Larmairremener tabelti Aboriginal cultural walk and Platypus Bay circuit

Lake St Clair National Park is on the southern edge of the Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park. This park is the end of the famous overland track starting up from the Cradle Mountains and part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area.

Aboriginal people called the lake Leeawuleena, which means “sleeping water” and they have a long history in the area. If you walk through the walks, you can see the signs of thousands of years of Aboriginal burning experience.

The first walk I took was Platypus Bay Circuit combined with the Larmairremener tabelti Aboriginal cultural walk.

My original plan was to take some sunrise pictures around the lake, but having a massive overcast I decided to take these combined walks.

It takes originally about 90 minutes to finish these walks, but it took me little bit more than two hours because I like to stop taking photos.  

The walk is a very easy, I would say grade one walk - this follows the crest of a glacial morale and then it walks you through the eucalypt and rainforest. This 25 minute walk takes you to the junction of Cuvier and Hugel rivers (well they call it river here it looks more like two creeks for me though).

Then cross the bridge and follow the sign towards the Platypus Bay.

If you happen to visit the place in summer or spring, many wildflowers are in flower.

Platypus Bay is another 10 minute walk and this is the first view of the Lake St Clair. This bay is called platypus bay because -yepp you can spot platypus the native Australian mammal here. Well I was not in luck at this spot so carried on walking towards the lake. 

The buildings across the lake are the pumphouse and workshop from the 1940.

There is also an old barge that lies on the beach at the bay - this barge was destroyed during a storm 40 years ago and it is just left there for the nature to take care of. This is pretty much a common thing in Tasmania, especially when walking in forest - a fallen tree wont be shippe they are just all left there to become part of the nature. Amazing!

So I was not lucky with the sunrise at the lake - but as you can see from the photos- its rather hard to go wrong with photos in the area. 

This walk is dedicated for the Aboriginals who lived in this area and were killed/prisoned/deported by the European settlers. This is not my first time doing walks like this and I personally find it rather odd and somewhat bizarre that the European settlers technically killed every aboriginal person on the island - there are plenty of stories how these were done and can be learnt on these cultural walks with names and photos - and although it happened not even so long ago and the only reminder of their past existence is these boardwalks. I have not seen any aboriginals living on this island. 

Call me liberal, call me a dreamer but i think its wrong.

Anyways the walk is beautiful as every walk is in whole Australia, plenty of good information, very well maintained path and beautiful, clean nature.

Yes, yes its worth paying for that national park fee - because Tasmania definitely reinvests these funds back into the parks. I have seen many places in the world where I would not pay a penny I would rather find the not-so-legal way to get into the national parks that need entry fees to be paid. But not in Tasmania - this state deserves it!

After I have finished my nearly two hour hike, it was still early, so I drove back to Denvert Bridge -about 5kms- and had a massive egg and bacon / toast (overpriced) breakfast in the only roadhouse in town. You will need this energy bomb for the next walk!

Bushwalking Rules:
1. know you limits - weather can change rapidly in this area, so make sure you know what you are capable of before starting your walk

2. be prepared - wear sturdy walking shoes or boots (trainers not recommended as the rocks might be slippery), take plenty of water, have a warm and light rainjacket with you and make sure you are protected from the sun. Suncream and heat are essentials! Even if the temperature not that high, the strong Australian sun can be very dangerous —remember where the ozone hole is right? Yep - above Australia. Most importantly - be prepared to turn back if the weather deteriorates or the walk is more difficult than expected

3. Try to avoid walking alone - okay this tip comes from me, who always walks alone, but if possible have a walking buddy with you.

4. Record your walks - Tasmania is just designed for these walks; anywhere you go for a walk, there will be a log book at the start of the track where you can put your name and plan down. This helps the searchers to locate you in case you are reported missing or overdue

AND LEAVE NO TRACE - leave what you find (rocks, leaves, animals etc) and take everything you bring back with you - except your footsteps.. 

How to get to Lake St Clair

The Cradle Mountain–Lake St Clair National Park’s southern entrance at Lake St Clair National Park is 2.5 hr west of Hobart, Tasmania and a similar distance from Launceston via Longford and Poatina.

Hello

My name is Katalin and I have been traveling in China and Australia (on and off) for three years now. I can’t stand travel agencies - totally disagree with their principle of keeping the “secret of how to travel” to themselves and I love traveling on my own.

My favourite way of traveling is by public transport, I do it usually with minimal planning and just let the locals “drive” me to the spots.

This site is my experience of how to travel with no agency in China and the places I think worth for a visit in both Tasmania and Victoria, Australia.

If I am not exploring you can find me hiking somewhere in the mountains / bushes or taking photos. Oops, wait a second that’s exploring too