Kick off the hiking boots, because David has found a bushwalkers paradise in Tassie.
Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clair National Park is World Heritage listed. The 125,000 hectares of lakes, icy streams gurgling out of rugged mountains and ancient forests are overwhelmingly beautiful.
Cradle Mountain is 1545 metres high, one of Tasmania's most loved destinations. Don't be put off though — even though it is popular, it remains wild and isolated.
The park has 25 major peaks and a good range of glacial formations — tarns, glacial lakes, moraine deposits, u-shaped valleys and waterfalls. The area was glaciated around 10,000 years ago, the result of a six-kilometre icecap forming and glaciers with amazing erosive powers flowing from its edges, creating dramatic landscape.
Not far from the park's entrance is the area's latest accommodation, the luxurious Doherty's Cradle Mountain Hotel.
The 60-room hotel is on 12 hectares and was designed to blend in with its delicate surroundings. It is for the person who enjoys the wilderness but equally enjoys comfort at the end of the day.
All rooms have a small private deck and range from 4½-star standard with two double beds, king spa rooms and deluxe split-level suites with spa and sunken lounge.
There are two restaurants. Quolls specialises in hearty breakfasts and casual dining and Grey Gum, which has a glass dining area with views of the Vale River Valley, is a more sophisticated dining room. Both restaurants and the bar open onto a large deck and are connected to a walk-in cellar which, of course, has some of Tasmania's finest wines, as well as vintages from other states. The restaurants make good use of Tasmania's fresh, quality seafood, meat, dairy products, fruit and vegetables.
The hotel's Wilderness Gallery has a display of wilderness and landscape photography featuring works of specialist photographers, including Tasmanian Peter Dombrovskis, recently inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame.
