Day 59 - Ben Lomond National Park

3 degrees this morning brrrrr!  The sun was shining so we had a perfect day to head into the mountains, this time to the Ben Lomond National Park.  We snapped a couple of shots on the way to the Park.

270415 Abel Tempest by Heemskirk Vineyard

270415 These sheep were not spread out over the paddocks

270415 North Esk River looking up stream near White Hills

270415 North Esk River looking downstream near White Hills

Ben Lomond National Park is the home of Tasmania's ski fields and of the famous road to them, called Jacob's Ladder.  Its about 40km from Launceston.  There were some stunning views as we approached Ben Lomond and Jacob's Ladder.

270415 Approaching Ben Lomond

270415 Approaching Ben Lomond

270415 Approaching Ben Lomond

270415 Approaching Ben Lomond

270415 Approaching Ben Lomond

270415 Approaching Ben Lomond

Jacob's Ladder is a narrow road which literally hangs off the side of the mountain and snakes its way up the last two or three kilometres amidst sharp turns, mountain scree, buttress rocks reaching for the heavens and signs saying be careful.  The view was the only protection on the outside of the road.  Each of the sharp corners was named eg Strickland, Black, Hanging, Waterfall, Watchtower and Gateway Corners.

270415 Jacob's Ladder looking upwards with the lookout at
the very top towards LHS

270415 The road is on the LHS and then upwards to the right

270415 It felt as if the rocks were waiting to fall on us.

270415 There was some occasional fencing on the way up the "Ladder"

270415 Where does the road go?

270415 Had to go around that buttress.  It wasn't giving way

270415 By and large the road was good

Once having navigated the corners we arrived at a lookout from which we could survey from whence we came, marvel at our tenacity and spunk to have made it up the "ladder" and then be carried away by the view.  Though not really visible on the photograph, with the naked eye we could see Flinders and Cape Barren Islands, way up on the NE Tasmanian coast. Ben Nevis, another sizeable mountain was clearly visible.  The view down the valley to Launceston was breathtaking.  To the right of the lookout was a steep and inaccessible gorge and we could hear water crashing its way down the steep slope.

270415 From whence we came, with another plucky
tourist on the way up

270415 Another from whence we came view

270415 From the lookout

270415 Looking down the valley

270415 The road from the lookout

270415 The road from the lookout

By this time we were near the top of the mountain and a kilometre or so had us at the alpine village. The temperature was three degrees there and by now there was an insensitive breeze.  These were perfect conditions for hot drinks and a chat with some fellow travellers in the Alpine Hotel, the "Top Pub in Tasmania", alongside a comforting log fire.

270415 Part of the alpine village on Ben Lomond

270415 Some of the village.  In the foreground is the Ranger's building
and the Alpine Hotel immediately behind it with a chalet at the top

270415 On the top of the mountain

There were many alpine huts dotting the top of the mountain, which was called Legges Tor and which peaked out at 1573m high.

270415 More chalets with Legges Tor, the highest point,
in the background

We took a few shots coming down the mountain to make sure we got a good mix of this very exciting road.

270415 Coming down

270415 Coming down

270415 Coming down

270415 Ben Lomond looking back after we reached the valley

Given Ben Nevis did not seem to be too far away, we thought we would head over to it.  We got hopelessly lost in the forest so we have put Ben Nevis away for another day.

We had heard there was a Lex Davidson racing car on display at the Longford pub, so we deviated on our way home to see it.  We provide a photograph of car, just so our disappointment can be appreciated by others.

270415 A disappointing presentation

Without doubt the Ben Lomond National Park has captured our imagination and we left with a feeling of exhilaration that we had been there and with a firmly held belief that anyone visiting Tasmania, should have this Park on their must visit list.

Given we saw Ben Lomond without snow, we took some snow based photographs which were rolling over on a TV screen in The Alpine Hotel.  They are included for the record and without explanation.