Slightly Kidnapped

Sorry I dropped off the airwaves there!!
Jeff just got about a years worth of ‘husband points’ by sneakily sorting out accommodation up in Cradle Mt NP!
I thought I was going hiking for the day!! He pulls into the car park of one of the fancy lodges and says.. ‘We’d better book in first’ !!

Two nights in a spa cabin for my birthday and late 10th anniversary!!
Bliss!!!

Followed by a moment of panic wondering what clothes I would be forced to wear for two days since Jeff (of course) packed.
Then there was the realisation that I suck at fashion sense and I don’t actually care, so anything he brought was bound to be better than my choices!

He did pretty well – although in the ‘crisp’ mountain air, the three quartre pants were a bit breezy!

It was all so posh!! There was a complimentary bottle of champagne and a chocolate platter left for us with a congratulations on our anniversary card! How special!
Then one of the staff knocked on the door to ask if we wanted him to… and I can’t remember what he exactly said… something about getting the room ready for the evening.
So ‘not used to posh hotels me’ asks “What does that entail?” and apparently he closes all the blinds and turns down the bed covers!!

I was totally amused/impressed but said no thank-you that we would manage. He asked if I would like the chocolates anyway??
Silly question!
Yes please!!!

There was a spa bath and a lovely little fireplace that had been set ready to simply put a match to it! None of our usual lugging firewood around in this establishment!

Because 1000 photos of this area isn’t enough, I have now added to my post processing problems with a whole swag more images to get through!
And I KNOW I have to finish the final day of the Overland Hike story!

And I have totally lost the plot in the garden – no pun intended. I am hoping for a fine day tomorrow to put out the stall and try to sell some of the 10kgs of tomatoes sitting out there – not to mention corn and zucchinis!!

Surprisingly deep mud puddle found

Anyway, we did a short walk on the day we got in (about 2 hours) which was really lovely, even if we did get a little lost at the end!

Wombats start appearing at about 4pm and totally do not care about humans. They care about breakfast (they, like most Australian animals, are nocturnal)

The next day we did about 6 hours hiking – back up to the base of Cradle and across the Face Track.
I will get some photos of the map when I do a proper post on this, but in the meantime here are some of the spectacular sights we were lucky enough to see.
Best birthday EVER!

Often the track was barely a track – on several occasions I had to put the camera away to be able to use both hands as well as feet to safely get down or up some sections.

The big difference this time to the Overland was being able to come back to a warm fire, spa, someone else cooking dinner and a soft bed!

Back to reality – home again and I need to write a comprehensive list of things to achieve before Texas. So much is running about in my head and I have been enjoying life so much I feel like I might explode!!
Time to get all my ducks in a row!
By the way – today I got my Visa Waiver approved, so I am one step closer to the USA!!
Excited!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

Cheers