10 Things You Can Do When There Is No TV In Your Hotel Room - December 8th

1) Petrol Hunting:
Cradle Mountains is a crazy place. It is the number one tourist attraction in Tasmania, with at least 10 different resort style accommodations in the area (including Cradle Mountain Lodge, where we stayed, which has almost 100 cabins). But it is truly in the middle of nowhere. There is no general store, no restaurant apart from the ones in the resorts, no petrol statioin, and much to Eric's horror, no bottle shop! Our fuel ran dangerously low before we arrived and what a shock to realise there was only ONE port-a-petrol-station thing at the Cradle Mountain Airport (yeah there IS an airport) and that only ONE petrol station has run out of petrol (what are the chances really). We had two choices: Moina, which is 19km away (but not sure if there IS a petrol station there), or Tullah, which is 34km away (but not sure if we would even make it to the town). We decided to go to Moina to try our luck and god was on our side because there was petrol there, and there is also a really nice tea room with cheap hearty meals and a very cute shop attendant.

2) Beer hunting:
With the slightest hope that there might be a bottle shop hiding somewhere in one of the resorts, we drove out hunting for some alcohol, we went into at least 5 different hotels/motels/camping ground and did actually find a bottle shop in the 'Cosy Cabins' and guess what, they only sell it to their own guests - that's just not fair!!!!

3) Go for a walk in the rain:
When we arrived it was not the perfect weather for bush walking: 7 degrees and raining. But every minute counts when you are at the Cradle Mountains so we did a 1 hour circuit walk just behind the lodge, the King Billy walk. It was actually really pleasant, and I cant get tired of saying how nice the tracks were made in Tasmania. We also saw some wallabies which made the walk even better.

4) Get a massage:
I booked a feet therapy for both Jeicy and I at the Waldheim Alpine Spa, for it is the cheapest on the menu and I had little confidence in spa that is at middle of nowhere. I hate to admit but I am such a snobbish know-it-all: it was the best massage I have ever had. The therapists did a wonderful job even it is only a foot massage (Sculp massage when you are getting your feet soaked, feet exfoliation and massage, feet 'mask' and shoulder and neck massage when waiting for the mask to take effect, which was when I felt asleep). After the massage I was taken to 'the sanctuary', which has an outdoor spa pool that is right above a deep valley. Inside there are two spongy kind of lounges when you can chill out at, from which you can look out from the floor to ceiling glass window and take in the beautiful scenery while feeling great about yourself.

5) Ring the ones you love:
We havent had mobile phone reception for 5 whole days and it was good to see a pay phone. I gave Shang a guick ring and she was actually getting worried (which doesnt help that I kept telling her what happened in the movie 'Wolf Creek' before our trip) so that was good we got in touch before she decided to ring the police.

6) Play with your fire place:
Well there is no television but there is a log burner! Eric was having heaps of fun with it. Apart from burning wood, he also tried half wet wood, wet wood, newspaper, paper, and glossy magazine cover (which turns the flame green).

7) Have a BBQ in your room:
We felt a bit ripped-off when we went to check out the dinner menu from the Highland restaurant. 3 course dinner costs 65 dollars and 2 course costs 58 dollar (as if with 7 dollar difference anyone is going to go for 2 courses) and you cant say 'I am just going to have a steak'. I dont have a problem with the price, apparently they have got really good food but I hate the fact that I dont have a choice and have to have at least an entree or a dessert. And lets face it, we are not rich people, we simply couldnt afford to spend $520 just to have dinners! Ideas come up when people are desperate and we decided that we should cook our own dinner on the log burner (it is very hot, not a good place if you just want to warm up your bums). We had some tin foil and olive oil so we went back to 'Cosy Cabins' (the only resort which has a general store) and bought onions, beef patties and frozen toast (it is shocking how you cant even get fresh bread there) for FOURTEEN BUCKS and oh boy you should have seen how Jeicy was cooking up a storm on the log burner! And the sandwiches were YUMMY! We later decided to cancel the dinner for the second night as well and settled for 'Imperial Beef Noodle Soup' (it is the king of instand noodles) and fried eggs (again from the log burner). We must have been the stingiest (but most creative) guests who's ever stayed at Cradle Mountain Lodge.

8) Make friends with the wild life:
I am pretty sure it was the smell of the BBQ we were having - we had 3 wallabies, one possum, and one very smart crow visiting our cabin, and they just wouldnt leave us alone. While we were 'cooking' (I still cant believe what we did), we had to have the doors opened as we didnt want to set off the smoke alarm. This crow would try everything to sneak in it was pretty amazing. Yuting ended up having to stand guard in front of the door just to make sure our little friend wouldnt have a successful attempt. The wallabies were at the front door, they didnt make that much noise, but whenever we opened the door, they would be there! They were also seriously cute with puppy eyes that says 'I am sure you kind girls wouldnt mind giving me some of your yummy food?' Oh man closing the doors on these fellas was the hardest thing I had to do in Tassie (not to mention that I had wallaby vindaloo at Strahan and felt really guilty seeing them).


9) Enjoy yourself in the spa:
The boys didnt have massage but we had our own spa in the cabin and it was pretty good. Plenty of hot water and the bathroom window looks out to the mountains as well.

10) Have a good time with your friends:
It seemed pretty obvious but how I love travelling with Eric and Jeicy and they are the best travel buddies with their easy-going nature and how they dont take themselves too seriously. I guess I have to finish this post with a real cliche: Cradle Mountain Lodge: 400 dollars per night, Petrol at Moina: 147c per litre, making your own sizzlers in your hotel room with your dear friends: PRICELESS!!!!