By the time we left Hamlet Downs, after a relaxing start preparing and eating our own continental breakfast it was already 23 degrees - the sky was clear blue and as we crossed over Meadowbank Lake, enroute to the A10, the surrounding scenery was almost perfectly reflected in the water - a truly spectacular sight which warranted photographing. (one is today's photograph). We then made our way through lovely countryside, reminiscent of Scotland - except for the ecucalypts, to Lake St Clair which is at the southern edge of the Cradle Mountain/ Lake St Clair national park. The lake is the deepest in Australia having been hewn out by glaciers during various ice ages. It was a very convenient stop as it was about half way between Fentonbury and Strahan and really good to stretch our legs on the combined short walks of Watersmeet,
Platypus bay, there was a viewing hide for platypus but they only appear at dusk & dawn, and an aboriginal trail retracing areas inhabited by an ancestral tribe who were unceremoniously relocated to Flinders island - the whole walk took just over an hour to do the 5 kms ..... but it was more debilitating as it was boiling hot - the gauge in the car said it was 32 degrees. We reflected that we were grateful the Milford Track was not walked in 32 degree heat! On our way to start the trails we passed our first black currawong, a large black crow like bird with a big yellow eye and a reputation for stealing food from hapless visitors - this one however was busily snapping at, and catching swarming insects - a very natural behaviour - and no doubt tastier for them than cheese sandwiches.
Back at the car I swopped my boots for flipflops (thongs(OZ) or jandals (NZ ) the name changes depending on your country of origin!) for which my feet were very grateful. We then headed off on the last very twisty but mostly scenic route to Strahan. We passed through Queenstown unlike its trendy New Zealand neighbour this Queenstown looked a little run down and was centered on a local copper mine. The temperature gauge as we drove through hit 39 degrees.
We had noted when at Lake St Clair visitor centre that the next 3 days will see parts of Southern Australia and Tasmania in an extreme heat wave. Needless to say when we arrived in Strahan our first stop was the ice-cream shop for special Tasmanian ice-cream - nice but the caramel fudge and coffee were not the best I have had - still refreshing in the heat though.
We then found our accommodation - Driftwood Villas - compared to last night it was basic even though it was similarly priced - on the plus side it had two fans which we put on, tea makings, free and fast wifi and undercover parking for the car so it stayed cool in the heat. Everything is a compromise! We showered and headed into town for supper at the Bushman's Bar and Cafe - we had picked this eatery out on our exploratory ice cream buying visit as it looked a wholesome option with great views of the harbour - the second biggest natural harbour in Australia....and it lived up to expectations - lovely fresh vegetables and an apple crumble that was full of apple. After dinner we had a short walk around the harbour as it was cooling off a little - we also treated ourselves to some chocolate but it needed refrigeration before eating otherwise we would have had to drink it - probably a mistake - but after the wait when we got back to the apartment while the fridge did it's work - it was a nice treat!