The Pig and Whistle Cabin
It felt wonderful waking up in our tree top cabin, with the sound of the birds singing. The fire was petering out, so Shane went and threw another log on it. We were eating breakfast in the restaurant and then hitting the trails around Lemonthyme Lodge for a morning of hiking in the rainforest.
The walk was magnificent, very cold, but wonderful. The scenery was stunning. We worked up a decent appetite for lunch, so headed back to the main lodge, where the restaurant is for our delicious lunch.
We had booked ourselves on a 4WD tour due to depart at 1pm just outside the main lodge. Our driver told us we were the only passengers today so we could do anything we wanted.
The waterfall near Cradle Mountain
Both of us wanted to see Cradle Mountain, so that was where our driver took us first. We told him we would put ourselves in his capable hands and let him take us where he thought we should go. He took us to the visitor centre at Cradle Mountain and along some pretty walking tracks, and finally to see the mountain. The weather was cold and horrible, and the clouds were covering the mountain from view. However, we still managed to have lovely day. We stopped to feed and pat a kangaroo, who was a local identity, he was taking a drink out of a water hole when we drove past, as our driver recognised the roo he pulled up to give us the opportunity for the pat. After about 10 minutes, the kangaroo decided he had had enough apple and hopped off into the bush. After exploring the Cradle Mountain area and having a magical moment when the snow fell gently upon us, our driver took us up to an abandoned mine called the Pig and Whistle, our cabin at Lemonthyme Lodge got its name from this mine.
What we could see of Cradle Mountain
Our driver took us into the mine but his flashlight stopped working so we didn’t get to have a really good look at the gold lining the walls of the mine. I took a photo from within the mine looking back towards the entrance, and my flash lit it up so we could see it. The next stop was the top of a ridge with magnificent views over the valley. This tour was fantastic and the driver full of local knowledge.
Dinner was again in the restaurant at the Lodge, and then we spent the evening in front of the roaring fire before heading back to our cabin where the wonderful staff had made up our fire and stacked enough wood for us to survive the night.
