I was very lucky to revisit Tasmania in the second half of March to walk the famous Three Capes Track on the Tasman Peninsula, and in perfect weather. It’s a four-day, three-night hike, 48 km altogether, and the scenery is magnificent so I will spread my report over several posts. This one comprises a quick overview and Day 1.
Overview
The Three Capes Track was developed around 2012 as a major tourism project of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service. It attracted some controversy at the time but that settled down as people voted with their feet: there’s a limit of 48 people per day, the number of beds in the huts, and it is nearly fully booked in the peak season.
The PWS site is informative and includes a good map if you’re not sure where we are. I will save nearly all my discussion of the practicalities for my last post.
Day 1: Hobart to Port Arthur and the beginning of the walk
The official starting point of the walk is an office in the Port Arthur visitor centre, the convict heritage site on the Tasman Peninsula. Walkers can drive down but I took a dedicated bus service from the Hobart docks. Its 7.30 departure in the last weeks of daylight saving meant that I saw the sun rise while waiting to board.
Signing in at Port Arthur entitles walkers to the freedom of the old penal colony (for two years, incidentally). It is beautiful and historic, however brutal its history, so most walkers take time to see it before boarding the small boat that takes them (us) across to Denmans Cove, the beginning of the hike.
Instead of going straight across, the boat swings out of the mouth of Maingon Bay in the hope of showing off some of the marine life attracted to the mass of krill in the deep water just off the coast. We were lucky enough to see Humpback whales, Seals, Common Dolphins, Shy Albatross and flocks of Shearwaters.
There are two boats per day. I took the earlier of them and, like many other hikers, had lunch on the beach before finding the start of the track. Our first day’s walk is short, over a small ridge, down again, and then climbing steadily to Surveyors Hut 130 metres above sea level. It’s only 4 km but enough to let us know what we’re in for, which is probably the idea.
The three huts are all similar, comprising two dormitories, a kitchen/dining hall, an ablutions block and a rangers’ hut linked by walkways. They are beautifully and thoughtfully designed to minimise environmental impact, with lots of timber and stainless steel, solar power, composting toilets, etc. One touch I particularly liked is that visitors can’t leave a tap running because they have to pump all their own water as they use it.
A briefing by the ranger about 5.30 each day included housekeeping, a guide to what we could expect next day, and some kind of wildlife talk according to the ranger’s inclinations.
It had been a short walk but a long day and most of us were in bed before 9 pm, as indeed we were each day.
- In this Three Capes Track series: Intro and Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 and afterword.