![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/20191010_123537.jpg\")
<\/a>The weather is very Tasmanian but we’ve landed at Denman Cove and ready to start our walk<\/p><\/div>\n
Tasmania is a giant playground for outdoor enthusiasts, people who like to walk through native rainforests, stride sheer ocean cliffs, trudge up and down dramatic mountains and mix with unique flora and fauna.\u00a0 All of this while not really caring about the weather, which in Tasmania can change hourly.\u00a0 Julie and I have been flat out busy during the last couple of months in Sydney but we took a break from the Big Smoke\u2019s hustle and bustle and flew down to Tassie with family and friends to experience one of the island\u2019s most heralded walks \u2013 The Three Capes Track.\u00a0 And what an experience it was!<\/p>\n
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The Three Capes Track is the brainchild of the Tasmania Parks\nand Wildlife Service, an ambitious project to bring some of Tasmania\u2019s most\nspectacular scenery within reach of people who are willing to carry their supplies\non a four-day three-night walk while staying in beautiful\nenvironmentally-friendly huts. Building\nthe track took five years with the help of 400 people and an astonishing 18,000\nhelicopter drops. Remote muddy trails\nthat previously only saw about 600 of the heartiest and most determined\nbackpackers a year now sees over 12,000 hikers a year without any degradation\nto the environment or change to the landscape. \nIt is a world-class attraction showcasing some of Australia\u2019s finest\nscenery and worth every step.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>The boardwalk made the track easier to walk and was kinder to the environment<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n
We flew down to Hobart with Julie\u2019s sister Jacinta and her\nhusband Andrew and walking mate Ian. The\nfive of us spent a couple of days in Hobart, enjoying the local sights,\ncelebrating Jacinta\u2019s birthday in a gin distillery (as you do!) and appreciating\nthe slower quieter pace of this lovely historic city. <\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>The gang celebrates Jacinta’s birthday in a trendy Hobart gin distillery<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>Lobster pots fill a fishing boat in Hobart’s harbour only a block or two from downtown<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>Julie checking out the excellent Maritime Museum in Hobart celebrating the city’s rich maritime history<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n
But our packs were full of clothes, food and wine (yes, we\u2019re\ntough but we need our comforts) for the next four days. We caught a bus out to the historic site of\nPort Arthur where our journey would begin. We had the chance to wander amongst\nthe ruins of the Port Arthur penal colony, described as a place of beauty and\nbrutality. Port Arthur was one of the\nbiggest dumping grounds for England\u2019s convicts in the 19th<\/sup> century\nand between 1830 and 1877 over 12,000 convicted criminals, some for crimes as trivial\nas stealing a loaf of bread to feed their family, endured the long journey to\nAustralia and were housed in the sandstone buildings overlooking the\nwater. It was a grim reminder to one of\nthe darkest chapters of Australia\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n The penal colony of Port Arthur housed up to 12,000 convicts in the mid 19th century<\/p><\/div> The penitentiary was where the convicts slept in crowded, cold and damp cells<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n We took a scenic boat ride through the swirling rain and\nfollowed the coastline of the bay of Port Arthur, giving us glimpses of white\nbreasted sea eagles and other birds nesting on the cliff face. In short order we\nwere dropped off in the little pebbly beach of Denman\u2019s Cove and the official\ntrailhead of this 48-kilometre walk. A\nlittle soggy but pumped for our big adventure, we headed off into the wilds of\nthe Tasmanian bush. Well, sort of.<\/p>\n\n\n It started to rain on our scenic boat trip around the bay of Port Arthur but we were still all smiles<\/p><\/div> Julie walks off our boat at Denman Cove, ready to start the walk<\/p><\/div> Our team poses for a final shot before starting our walk. From L to R – Andrew, Jacinta, Bill, Julie and Ian<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n About a third of the Three Capes Track is on raised boardwalk which makes walking very easy and protects the environment. The rest of the track is either refined gravel along the flat parts or carefully built stone steps for the steep parts. The benefit of the high quality trail is that walking was easy and we could swivel our heads around to take in the amazing views of the walk without having to watch where we place every step.