Trip to Cradle Mountain

Indira at Tasmazia.
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The drive to Cradle Mountain from the northeast coast was a long one. We arrived in the evening and made a quick trip into the park just to take a look. It was beautiful to see at sunset, and along the way we caught a glimpse of our first wild wombat!

We stayed at a beautiful cabin in the mountains, splurging a little since it was xmas time. The owner even put together a little xmas tree for Avani to put her presents under. Even though it was the peak of summer, the weather was cool and it actually felt a lot like xmas in Idyllwild, California. It even rained a little.

Wombats!

Avani at Tasmazia, the toddler version with a yellow brick road.
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Since Avani was starting to feel better and had suffered through so much driving, we planned the first day to do activities for her. Therefore we visited TazMazia! Basically it is a park with a number of very large human mazes, painstakingly constructed from shrubs, bushes and trees. Pretty impressive, and Avani loved it. Ashok had wanted to see this when he visitied but it was too far, but we imagine he was there in spirit. I'd say the oddest part of the park was the "playground" with stockades, a human stretcher, and a play guillotine. Nothing says fun like severed heads!

Nothing says child-friendly fun like a guillotine at Tasmazia.
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Christmas eve was fun. We cooked dinner while Avani sprinkled reindeer food she had made in preschool on the back lawn. We opened some presents, then left the traditional Aussie treats for Santa, cookies and A BEER! New Zealand must wear him out to the point where he needs a good brew by the time he gets to Australia.

On xmas morning, we opened Santa's presents, packed a lunch, and ventured into Cradle Mountain National Park for a hike. We did the Dove Lake circuit, a 6km fairly flat hike in the heart of the park, giving us stunning views of the major peaks without having to climb them. It was a nice day with plenty of sun, but still cool. Amazingly, Avani walked a good 5 out of the 6 km's herself without being carried, a record to date.

Christmas with the gang at our lovely cabin in Cradle Mountain.
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We saw many wombats on the drive home, some solitary, some moms with their babies. Very cute.

The drive home is when the aches and pains began for Indira. It was the start of her own version of Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease, which ended up being more prolonged and more severe than Avani's. It didn't help that we had locked ourselves out of the cabin, but we eventually made it in and crashed before much of a xmas dinner.

On Boxing Day, we headed back to Hobart. We stopped by Mole Creek National Park on the way, the location of some limestone glowworm caves. The formations were grand and much different than what we had seen in New Zealand. The glowworms, however, were pathetic in comparison.