ships to salads and has a bar as well. There’s a couple of pool tables too.

Visitor centre. Get a permit for Cradle Mountain National Park here and access to the walks and a bus pass here for shuttle bus too.

The interpretation centre – a little further up the road from the visitor centre and closer to the Cradle Mountain Lodge – has a great exhibition and films on the flora and fauna and settlement history of the area.

Walks – these are graded from 1 – 4 with some accessible from Cradle Mountain Lodge and others from Ronny creek carpark or Dove lake car park. You can drive to these or catch a shuttle bus from the Interpretation Centre across road from lodge.

Dove Lake Walk – Starting from the Dove Lake carpark this Grade 3 6km loop walk takes you around the lake, through beautiful button-grass and wetlands and provides stunning views of Cradle Mountain and even a couple of small beaches for a swim

Cradle Summit – This 13km Grade 4 (very difficult) hike starts at Dove Lake carpark and takes you to the Cradle Mountain Summit via the superb lookouts at Hansons Peak and Marions Lookout. It provides breathtaking views but you need to be prepared for dizzying heights and lots of boulder scrambling.

Pine Pine Falls and Knyvet Falls (L 2-3) -These pretty waterfalls are accessed via an easy walk along wooden walkways but also form part of the

Enchanted Walk – This Grade 1, easy 1.1 km loop walk starts near the bridge behind the lodge and crosses Pencil Pine Creek and meanders through magical, mossy forest, along a cascading creek.

Day 3 and 4 Sheffield-Deloraine-Launceston

After a morning walk at Cradle mountain, drive 1hr, 15 mins north east to the mural-clad town of Sheffield for lunch and walk the streets admiring all the many murals.  Then drive another 40 km east to the delightful riverside town of Deloraine. The highlight of the historical streetscape has to be Yarns Artwork in Silk at the visitor centre at 100 Emu Bay Road Deloraine. This exhibit features four large scale quilted, soft sculpture silk panels, one for each season, that depict the landscapes, culture, and heritage of the Meander Valley people. It is accompanied by audio visual that highlight features on the panels. See https://www.greatwesterntiers.net.au/artwork-in-silk-yarns for bookings and more info. The Deloraine and districts folk museum at the same venue is a also worth a visit  to capture how life was in the late 1800s. You might want to stay in Deloraine or continue on another 40 minutes to Launceston for the night for dinner at the Black Cow or a drink at one of the whisky bars. A good walk in Launceston is along cataract Gorge.

Day 5 and 6 Tamar Valley wineries and Low Head

After a morning walk through Cataract Gorge, pick up a Wine Guide Tasmania and Tamar Valley touring map from the visitor centre then drive 40 mins north up the B80 to Piper’s River and explore your wineries of choice. Note: Make sure you visit on a Thursday-Sunday and plan ahead as many wineries require booking in for a ‘wine flight-tasting’ which costs typically $15 a head. The brochures list which ones are open when and if they have food available but you should also visit their websites or call them as a lot of info has changed since Covid-19 shut everything down in 2020.  

The wineries we visited were Jansz – outstanding sparkling, cute light cellar door and courtyard, Piper’s Brook with a cafe and amazing Kreglinger sparkling, Delamere – woodsy, cute tasting room with a personal touch and more outstanding sparkling and Bay of Fires where we did a 45 minute classroom-style wine flight and learned a lot about bottling and wine making while sipping on some pretty outstanding sparkling and wines.

Low Head

After you’ve (responsibly) tasted a few wines, drive 20 mins west on the B12 to Georgetown  where you might want to stay or a few minutes further on to stay at Low head at one of the Lighthouse cottages or the Low Head tourist park.

Walk off the vino along the Kanamaluka Trail which runs 6km along the Tamar river from Georgetown to Low Head (right past the tourist park and cottages) and takes you past Lagoon beach, a fairy penguin colony, the old lighthouse station at ends at he Lighthouse (where you can rent a cottage to stay)

Day 7 Devonport to Home

This is departure day so depending on your flight/ferry you may need to drive the 90 mins straight to Devonport but if you have more time, stop off in Devonport to explore the Regional Art Gallery, the murals along coffee lane, the walk along the river or grab a bite in the mall before your flights or ferry home.