Cradle Mountain

This was definitely the highlight of the whole trip. There were 5 of us: Me, Bonnie from Hong Kong ( graduate in Property Analysis), Richie from Sydney ( who was doing law at Uni of Sydney), Tareq from Lebanon (undergrad in chemical engineering) and Yusuke from Japan (specialised in IT). The guide was Lee, a very experienced local who had scaled numerous mountains in Sabah and Sarawak when he was in his twenties.

We embarked on our tour early in the morning, praying hard that the rain would stop for the day. Well, it did. We drove along Deloraine Town with wonderful views of the Meander River as well as a glimpse of the historic township from the coach. This was followed by a morning tea, specially prepared by Lee's wife, complete with coffee and tea, homemade cakes and cookies. This was something new to me which I thought was really personal and cosy. We took a guided tour into the Marakoopa Cave which featured underground streams,as well as stalactites and stalagmites with pool reflections. This would have appeared similar to most of the caverns that I had visited in China and US. The specialty of this tour had to be the stunningly beautiful display of blue-green glow-worms, decorating the ceilings of the caves like the starry-starry night ( Tareq and Richie can stop debating about the colours of the glow-worms: IT IS BLUE-GREEN). "Marakoopa" in Tasmanian Aboriginal word means "handsome". Now we know why.

We took a walk into the Marakoopa cool rainforest where we were introduced to the rich giant trees, ferns, moss, lichen, etc, all of which were feasts to our sight, olfactory and hearing systems. One of the coolest walk I had ever had.

We made stops at Echo Valley which as the name suggested, was echoic. After our shouting match, we headed up to the cradle mountain where I would face one of the most physically challenging tasks ever in my entire life.

I was not prepared mentally and physically for this. We were actually trekking up the rugged slopes of the mountain! I started huffing and puffing halfway through and my legs began to ache and cramp. It was the most embarrassing moment in my life. I wanted to give up but was prompted by Lee to continue: "I am not letting you stop here; if my 70-year-old folks can do it, you can". Along the way, the slopes turned treacherous as they became steeper and edgier. I started having palpitations ( wondered if they were exertional or fear). The sun touched on my face and the air got thinner. Eventually after about 1 hour, we reached a summit. YEAH......I DID IT! The feeling of triumphance was undescribable. Afterall, my effort tolerance in Singapore had always been 2 to 3 flights of stairs only, with the guilt of being a couch potato most of the time when I was not working and indulging in gluttony at other times. We savoured every minute up there, taking pictures with the backdrops of Lake St Clair and Walls of Jerusalem.

The challenge was not over. We only completed <1% of the whole Cradle, wich amounted to 2 km of journey. It would require 6 days to finish the whole of it. Alright, I need to start exercising and training up. As we proceed down the slopes, I had a mini-lecture by Lee on "How to lead a Healthy Lifestyle": take up a sports, no hamburgers or couch potatoes, eat more veggies.......truly ironical, considering that I should be telling my patients that. The Cradle tour ended with a walk to Dove Lake at the foot of the mountains where we had more group pictures of our conquer taken.

These were further followed by short walks to the cold Gondwana forest which was supposed to resemble one of those shots from LOTR. We spotted a wombat but I was too exhausted to chase for a picture. We strolled through Sheffield, a township famous for its historic murals, and ended the day back in Launceston.

Well, I hope I have not given the locals the impression that all Singaporean doctors were unfit. Dr Ben Tan ( Singapore's national sailor-cum-sports physician) would have to salvage our reputation soon. Bonnie was surprised to learn that this was my first trip overseas alone. Despite both of us hailing from Asian countries, we realised how different our life perspectives and attitudes were. I could not forsee myself backpacking and job-searching for 1 year all by myself in a foreign land. I would have missed my comfort zone too much. Wish you all the best in your endeavours, Bonnie!