This morning we woke up to find the rain gone & the sun shining, although it was very cold. We decided to do the 6km (4 mile) Dove Lake circuit hike, perhaps the most popular hike in Cradle Mountain National Park. Dove Lake sits below Cradle Mountain, and as you can see from this pic it is very picturesque!
As we set out for our hike we came across this cute wallaby who was also enjoying the early morning sunshine.
This area was shaped by glaciers during the last ice age. The rock that Heather sits on has bears the scrape marks of ice & rock. The "cradle" of Cradle mountain (in the background) shows the classic U-shape of a glaciated valley. Dove Lake lies in a lower glaciated valley.
The ragged peaks of Cradle Mountain are covered in snow in winter, but in Summer are clear of snow and popular with climbers. At 5,069ft (1545m) Cradle Mountain is less than half the height of our mountains in Utah, but impressive to see none-the-less.
A waterfall plunges about 100m (300ft) from the base of the "cradle" to the Dove Lake valley.
On this side of the lake, there are many streams and thick, lush vegetation. This section is called the Ballroom Forest (I don't know why).
At the southern end of the lake we climbed a bit through temperate forest and heath land where we got a splendid view back across the lake. 
The lake is also popular for canoeing and fishing. An old boatshed sits on the western shore of the lake.
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