Leaving the North West behind, we headed inland to Cradle Mountain National Park. The weather was grey and drizzly so no great photo opportunities en-route. The same pattern with the drive, windy roads through rainforest, beautiful trees, lots of ferns and everything to very green.

On arrival at the National Park we checked in at the visitor centre as we needed a pass for the shuttle bus which takes you in and out of the national park. The roads are too narrow to allow traffic going backwards and forwards during the day so cars are only allowed in after 6.30pm and before 08.00am, a system that works really well with various drop off points depending which walks you want to do.

Our accommodation was very basic with no plug points even, just a bed and a wardrobe. We had a shared kitchen and ablution block - all extremely clean and very well-equipped, set in a lovely forest environment. After settling in we spent the afternoon doing some of the shorter walks within a short distance from our accommodation and then had an early dinner of bangers and mash and Heinz baked beans - delicious! We drove in to the National Park at 6.30pm to Dove Lake which has Cradle Mountain at its far end, unfortunately covered in cloud. We did two short walks either side of the lake and enjoyed the views despite the cloud. We also saw our first Wombat!

The next morning, we took the shuttle bus in to the park. The weather was grey and looked threatening. We decided to start with the 6km walk around Dove Lake and after about 20 minutes the heavens opened and continued until the end of the walk - we were soaked through. However, the clouds started clearing so we decided to continue and walk up the mountain via Wombat Pool and Crater Lake. So glad we decided to continue as it turned in to a beautiful sunny afternoon and opened up the views of the surrounding mountains and reflective lakes. We also saw our first Echidna (a spiny anteater). We got back in time before another storm rolled in and decided to go to the Mountain Cradle Lodge for dinner - a lovely place with log fires, comfortable lounge areas - unfortunately our budget wouldn't allow for such an extravagant stay. We did enjoy a burger and a pint though and were tired after our day's walking, so went back to our little shack to read and have an early night.