Gaiters boots and walking gear donned we set off down the road towards Williamsford and the south dundas railway leftovers that was our gateway to our walk.
We arrived at the turnoff only a few kms down the road past the old overhead cableway that overtook the railway we were about to walk in the 1920's .
An easy 4 hour walk inspired the family onwards but we soon found ourselves being overtook by European tourists walking at such a pace you really had to wonder why they came here oblivious to the surrounding fern glades ,ring river and forest with its birdlife , strange bracket fungus growing like a step in a tree and mossy undergrowth . The sign said we were halfway but many had scribbled 1/3 which but the map seemed more appropriate .
2/3 later we arrived at the boardwalk to the falls with only a few of the European crowd left as most came then went fairly quickly.
The supplied wraps went down well with the water dash carried in his camelback and we took plenty of photos from all manner of angles then all bar Corinna made our way across the suspension bridge that hung a long way above the river bed and we did this one by one even though the limit was two adults or one adult two kids .
I don't mind telling you I'm not a fan of large wire suspension bridges with only one foot in front of the other pathways but I made it across and back making Shahla didn't slip through the supports (she ran most of the way first off !) I even manage to stop halfway across and look up to the falls and get a photo off.
The walk back with the boys wearing their packs dummy loaded seemed to take a toll on them and I unwittingly came to the conclusion they may not be ready to tackle the overland track 6 day walk but we will do a walls of Jerusalem overnight walk very soon and take it from there.
I myself and Corinna couldn't wait to return to cradle mountain to experience once again the area as we had walked there 21 years previously and I was amazed at the popularity of the place now unfortunately in a commercial fashion that is nowadays unavoidable.
the walk back finished and all were tired but enjoyed it immensely .
We met a mine water quality tester at the end of the walk and he was in such a rush to get going he left his tailgate down and bounced on up the hill losing his esky of samples ,helmet and safety glasses , so we picked these up of the trail then stopped ahead at Williamsford so I could inspect the old mining works and overhead cable way and of course complete a geocache .
Back in Roseberry we let the kids loose on the playground and dash went off on the well built skatepark the mines proceeds had built while we went to the supermarket and got some frothies to return to the park with had a nice chat with the barmaid and thought of tea at the pub there but I was keen on some local four wheel driving which is a great area for it.
Back down the Zeehan rd we turned off towards the pieman river and got to do dome four wheel driving around near some old mine tailings and into a makeshift boat ramp area then headed onwards to Zeehan where we spent way too much on a drink and tea for our 19th wedding anniversary. Nice meal all full we headed home for a batman movie as I had finally set up the tv to settle young minds as we cleaned up .
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