<\/p>\n\n\n Jacinta and Julie stride out on our first day<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n And just to clarify another unique feature of the Three\nCapes Track. For all your efforts to do\nthis walk you actually only go to two capes \u2013 Cape Pillar and Cape Hauy. It was always intended to eventually connect\nthe trail with the third cape, Cape Raoul, but now that appears unlikely for\nvarious reasons so you have to settle for just two capes. Never mind, there is nothing else disappointing\nabout this walk, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n This is the map and elevation graph of the Three Capes Track, even if there are only two capes<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n After a lovely short walk through familiar Aussie gum trees with constant views of the coast below us we arrived at our first night\u2019s accommodation \u2013 Surveyor\u2019s Hut. Since the track was only completed in 2015 the facilities are almost new and the buildings sat comfortably in a natural clearing of the bush with distant views of the ocean. Accommodation was in bunk beds with 8 beds to a room. Clean, comfy, highly functional and friendly. Up to 48 people start the walk each day so you always have roommates. As our ranger said on our first night, with the share kitchen, public bunk beds and drop toilets you need to embrace communal living. And so we did.<\/p>\n\n\n Surveyor’s Hut, a stylish but modest series of buildings which were our home for the first night<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n Our group decided to keep food preparation easy so we\nbrought dehydrated food for our dinners and various other simple solutions for\nbreakfast and lunch, plus a good supply of snacks for life on the trail. With sleeping bag, all food, clothes and\npersonal stuff in our pack Julie was only carrying nine kilograms (about 20\npounds) but mine was slightly heavier because I agreed to carry two litres of\nwine. The sacrifices you have to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under a sparkling blue sky and slightly lighter packs we headed out on Day Two, our first major objective to climb Arthur Peak. The Tassie bush was at its best, damp from overnight rain, a colourful array of spring flowers lining the trail, a couple of pademelons \u2013 a marsupial very similar to a kangaroo \u2013 watching us pass. A pair of wedgetail eagles circled around us as we perched on a scenic lookout overlooking the bay of Port Arthur.<\/p>\n\n\n Julie negotiating the stone steps up Arthur Peak<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n Arthur Peak was our first real climb, a rise of about 200\nmetres, and the views from the top across the bay to Safety Cove, Crescent Bay\nand Mt. Brown made it all worthwhile. \nThe entire walk features break points along the way, such as a bench to\nsit or a piece of local art, with names such as Mossy is Good, Jurassic Crack and\nLove in the Woods, which provide short explanations of local history, culture,\ngeography, plants or animals. So we\nlearned a lot about many local features of this area while we stopped to catch\nour breath.<\/p>\n\n\n The views on the way up to the top of Arthur Peak were stunning<\/p><\/div> Time to relax and reflect on the spectacular views and remote location<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n Because this is Tasmania the weather changes constantly and\nthe afternoon saw revolving doses of rain, cloud, sun, wind, repeat. More interesting was all the different\nflowers and bushes we don\u2019t get up in the Sydney area and in particular the gum\ntrees which don\u2019t grow straight and tall as they do up north. At this latitude the gums have to be much\nheartier to endure the more extreme weather conditions and we saw many species\nwhich tended to be stouter and grow their branches in all directions, waving in\nthe wind like a drunken octopus. We\nenjoyed marvelling at their amazing shapes and sizes – I labelled them gums\nwith attitude. <\/p>\n\n\n The weather was changeable, the terrain was varied and every stretch of the trail revealed new surprises<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n Our second night\u2019s accommodation \u2013 Munro Hut \u2013 was perched\nhigh on a cliff overlooking Munro Bight and provided another warm, dry and\ncomfy place to rest our weary bones and enjoy the gourmet food we had brought\nalong. And its just as well because the\nfollowing day was the longest of the journey, a 19 kilometre (12 miles) trek\nout to our first cape \u2013 Cape Pillar. <\/p>\n\n\n Munro Hut – warm comfort in a remote corner of Australia<\/p><\/div> The gang relaxing on the second night with dehydrated food and cask wine<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n We dropped our packs at the hut for this 8km trek out to the\nCape which featured named stops along the trail like Hurricane Heath, Perdition\nPonds, Desolation Gully and Resolution Point. \nThrough thick forests, scattered heathland, across wind-swept meadows, past\na wild diversity of scrubby bushes, flowers and grasses, this walk had it\nall. Eventually we hit the cliff line\nand gained our first views of Tasman Island with its handsome white lighthouse\nand tall forbidding cliffs.