This tour includes combines the magnificent Tarkine Wilderness and the world-renowned Cradle Mountain. We spend three days exploring the rainforest and coastal region of the Tarkine, including a cruise on the MV Arcadia, a hike up Mount Donaldson and a visit to beautiful Philosophers Falls. We then spend two days wandering the trails of Cradle Mountain and embark on some fantastic hikes visiting Dove Lake and Marion’s Lookout.
The beauty of this trip is that it combines two great destinations in the one tour. As with all our walking tours, the focus is on hiking and exploring the natural surrounds, connecting with the natural world. The hiking on this tour is moderate, with one harder day while in Cradle Mountain. You’ll enjoy waterfalls, coast, rainforest and mountains, along with plenty of wildlife and comfortable accommodation.
En-route we stop in the coastal village of Penguin to enjoy morning tea and a trip briefing with our guides. By 11am we’ll be on our way to Hellyer Gorge. This is a brilliant short one-hour return walk through the beautiful Tarkine rainforest.
We enjoy lunch here among some of Tasmania’s oldest forest environments. We will then head off and the afternoon walk is a two hour walk through towering myrtle and sassafras to the beautiful Philosophers Falls. We then head off to Corinna Wilderness Lodge – our place of stay for the next two nights.
We enjoy dinner at Corinna’s onsite Tannin Restaurant (drinks at own expense).
Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Corinna Wilderness Lodge (cabin style)
The historic Huon pine vessel the Arcadia takes approximately one and a half hours to travel the 22km down to the Pieman Heads where you will disembark with our guides and explore the wild Pieman Heads.
The track can be muddy and wet in places as it deviates in and out of the coast. There is the opportunity for a lunchtime swim if weather permits.
We spend the whole morning out on the trail. We come across many Aboriginal middens that line the coast and may be lucky enough to spot a Tasmanian Devil in the wild.
We make our way north before turning around to retrace our steps and hop back on board the MV Arcadia for lunch and an early afternoon cruise back to Corinna.
We're back by mid-afternoon and there is also the option of a paddling a canoe on the Pieman or Whyte river where you have a good chance of seeing platypus in the wild. Otherwise ..... you can always relax on the porch of your cabin.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
We then head off to Cradle Mountain and check into our cabins at the Cradle Mountain Discovery Holiday Park.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Cradle Mountain Discovery Holiday Park
From here we make our way up to Marion’s Lookout, which includes a very steep climb and Kitchen Hut. We then head back via the Horse Track to meet the vehicle.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Cradle Mountain Discovery Holiday Park
We will wander through typical Tasmanian rainforest. The Lake is one of the best-known walks in Tasmania, the Dove Lake Circuit is one of the best short walks in the Cradle Mountain region.
At just 6 km, the flat, gravel and duckboard track is very easy going, leaving you to focus entirely on the jagged peak of Cradle Mountain, which looms above the track.
Along the way, there is a great mix of terrain including scrubby button grass, sandy beaches, cascading streams and at the mid-point of the walk, a very special part of the rainforest area known as the Ballroom Forest.
If time permits, we can enjoy one of the short walks near the entrance of Cradle Mountain National Park to showcase the rainforest, waterfalls and magnificent Kingbilly pines including the King Billy Walk and Enchanted Walk. Here we will see some different endemic flora of Tasmania.
We then make our way back to Launceston returning approx. 4-4.30pm.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Our eco wilderness retreat cottages have their own private facilities; all linen is included. Our accommodation includes two-bedroom cottages which have a twin room and double room, shared bathroom plus its own lounge and kitchen area. Each cabin has its own bathroom, but none of the individual rooms within the cabin have their own en-suite. You can choose a single supplement if you would prefer not to share a room, this means you would have one room in the two-bedroom cabin and could be sharing the cabin (and bathroom) with one or two other guests. Corinna runs on solar power so just be mindful of this, there is electricity for charging devices, but no television, mobile coverage or WIFI at Corinna. For heating purposes, there is a small gas-fired log fire in each cabin.
Cradle Mountain Discovery Holiday Park (2 nights)
We spend two nights at Cradle Mountain Discovery Holiday Park in comfortable two bedroom cottage accommodation. These have shared bathroom facilities between the two rooms and a separate toilet. The cottages have a small lounge and kitchenette area and each bedroom has a queen bed or two single beds. A rustic outdoor dining area is where we serve breakfast and dinner and it is where we make our lunches. If you have booked a single room you will have your own room in a two bedroom cabin. You may be sharing the cabin (and bathroom) with one or two other guests.
Notice of cancellation must be in writing, with an email as an acceptable form of communication, directly to Adventurous Women with the following conditions:
No refund is available after departure of a tour has commenced.
Update 19th September 2019 - ** Due to PayPal changing their policy to now retain fees even when we issue a refund we will be forced to pass this along. This means both partial and full refunds will be less the full fee charged by PayPal
