Batman Bridge and decoy lighthouses.

While the various online weather sites conflicted entirely with one another in terms of Cradle Mountain's rain forecast - Joshie decided to trump the lot and develop a temperature. With over four hours of driving and around two hours of walking - Cradle Mountain will have to wait until Friday.

Our hastily reformulated plan now consisted of obtaining some medicine for Mr Joshie, followed by a more achievable drive up the Tamar Valley to Low Head. Upon receiving an age-appropriate dosage in the car, Josh immediately informed us he was feeling much better (the placebo effect is strong in this one). We made our way up the West Tamar Highway, diverting into Grindelwald - part residential estate, part resort, part faux Swiss village (and all kitsch), to pick up some morning tea.

Where are my clogs?

Almost as soon as we left the city limits of Launceston, we were driving through pasture lands, edged by native landscape. We passed a number of teeny towns, all affording pretty spectacular views of the mighty Tamar. We made our crossing via the Batman Bridge, and pulled off the road to feast on the not-at-all Swiss pastries from Grindelwald. The Batman Bridge is a cable-stayed design, meaning that the huge A-frame tower on the western side holds up pretty much all the weight of the bridge (science!). There was also an overly-curious Peahen that didn't flee from our enthusiastic children (or when we started the car for that matter).

We had to explain to Josh that Batman was out fighting crime -
the only reason he wouldn't be hanging out on his bridge.

Peahen never learned about personal space.

The East Tamar Highway continued to hug the river before entering the township of George Town. To get a better look at the place, we wound our way up Mt George to the lookout where we could see all the way to the mouth of the Tamar. On the way back down (in our car fortunately), we passed a middle-aged gent in short-shorts (and not much else) sweating and power-walking his way up the hill. Odd.

Low Head from the top of Mt George

Jen started getting excited as we neared the village of Low Head and spotted what we thought was the lighthouse. It was fairly nondescript, and frankly - underwhelming. Embarrassingly, it took a few moments to work out we weren't actually at Low Head by this point, and that it was just a small beacon tower to guide ships already in the Tamar.

Hamish asked for the opportunity to take a few shots, so we obliged him (it turns out that he takes far less 'selfies' than Lily does). 

Lighthouse - taken by Hamish

The photographer

Low Head Lighthouse

The onset of delirium

The return trip was fairly quick, and we wandered down the mall in Launceston itself. The people seemed friendly, including a fireman who waved at Joshie as we walked past the Station on the way to our car. Speaking of cars, the traffic appears devoid of the usual urgency you get in larger cities. Once back at our French Street residence, Jen decided to walk to the local grocery shop. She didn't reckon with the gradient of the nearby hills, and required a climbing harness for the final section.

The weather tomorrow is universally expected to be wet - all day. We are planning to surprise the kiddies with a trip to Kid's Paradise - three floors of play equipment and games of all sorts. I am hoping it comes with coffee and earplugs.