Tasmania West, Day Four. The Dream and Devils

Willow woke us up early with Led Zeppelin as she had threatened! Not too loud but enough to get us all up. I like her quirky style!
Although it was cold I put on my shorts and raincoat for Kayaking. I doubled with Nancy as neither of us has much experience. (Lee if your reading this, I’ll be an expert by the time you arrive and I drag you into a Kayak!)

The river was so still, like black glass. No breeze and little sound, just the occasional bird call and the odd sighting of Green Rosella’s.
There was a low mist moving over the water in the distance. We set off in complete silence awed by the beauty of the Pieman River.

It was the most wonderful and dream like experience I’ve ever had. Who needs drugs!
We paddled to the Savage River and to the furthest inland shipwreck in Australia at its mouth. The SS Croydon is clearly visible and still contains a valuable cargo of Huon pine which I understand does not rot.
We paddled on till we heard a waterfall and in the mist came something out of a Studio Ghibli animation. It was a little framed set of steps, so easy to miss. We got out here and walked up the wooden stair to the beautiful little “Lovers Falls”. I’ll add pictures later.

Don’t be fooled by the steps, this is true wilderness but its being fiercely protected to stop people roaming and destroying it.
As we paddled back my arms and shoulders began to ache and I felt cold.

We packed up camp and headed off to Cradle Mountain. I still felt aching and cold as we set up the next camp. This place was very lonely and very cold.
Snow was threatened so Willow suggested we visit Devils@Cradle instead of a walk. This is a Tasmanian Devil sanctuary. There is an infectious facial tumour in the wild population so this is where Typical and although smaller and more stoat like they are the apex predator on Tas as the devil is more a scavenger.

We actually saw a Western Quall on our way back, hunting on the road side.
We had dinner out at a lodge and by now I was sure my aching joints were probably a bug and not just the extra exercise. When we got back I put on several layers of clothing before getting into my two sleeping bags, hoping I would be warm enough. I was feeling pretty grubby too not having washed for a couple of days. Just Typical! this was the first night I had to share a tent and I felt like a complete slob!