On our way to Lake St Clair
After our picnic, we left for Lake St Clair. After 10 minutes, we were distracted by a roadside raspberry farm so we decided to stop for an ice cream. Such a good idea!
15 Minutes later, we were back on track for our next destination. The drive was not dull at all, the landscape constantly changed, trees alternated with open plains. More or less one hour later we came across a hydro power plant that was built in the 1930’s. Very impressive! We stretched our legs and took some pictures and continued our drive.
The Pumphouse Point
Finally we reached ‘The Pumphouse Point’, two industrial buildings that once were part of a hydro-electric station, a pumphouse and a shorehouse, completely renovated for tourism. What an incredible view! This was probably one of the most beautiful locations we had ever stayed in. The welcome was fantastic, we received bubbles while we completed the registration process. We had booked a room in the shorehouse overlooking the pumphouse and the glacial lake. It could not have been nicer.
We began with the discovery of the two buildings and the surroundings. We then drove to the visitor centre and did our first walk, the Watersmeet, Platypus and Lamairremener trail of 4.7 km, a 45 minutes walk. Unfortunately there was no platypus in sight (later on we would learn that those animals were actually much smaller than expected). That evening, we participated in a communal dining event. It was very nice to meet other travelers, mainly Aussies. The food was delicious. We had read that the portions were very small but that was not the case at all. After dinner we went outside to look for wallabies or pademelons, but it was too dark to spot anything…
Discovery of the Lake St Clair Park
The following morning we woke up early and we experienced the most magnificent view of the entire holiday. Clouds were touching the lake with the Pumphouse in the front… wowwww! After breakfast we got ready for the Shadow Lake walk. The circuit was 13 km and it took us around 5 hours to complete it. The first 2 hours were constantly uphill so poor Koen had to listen to my moaning more than once. However, in the end the suffering had really been worth it. This place was so beautiful!!! At the end of the walk, Koen suggested to continue to the Two Lakes, but this was too much for me to handle, I was not sufficiently trained to walk bigger distances. For now, I could only think of putting my feet up.
In the evening, we registered again for the communal dining. The food was as the day before really yummy. The dessert was a pudding… for us a pudding is something completely different, here it is more like a cake (we knew this, but still… funny).
Our last evening
During our conversations with the other guests around the table, we got the impression that Aussies in general seem to travel less than us Europeans (not sure if this is really the case). Most of them did not even explore their own country… Others gave preference to travel with a camper. For visiting Tasmania, a crossing must be booked many months in advance, otherwise it was not possible to get a space on the ferry.
After dinner we packed our bags since we were continuing our road trip in the morning further to the West.
