Bushwalk Australia

Hey Guys and Girls,


We are departing Launceston at 5.30am (it's later now like 6.30am as I've been advised that the visitor centre is not open until 8.30-9am*thanks Ben) on the 15th March 2017 and headed straight to Cradle Mountain then onto the Start of the OVERLAND TRACK.


There are 4 of us and we wish to share our transport.


We have booked a Maxi Taxi which is $380 for the trip up so the more we have on board the cheaper it will be for everyone.


WE have enough room for 4 more people and packs.


The local shuttle bus cost at $60 is great BUT the time doesn't suit us as we would lose 1/2 day of hiking so we decided an alternative option. We want to be on the track at 9am and not leaving launceston at 8am which is what the bus companies are offering with an arrival just before noon to the start of the track.


If your keen to share our maxi taxi, we are happy to accommodate your travel needs.


This is only a ONE WAY TRIP as we have an alternative arrangement for the way back.

You can reply to this forum for contact details and we can go from there.

Shannon

LOL...somebody else that's thinks the same way as us although I didn't think about a maxi taxi.

Our plane lands at 3pm and it seems most people stay in launceston for the night than either catch the public bus or arrange a private transfer both generally leaving around 8am.

It took a few emails but I managed to find a private transfer company to pick us up at 3 and take us to cradle. This way we can book accommodation at cradle for the night then start the walk first up in the morning. I couldn't see the point in loosing nearly 4hrs on day one, from what I read there is plenty of time given the twilight but wanted to head off first up instead of the middle of the day.

Have you considered heading to cradle the night before, the accommodation at the caravan park is reasonability priced and also means you won't be up at 5. I would find it a draining day getting up early l, sitting in a van for 2+hrs than throwing the pack on.

ShannonS wrote:Hey Guys and Girls,


We are departing Launceston at 5.30am on the 15th March 2017 and headed straight to Cradle Mountain to the Start of the OVERLAND TRACK.


There are 4 of us and we wish to share our transport.


We have booked a Maxi Taxi which is $380 for the trip up so the more we have on board the cheaper it will be for everyone.


WE have enough room for 4 more people and packs.


The local shuttle bus cost at $60 is great BUT the time doesn't suit us as we would lose 1/2 day of hiking so we decided an alternative option. We want to be on the track at 8am and not leaving launceston at 8am which is what the bus companies are offering with an arrival just before noon to the start of the track.


If your keen to share our maxi taxi, we are happy to accommodate your travel needs.


This is only a ONE WAY TRIP as we have an alternative arrangement for the way back.

You can reply to this forum for contact details and we can go from there.

Shannon

Hi Shannon,
You will need to go to the Visitors Centre at Cradle to purchase or pick up your park pass and track ticket before you commence your walk. The visitor's centre is open 8.30AM-9AM. The drive from Launceston is only two hours. Launceston -> Elizabeth Town -> Kimberley -> Sheffield -> Gowrie Park -> Moina -> Cradle
In which case, you won't need to leave Launceston until 6.30AM at the earliest.
From the Visitor's Centre you can jump on one of the free shuttle buses to take you down to Ronny Creek where you can start your walk.
kind regards,
Ben

Thanks Ben,

That was all in the back of my head hahah but I wrote the add super fast and forgot about that. I like the fact you have thought about letting us have a sleep in. Thanks Legend. Appreciate your input, every little bit counts.
Shannon

Thanks "weeds"

I considered accomodation up at cradle mountain but the buses didn't travel the day we landed and emailed and rang everywhere and couldn't find a private company to take us up there.

Do you have the details of this private company or a price that you would like to share by any chance??

Because everything is all next year we have so much flexibility to change our accomodation from Launy to Cradle.

Thanks for your reply also.

Shannon

Happy to share.

For Launceston to Cradle we booked through Tasmanian Hikes....my spreadsheet says $120/person (price reduces with more people) for three but I have a gut feeling there might be a surcharge given the late return of the driver. They were also happy to buy out gas for us prior to pickup. They do prefer doing the morning run to Cradle but they ended up supporting our request which we are stoked with as we didn't really want to stay in Launceston.

Not sure what you are doing at the other end.....the public bus was too early for us as we wanted to walk the last day as we were not interested in the ferry ride. So from Lake St Clair to Hobart we booked through Tasmanian Wilderness Experience, Stan is great as they are picking up our bag/box of cloths that we are couriering down (we are staying on in Hobart for seven days) from the depot for us and re-uniting us with it. My spreadsheet indicates $118/person but I think they might have another two passengers so the price may come down. Going with these guys allowed us more time on the last day.

