After a great visit to Cradle Mountain on the northern side of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair NP, under lovely blue skies, we wondered whether we could be so lucky at Lake St Clair. Well, it turned out to be an absolutely stunning day when did the Lake St Clair cruise. Some of our photos are amazing – we were incredibly lucky and were just blown away by the beauty of this Lake. Wow!
We visited Lake St Clair on 29 & 30 October 2019
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
Getting There
Hamilton > Derwent Bridge ~ total of 101kms.
History
Filling a valley carved out by ice during several glaciations over the last two million years, Lake St Clair is the deepest lake in Australia and the headwaters of the Derwent River. It is ringed by some remarkable mountain peaks which are covered in snow for much of the year.
Lake St Clair is located on the edge of the Big River Tasmanian Aboriginal Nation, and there is evidence that they hunted on the surrounding buttongrass plains. Numerous small quarries and campgrounds are located nearby, with the closest dated site putting human occupation at 10,000 years ago.
A short history of Tasmania, from pre-colonial times, to the arrival and growth of British colonial development, to the decimation of the First Nation Tasmanians, can be read here.
The first European explorer to see the Lake was surveyor William Sharland in 1832, with George Frankland leading an expedition to it three years later. In 1840 James Calder cut a track from the Lake to Macquarie Harbour, followed by another more practical track by Burgess. The Burgess track was maintained and recut by miners until 1883 when a new lower level route was discovered, which later became the Lyell Highway.
The area surrounding the lake was used by hunters from 1860 until the collapse of the fur trade in the 1950s, although it was illegal from 1927 onwards.
In 1871, the Tasmanian Guidebook mentioned Lake St Clair as being ‘admired for its scenery by the few who visit’. By 1900 there was a boatshed, accommodation, improved access and horse paddocks at Cynthia Bay, with the first tourists arriving by car in 1915. From 1911 the beginnings of the Overland Track to Cradle Mountain began to form, with the route officially blazed by Bert Nichols in 1931.
In 1937 the Derwent River was dammed just below the lake, and a pumping station installed – enabling Hydro Tasmania to drain the lake by up to 6 metres and feed water to the Tarraleah Power Station. The fluctuating water levels have caused erosion and environmental degradation ever since.
A guesthouse was built at Cynthia Bay in 1930, followed by improved parking, camping and visitor facilities. The hydro pumphouse was decommissioned in the 1990s, and transformed into a hotel in 2015.
The Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair area was declared a scenic reserve in 1922, a wildlife reserve in 1927, a national park in 1947 and a world heritage area from 1982.
Following a decision by the Tasmanian Government to allow development in national parks and conservations areas, an ‘in principle’ permit was granted for the establishment of an ‘eco-friendly’ resort at Pumphouse Point which was completed in 2015.
Day 1 – Tue 29 October – To and at Lake St Clair
It was a clear day, although the morning was cold, which provided a very pleasant drive as we left Hamilton behind and headed for the mountains of the West Coast. Gradually the large farmlands gave way to more forested areas with the usual backdrop of mountains that we had come to expect in Tasmania.
We then came to the massive hydroelectricity system built in this area – firstly at Wayatinah and then at Tarraleah. There were multiple lines of massive pipes coming down the mountains to the power stations. We also crossed over canals and drove past a number of substations.
Unfortunately, that morning I had camera problems and have no images of this area.
Lake Bennie is part of the Bronte hydro system consisting of 4 storages – Bronte Lagoon, Brady’s Lake, Lake Bonney and Tungatinah, built between 1952 and 1956 to serve the Tungatinah power station. We drove around the lake to have a look. It is quite large with a small camping area, and a major attraction is trout fishing – brown and rainbow trout.
We stopped to have a look at the point where the canal from Bronte Lagoon crosses the highway and discharges into a river. The discharge of water through the control control structure is quite impressive.
We drove into Bronte Lagoon but found that we could not get access to the water’s edge. We were at a point where there was a boat ramp next to the main canal from the lagoon. There was a pedestrian bridge to cross the canal, but no obvious access to the main water body – other than by boat. We could see it in the distance but could not get near it. A real shame – I had imagined Bronte Lagoon to be a very romantically picturesque lake given its name, but we couldn’t really see it at all.
The landscape gradually changed as we drove north west – we could see a range of snow capped mountains and the lush green fields were being replaced by orange/gold coloured tufts of grass – buttongrass sedgelands we learned later. This is usually found on poorly drained peaty soils of low fertility. The peaty soils would certainly explain the tannin levels in the waters around here.
We arrived at Derwent Bridge, and went directly out to Lake St Clair. After obtaining some maps from the Ranger Station we took the foreshore walk. A few people warned us that they had seen some snakes on the track.
