Thursday, February 13, 2025

Today is my birthday! Always fun to think back over the years about all the different places we’ve celebrated my special day. Today, our day began at Cradle Mountain National Park in northwest Tasmania. Yesterday, the weather was warm and sunny. Today — not so much. A cold front moved in overnight bringing cooler temperatures and rain.

Andi delivered a hot cup of coffee to me in bed this morning, and encouraged me to lay there as long as I’d like to blog. Or, at least until 10:00am because that was the time we had to check out of our campsite.

By 10:00am, we were packed up and ready to explore more of the national park. Andi drove our rental RV to the Visitor’s Center so we could buy tickets for the park shuttle. Most activities in Cradle Mountain are only accessible via the park shuttle. We really hate relying on bus schedules and public transportation, but after seeing the park it makes sense why buses must take visitors along the narrow, winding road from the Visitor’s Center to Dove Lake. The alpine meadows and dense rainforests would otherwise be inaccessible.

Two bus tickets cost us $30 AUD; kids rode free. Fortunately, buses run every 10-15 minutes so we didn’t have to wait long to board. The bus ride was comfortable as we rode 20 minutes to Dove Lake, making several stops along the way.

My birthday wish was to complete a longer hike in Cradle Mountain today. I selected the popular Dove Lake Circuit which takes about 3 hours to complete. The trail followed the shores of Dove Lake offering different views of the lake and Cradle Mountain from every side.

Aden graciously offered to carry the backpack so I didn’t have to lug it around on my birthday, but realized after about 10 minutes it was too much weight for him to carry. Our pack was stuffed full of rain jackets and sweatshirts that we’d quickly peeled off as we hiked along the trail. Surprisingly, the rain held off and bits of sunshine popped through the clouds. The sun burned off the clouds which covered Cradle Mountain so we were able to see glimpses of its glory.

The kids were in such good spirits during our hike; we had so much fun together, laughing and talking.

We finished the hike around 1:00pm, and headed back to the shuttle stop to catch a ride to the Visitor’s Center. I would have liked to add on a short walk at Ronny Creek where wombats sightings are prevalent, but I could tell Tory and Aden were ready to be done. We’d hiked 4 miles already, and they were ready for lunch.

There isn’t much around Cradle Mountain in terms of restaurants, so Andi and I decided lunch inside our camper would be fastest and simplest option. We cobbled together a feast of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Tory and Aden, and deli ham, cheese, hummus, & crackers for Andi and I. “Even on her birthday, she’s a short-order cook for her family,” Andi said as I took orders from the kids. That’s OK; I’m living my best life spending the day with my family in a beautiful place.

After lunch, we cleaned up the dishes and then started our drive to Queenstown, Tasmania. Tomorrow, Andi booked us a special river cruise so we wanted to camp somewhere close to the port tonight.

The 90-minute drive led us into western Tasmania. Home to wild rivers, ancient pine trees, and giant sand dunes, the west is Tasmania’s untamed wilderness. Parts of our drive looked stark and desolate with lunar-looking rocky landscapes and not many trees. We didn’t see another car on the stretch of road; very few signs of life.

What we did see was looming smoke and an orange-colored sky in the distance. “I think there are some bush fires on the west coast,” Andi mentioned, “but they’re farther north than where we’re going.

The orange sky continued to glow, and the treetops whipped wildly in the wind. It was a really eerie drive into Queenstown. The fires burning in the distance totally surprised us; we hadn’t heard anything about it during our Tasmanian travels. Then again, we aren’t really watching the news either.

Yesterday, Andi left a message about camping at the holiday park in Queenstown tonight, but never heard back. We drove to the campground anyway to see if we could get a spot for the night. As luck would have it, the holiday park was full with firefighters battling the surrounding blazes.

Andi asked the woman working at the holiday park if we could fill up with fresh water before we left, and surprisingly she said no. Some of her spigots were turned off apparently, and she didn’t have anywhere for us to fill.

There were no other campgrounds in Queenstown. The woman suggested we try freedom camping at the football field in town. Or, we could drive to the nearby town of Strahan about 30 minutes away to see if we could find camping there. “We’ve camped in weirder places,” Andi said with a smile. “Let’s try the football field.”

By now, it was already 6:00pm and we were running out of daylight. We settled on camping at the football field in town, and there were a lot of other people there doing the same thing. Andi suggested we walk into town to have dinner somewhere, or we could walk to the grocery store and buy something to bring back to our RV. “It’s your birthday,” Andi said. “You decide.”

The kids were pooped. I could tell walking wasn’t top of their list tonight. In the end, Andi and I decided we’d walk the 10 minutes into downtown Queenstown to get food and bring it back while Aden and Tory stayed in the RV to chill.

The sky had grown even more ominous in the time it took for us find a spot to park for the night. There was a nervous chatter amongst customers in the grocery store. “I heard you aunt had to be evacuated,” one person said. I overheard a little boy say to his grandma, “There’s burning in the air.”

The atmosphere was unnerving. Andi kept trying to make my birthday special by suggesting we grab dinner at one of the few restaurants open, and all I wanted to do was make a choice and get back to the RV. I’d hoped to find an easy rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, but instead all they had was roasted rotisserie lamb. We settled for take-out pizza and a loaded baked potato from Delish Pizza.

The sky was completely orange with smoke by the time we returned to the camper. How did we find ourselves here, Andi and I wondered. We did not see this coming.

The four of us ate dinner inside our camper as we talked about the nearby fires. Queenstown was safe for now, but the surrounding towns to the north were under evacuation or “stay alert” orders. The Queenstown Sports Club was designated as a safe location for people to gather.

Andi and the kids surprised me with a frozen ice cream cake, candles, and sparklers for dinner. They sang Happy Birthday to me, and we ate our desserts around the dinette table.

We spent the rest of the evening watching out the window as night fell. The sky was smoky and orange. It was hard to breathe, and we could taste ash in the air. The kids were nervous, but Andi and I assured them if things got really bad, we’d pack up the RV and leave town. Rain was in the forecast tonight; hopefully bringing relief to the area firefighters.

Tomorrow, we are set to take a river cruise excursion along the Gordon River.