Given the overall cost of the trip we think the private transfers are value for money. And if there is and little hiccup we hope they will he more flexible than the bus line.

Hope that helps.

I have never understood why the operators always seem to want to run from Launy to Cradle early and expect people to stay overnight at Launceston first. I've had a lot of difficulty getting trips at alternate times. Some seem to do it because they then want to get straight down to Lake St Clair to do a return trip in the late afternoon.

If I'm going to stay a night somewhere, I'd much prefer to stay in Cradle than Launceston. Ie fly into Launceston mid morning, get the bus around midday, get there at 2pm and then have the afternoon to have a look around, pickup the pass for walking the following day, stay at some of the Cradle Accommodation, then start walking early the next morning.

I'd much rather stay the first night in the wilderness than some dodgy motel in suburbia.

Same goes for leaving. We stay at Echo Point over night, walk out in a few hours to Cynthia Bay and then get a mid morning bus back to Launceston. If you get there by 3pm or so you can get back to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Adelaide that night.

Our problem was we couldn't fly into launceston early as we are departing Brisbane and I had free virgin flights to tassie. Means earliest we could land was 14:15.

I just couldn't get my head around having to stay in Launceston as I to thought everybody would want to get to Cradle ASAP.

But........there are not too many options and suppose should be grateful there are some companies offering alternatives to the public system.

weeds wrote:Happy to share.

For Launceston to Cradle we booked through Tasmanian Hikes....my spreadsheet says $120/person (price reduces with more people) for three but I have a gut feeling there might be a surcharge given the late return of the driver. They were also happy to buy out gas for us prior to pickup. They do prefer doing the morning run to Cradle but they ended up supporting our request which we are stoked with as we didn't really want to stay in Launceston.

Not sure what you are doing at the other end.....the public bus was too early for us as we wanted to walk the last day as we were not interested in the ferry ride. So from Lake St Clair to Hobart we booked through Tasmanian Wilderness Experience, Stan is great as they are picking up our bag/box of cloths that we are couriering down (we are staying on in Hobart for seven days) from the depot for us and re-uniting us with it. My spreadsheet indicates $118/person but I think they might have another two passengers so the price may come down. Going with these guys allowed us more time on the last day.

Given the overall cost of the trip we think the private transfers are value for money. And if there is and little hiccup we hope they will he more flexible than the bus line.

Hope that helps.

I would of done it for $100.00 per person. I and alot of people don't like driving before and after dusk in Tassie for a reason one look at the road kill will give you an insight. While it don't get dark at the moment until 9.15pm March through to September is another story. Hence why you might find it hard to get people /companies willing to pick you up at airport at 3.00pm and latter to transport to Cradle etc, etc in Autumn/winter. Ps I can pick you up at the other end at Cynthia Bay as well.

Lost wrote:

weeds wrote:Happy to share.

For Launceston to Cradle we booked through Tasmanian Hikes....my spreadsheet says $120/person (price reduces with more people) for three but I have a gut feeling there might be a surcharge given the late return of the driver. They were also happy to buy out gas for us prior to pickup. They do prefer doing the morning run to Cradle but they ended up supporting our request which we are stoked with as we didn't really want to stay in Launceston.

Not sure what you are doing at the other end.....the public bus was too early for us as we wanted to walk the last day as we were not interested in the ferry ride. So from Lake St Clair to Hobart we booked through Tasmanian Wilderness Experience, Stan is great as they are picking up our bag/box of cloths that we are couriering down (we are staying on in Hobart for seven days) from the depot for us and re-uniting us with it. My spreadsheet indicates $118/person but I think they might have another two passengers so the price may come down. Going with these guys allowed us more time on the last day.

Given the overall cost of the trip we think the private transfers are value for money. And if there is and little hiccup we hope they will he more flexible than the bus line.

Hope that helps.

I would of done it for $100.00 per person. I and alot of people don't like driving before and after dusk in Tassie for a reason one look at the road kill will give you an insight. While it don't get dark at the moment until 9.15pm March through to September is another story. Hence why you might find it hard to get people /companies willing to pick you up at airport at 3.00pm and latter to transport to Cradle etc, etc in Autumn/winter. Ps I can pick you up at the other end at Cynthia Bay as well.

$100 bucks is good value.......sadly I'm locked in and all paid up.