Throwback Thursday (This Blog, originally published in 2011 at an earlier version of our site – we think you’ll still enjoy)
Sounds innocent enough doesn’t it? After all the word “walking” is in the name, how hard could it be!
Lemonthyme Lodge Tasmania
Well to say I was surprised would be an understatement. You see it seems walking is really a complete misrepresentation of what one will be doing on a bush walk. It might be better named as bush hiking, bush trekking, or even bush sweating because friends it is not a stroll in the park!
Who knew walking could be graded as easy, intermediate, hard and very hard? To me walking has always been just putting one foot in front of the other to propel you forward? In my mind a bush walk was nothing more than a stroll in nature. That was until my 7K bush walk in Tasmania near Cradle Mountain.
During our visit to the Lemonthyme Lodge we were given a pamphlet entitled “Timeless Trails, Lasting Impressions”. Sounds sort of romantic doesn’t it? The lodge is a cute boutique property tucked away amongst temperate rain forest. The accommodations sort of help the unknowing form that romantic getaway sort of vibe with 1 and 2 bedroom tree top cabins. The place lulls you into nature and all it’s wonders!
So when the owner handed us the pamphlet describing the “walks” well we just knew we had to try one. I believe his exact words were, “well there is a short trail behind the main lodge that will take you about 45minutes, but if you have time you should try to see the waterfalls.
Proof we made it to the waterfalls!
Now I don’t know what it is about the word waterfalls that sets so many of us into a state of euphoria but somehow it just does. So of course we can MAKE the time to do the “walk” to the falls!! I mean it’s only a 2 hour walk, we can do that in the morning before breakfast, right?
The little pamphlet has a map, we have a plan to get up at 630am and “walk” to the waterfalls, we are all set! But, do we actually read the pamphlet? Don’t be silly, it’s just a walk!
The lodge dining room
The alarm rings and we dress for our adventure. Originally there were 4 of us going but I think the other 2 must have read the brochure because they did not emerge from their cabin so Paul and I set off together for our stroll, camera in the ready to capture the flora and fauna of the area.
The first part of the walk is on a 4WD track that was created when power was added to the lodge (this place is in the sticks folks) and hmmm, it’s all uphill. Wait let me rephrase that…up mountain. Yes, such a lovely gradual incline that we literally had to stop every 30 or 40 steps because our calves were screaming mortal combat type pain and our cardiorespiratory system was pleading for normalcy.
I believe it was during this part of the “walk” that Paul asked 6 or more times if we should turn around and go back but NO we wanted to see the waterfalls! I will say it is at this point where we read a small portion of the pamphlet with these exact words, “This is a beautiful circuit and one on which you should consider taking a packed lunch”! What the heck, I thought it was a 2 hour “walk”, we only brought 1 bottle of water!
After nearly a grueling hour we finally reached the little sign that pointed off the 4WD track into the BUSH. I believe this was the top of the mountain but I was too focused on breathing that I’m not really sure.
Must have been a misprint – no Champagne this way
Now if you’ve been following along, you’ll remember me saying we went uphill… (note tree tops on level with camera)
Well you guessed it, the little sign pointed downhill (again down mountain is more accurate) through the woods and when I say trail I’m using the word only because I don’t know the word to actually describe the next part of this “walk”. There is just some trampled thicket where the steps are literally the tree roots and your only source of balance is to grab onto brush, tree limbs, or weeds. The ground is wet (it’s a rain forest) so the going is slick and slow going.
But as we descend we begin to hear water..oh boy the excitement returns, we are going to see a water falls! At the base of the mountain we find a stream which we cross over (yes, someone actually made a bridge out here!) and continue a short distance toward the roaring water. We stop to observe as there are supposed to be platypus living in/around the water. Nope, we don’t spot any, as a matter of fact we had not witnessed any living creature thus far on the walk!
A short (relative terms) distance away we come to the first for two water falls, Champagne Falls, aptly named because of the bubbles that are created as the water falls from the mountain top. Oh, it is beautiful!
Our rapture ends in dread when we look at our watch and realize it has taken us nearly 2 hours to get to the first falls. EEK if it takes us another 2 hours to “walk” out we’ll not only miss breakfast but be late for our bus departure at 10am!
We press onward.
Our goal is Bridal Falls…now this one is worth the “walk”.
It’s beautiful and if you are willing to hike up a small hill you can actually climb out onto a rock that is behind the falls (thus the name, Bridal as in bridal veil). Climbing behind the falls is an add on walk, it does not advance you toward the finish but come on, you’ve “walked” this far you certainly aren’t going to miss it even if it is uphill!
We stop to take turns (risky so we did it separate incase one of us fell and the other had to go for help!) climbing up behind the waterfalls and taking pictures.
But now the dreaded return is upon us. We are 2+ hours into a 2 hour “walk” and we are half way, hungry and our water is almost gone!
We begin the climb (oh I mean walk) up the mountain clinging once again to brush, tree limbs and weeds. We stink, we are hungry, and we are exhausted. I’m not sure which of those propelled us upwards but soon we found ourselves back on the 4WD trail and we began to descend.
Where my calves were burning on the way up, my knees were crying on the way down. So much so that at one point I honestly considered laying down and rolling! But the good news is down mountain is much faster than up mountain and we arrived back at the lodge 15 minutes before breakfast ended. Needless to say we went to eat smelling like a good “walk”.
When the owner saw us he said, “I didn’t think you’d be able to do it”! NOW he tells us!! This “walk” was graded medium. What the heck do you think Hard and Very Hard are like. I’m sure I’ll never know!
kookaburra
One thing for sure is, if/when you take a trip to Australia you have GOT to do a bushwalk. This was actually one of two 7K bushwalks we took and loved them both. As Aussie specialists, we can help you create an unforgettable vacation and even help you choose an appropriate bush walk!
Sue
