Oh what a day….

As the bus wound its way up to Cradle Mountain away from phone reception and the busy life that we were leaving behind, there was an increase in the excited discussions. I knew that there would be adventuring; a high probability of muddy feet and definitely some wombat sighting but beyond that I was not quite sure.

What a trip it was!

• Tassie’s four seasons in one weekend blessed us with a mixed bag of weather just to keep it interesting. We had beautiful clear views of Cradle Mountain, and also a good excuse to use the raincoats.
• Urs provided a wealth of knowledge of the various trees and forests we were immersed in. 
• When not running we enjoyed a bit of down time, Q and A sessions, along with important briefings for the big adventure.
• We also were well satisfied by some yummy food. Excellently recommended (thanks Urs and Majell) pizza from the tavern at Cradle Mountain.  And at the end of the trip, Mole creek’s restaurant “the good trout” provided a lovely array of Mexican food and very interesting choice of beverages from their boutique brewery. 

The main mission of the trip was “Overland North” being the first part of the Overland track from Cradle Mountain to Pelion Hut and out along the Arm River track. In my opinion, this shows off the best section of the Overland track, and is certainly a challenging section. 

After climbing Marion’s lookout just before dawn the party took the track across the plateau past Cradle Mountain and the turnoff to Barn Bluff down to Waterfall Valley.  The track then undulated through open plains and forest. On a clear day the views of the surrounding mountains is breathtaking. When the mist settles in, as it did on this particular trip, it is in my opinion equally as spectacular. The trail underfoot is a mixture of duck boarding, rocky track and tree rooted single track which is all very runnable.

Once reaching Pelion Hut, the party left the Overland Track and joined the Arm River track. On this 12km journey the run took us through button grass plains, in some spectacular forest which cleared to allow you to pop out every now and then so you could enjoy the view of the mountains.  One of the highlights of my day was spotting two echidnas. 

Our guides, Majell and Urs bought to the tour enthusiasm, amusing banter and a bucket load of experience. This was the first Find Your Feet tour I had been on without Hanny and or Graham and to be honest I was not sure what a Find Your Feet tour would be like without a Hanny or a Graham.

However the essence of all that is terrific about the tours that Find Your Feet have to offer was unmistakably present.  Majell and Urs are two magnificent humans and certainly add their own dimension to the tours. So, if you are wondering whether or not to join in on the Find your Feet tour don’t hesitate any longer. It is an experience you will never forget and absolutely never regret.