Picturesque Pine Lake
OCTOBER 2017 | Tara Ulbrich
WHENEVER MAINLAINDERS visit, I take them to Pine Lake. My advice is the same, year round. Dress like you’re going to the coldest place in Tasmania. It’s not. But I want them to be prepared. This is a mandatory walk for all guests because the setting offers a ready experience of Tasmania’s other worldliness.
Pine Lake is found thirty minutes from Deloraine. Take the Lake Highway south out of town and head up through fern forests. The road winds around Quamby Bluff and opens out with views to Projection and Drys Bluff to the east and Mother Cummins to the west. Here one is struck by the vastness of Kooparoona Niara (the Great Western Tiers). Its Aboriginal name means ‘mountains of the spirits’. Climbing on, note a sign indicating the highest point of the Lake Highway - 1210m. Further, on the right hand side is the lake, easily identified by the interpretive boards.
The walk is half an hour, give or take the amount allocated for sitting at the platform and looking into the glassy waters. The track there is boardwalk and thus suitable for pram or wheelchair access. But take it slowly, not just because it can be slippery, but also because it is worth savouring the setting of the dramatic ancient Pencil Pines. Pause for the delicate sphagnum moss, pineapple grass and cushion plants, wondrous examples of Alpine diversity. Moving along the decking provides a sense of gazing from above, like the endemic Black Currawong alerting the presence of an intruder.
Locals have shared many childhood memories of this lake. The surface is often covered with a layer of ice. In colder times people have donned skates and enjoyed a spectacular rink. I imagine the wind sweeping woollen scarves out behind them and snow piling in marshmallow mounds. I wouldn’t recommend skating now but I would recommend you visit soon. As part of Tasmania’s World Heritage Wilderness Area, it’s a rugged place, one that takes you to another realm altogether. And besides, after all that cold, it’s an easy descent back to Deloraine where no less than seven venues have a hot coffee waiting for you.
Photo | Jade Hallam