It is a really nice walk along the waterfront, even though the wind had increased significantly, it was cold, and there was a lot of chop on the lake. The Lake presents an awesome view. It is actually the deepest freshwater lake in Australia, with a depth of 167m. It also represents the end of the Overland track, which starts at Cradle Mountain.
The walk is along a sandy beach. However in winter, extensive rainfall and snowmelt raises the level of the lake such that the beach is often covered by water.
We walked around to Fergie’s Paddock, which is a grassed area that extends to the edge of the lake. It’s all very pretty, despite the wind.
From there we got back onto the main track around the lake. Initially it is a constructed track, with a wide stone base.
The bridge at Watersmeet provides great views to the two rivers that come together at this point. There is quite a lot of water passing under the bridge gushing over and around some of the large rocks that form the river bed. It is a mesmerising place to watch the power of a river. Lovely to see the natural flows of the rivers here.
Shortly after that we saw a black snake sunning itself on the track. It seemed a very lazy snake and reluctant to move until we tossed a couple of branches and its direction. It gave us a look of disdain as it slowly made his way into the bush. This snake did look a bit weird for a black. Really thick body but quite short…. We found out later that it was a Black Tiger Snake – that’s why it was not moving for us – stubborn and used to getting its own way – with reason.
We passed through the platypus section of the track but did not see anything resembling a platypus. There are lots of information panels about platypus along the track.
We got to a little beach where timbers and pieces of rusty metal are all that remain of a barge used in the 1930s to construct the pumphouse. The barge was found adrift after a major storm in the 1950s and was dragged ashore at this point. It has remained there ever since, left as a reminder of one of the state’s busiest construction periods for the provision of electricity to Tasmania.
The Lake St Clare pumphouse was built to ensure that adequate water reached the powerstation even when the lake levels were low. However, the pumphouse was so rarely needed that it was decommissioned in 1995. Today, water from the lake continues to contribute to the power generation systems by flowing naturally via Lake King William, Tarraleah Canal and the River Derwent.
We had lunch sitting on the sand and gazing out on this truly beautiful sight.
We then drove into Derwent Bridge, to the hotel where we were staying the night and the next night. As we arrived we saw half a dozen Mini cars parked in the car park – must be a Mini convention somewhere. There were also two or three caravans in the car park, obviously staying for the night.
We checked into our room and found it to be dark and pokey. There were very few sources of natural light and it was quite depressing. That evening we had dinner at the hotel which was actually really good food. But we had decided that after we do the cruise on Lake Saint Clare the next day, we will drive straight on to Queenstown. Kerry had rung the Queenstown B&B and it was available, thankfully.
Day 2 – Wed 30 October – Lake St Clair cruise
On the way back out to the Lake, we stopped to have a look at the Derwent River. It is quite wide and flowing strongly.
It was an absolutely glorious morning with picture perfect blue skies and a gorgeous lake ahead of us. In the distance we could see clouds drifting around the snow capped mountains adding an ethereal touch – it was simply stunning.
We met Michael the skipper of the boat, and found we were the only passengers for the trip up to Narcissis. It’s all a bit confusing as we were taking a cruise but we were on the same boat used as the ferry boat. Michael was an Irish fellow who has been at Lake St Clare for over 10 years now, and we had great banter as we headed up to Lake towards Echo Point. It was a very funny trip – Michael is a great guide with a great sense of humour, a pretty broad knowledge-base about the area – and about Ireland.
Approaching the bend in the lake, we begin to see the majestic scenery that lay to the north of the lake. More snow capped mountains and the beautiful colours of the water. It is indeed a beautiful rugged landscape.
We also began to appreciate the reflections that we were seeing in the lake. They are quite sensational. It’s hard to tell up from down looking at some of the photos – perfect reflections.
We pulled up to the jetty at Echo point and Michael gave us 10 minutes or so to have a look around. There is a hut there with bunks and a fire, but neither of us can imagine sleeping there for the night. We have become too attached to creature comforts. Tell you what though, in a storm it would be a marvellous place to shelter. It had a wood stove and bunks. A toilet was nearby.
The area around the hut is a temperate rainforest, with so many large trees, little waterfalls and lots of moss covering the debris on the ground. There is a raised timber track to the toilets.
The northern section of the lake is truly spectacular and we have been blessed to be there on such a stunning day. Michael asks: “how do you like my office?” The reflections are out of this world. It is best to let the photos do the talking – you can also check it out on the video – click here.
At Narcissus there were five people waiting for us. There was a mother with her two daughters who have just completed the Overland Track – this was the third time for the mother. There was also 2 rangers who had walked the track, as rangers regularly do, just to make sure everything was okay.
There was more fabulous scenery as we made our way back down the lake to the jetty. What a wonderful cruise we had had. So lucky to get such perfect weather.
As we left the lake and headed for Derwent Bridge, we called in again to look at the Derwent River.
We then proceeded to our next port of call – Queenstown.
To see photos from this post, click here
To see video from this post, click here