Guest Sharon Johnson and her husband were on Volendam for the trans-Pacific voyage to Sydney and the circumnavigation of Australia for 55 days. Enjoy this post and photos from their call at Burnie, Tasmania, Australia.

Burnie is the gateway to Northern Tasmania and a commercial seaport that ships out the mineral wealth of the island. Burnie was the center of the paper industry which has recently suffered economically. Al and I decided we want to see some of the interior of Tasmania so we chose a tour called “Cradle Mountain National Park and Dove Lake”. Our first stop on our drive to Cradle Mountain was in the “Town of Murals”, Sheffield. The town had fallen on hard times and they decided to imitate the Canadian town of Cheminus which had murals painted on their buildings as a means of attracting tourists. – Sharon and Al Johnson

After viewing the town of Sheffield, we drove out of town in the direction of Mount Roland. We drove through rolling countryside with horses, cattle and sheep. The Tasmanian sheep have very fine wool. We also saw fields of white poppies that are used in the pharmaceutical business. After a 70-minute drive, we arrived at Cradle Mountain National Park. To make sure that we had an appetite for lunch, we first went on on a short bush walk where we viewed two waterfalls and saw some wildlife.

Cascades on Pencil Pine Creek.

Pencil Pine Waterfalls.

Pencil Pine Waterfalls.

Al on the boardwalk.

This Black Tiger snake is extremely poisonous.

On our way back to the lodge for lunch, we spotted a Rock Wallaby (small kangaroo) and her Joey in the bush. At first all we could see were her ears, but eventually she hopped into the clearing and we could see her and her baby.

Rock Wallaby and her Joey.

Another Wallaby.

We then had a buffet lunch with wine and dessert before boarding small buses to drive up to Dove Lake and a narrated walk by the Cradle Mountain Park Ranger.

Cradle Mountain.

At Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake.

When our bus arrived back in Burnie, we had enough time to see part of the city. And from the lookout above the city, we could see the beautiful Tasmanian coast, Burnie and our ship waiting for us. Our time in north Tasmania had come to an end.

View of Burnie, Tasmania.

Volendam docked at the Port of Burnie.