<\/p>\n\n\n Ian, Jacinta, Julie and I got up early to enjoy the sunrise over the Munro Bight…unfortunately the sunrise didn’t return the favour<\/p><\/div> The long sections of boardwalk made the walking easy<\/p><\/div> Our first views of Tasman Island were spectacular – what a remote and miserable place to live 100 years ago<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n Most of Tasmania is made up of Jurassic Dolerite, a rock\nformed under great tectonic stress 185 million years ago. Along these coastlines this rock exposed at\nthe cliff face looks like an endless supply of pillars or columns, standing up\nlike a huge fence to keep the rest of the island from spilling out. As we walked along the cliff line towards the\ncape we gained dramatic views of these spectacular rock formations, culminating\nin a scrambling vertigo-inducing climb up to the tallest point sticking out\ntowards Tasman Island \u2013 The Blade. From\nthe top of The Blade, some 300 metres from the crashing surf below, we had\nfabulous views of the island and the coastline in both directions. <\/p>\n\n\n Our first views of the cliff line also showed us the exposed Jurassic Dolerite columns<\/p><\/div> Great views of Tasman Island from the top of The Blade<\/p><\/div> Probably my favourite shot of the day – enough to make your legs wobble<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n From there we walked out to Cape Pillar itself, enjoyed lunch\noverlooking Cathedral Rock and made our way all the way back to Munro Hut through\nuncountable changes in the weather where we picked up our packs and trudged the\nfinal three kilometres to our last night\u2019s accommodation \u2013 Retakunna Hut. What a day \u2013 how could tomorrow\u2019s final day\nwalk compete with that?!<\/p>\n\n\n Julie and Jacinta taking advantage of one of the resting places along the trail<\/p><\/div> The beautiful and unique plants we saw along the way – many of them in springtime bloom – was an unexpected highlight of our walk<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n The last day could be described as up, over, out and\nback. We started a bit earlier, our\npacks light with no food (or wine), but on a bit of a schedule because we had\nto catch the last bus at Fortescue Bay back to civilisation. We immediately began the 250 metre climb up\nthe steep slope of Mt. Fortescue, through enchanting green rain forest, mosses\nand ferns and lichen carpeting everything around us. Julie and I paused to rest on one of these\ninformative resting seats and in this lush green jungle just listened to the\nbirds in the trees and the waves crashing far below us. It was heaven. \nWe hugged the edge of the cliff along the coast, gaining dizzying views\nof the ocean below, until we came to a track intersection and dropped our bags\nfor the out-and-back journey to our second cape. <\/p>\n\n\n The start of day four – no sore muscles and keen as mustard<\/p><\/div> The green rainforest walk up and over Mt. Fortescue was a major highlight of the walk<\/p><\/div> We never would have guessed a healthy rainforest would be on the coast in Tasmania<\/p><\/div> Climbing up and over Mt. Fortescue did require a few breaks, including this one with magnificent views<\/p><\/div> Just take one more step back so I can get the whole scene in….<\/p><\/div> Another stunning coastal scene<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n Cape Hauy sits on a narrow peninsula with the track dropping\nalmost down to sea level before climbing back up again and finishing at the end\nof the point. From there we enjoyed\nneck-twisting views of the Totem Pole, a single column of dolerite towering\nabove the ocean, and retraced our steps to our pack. <\/p>\n\n\n Down goes our trail, only to rise back up the other side on its way to Cape Hauy<\/p><\/div> More weird and wonderful plants in bloom along the way<\/p><\/div> Yeah, we walked up and over a few stunning cliff lines<\/p><\/div> You can spot the famous Totem Pole – a single column rising from the surf – from the tip of Cape Hauy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n The final hour towards Fortescue Bay was mostly downhill and\nwe enjoyed the walk along the water\u2019s edge before reaching the bus stop. We had completed the fabulous Three Capes\nTrack, seen a spectacular corner of Tasmania and had a very special and unique\nexperience. For Julie, who is not a\nbackpacker, it was a particularly satisfying accomplishment. <\/p>\n\n\n The last resting place on the Three Capes Track with Fortescue Bay in the background<\/p><\/div> A pademelon and her little joey in her pouch greeted us as we completed the track<\/p><\/div> Fortescue Bay looked pretty inviting – especially for Andrew who took a celebratory and cleansing swim before we caught the bus back to Hobart<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n We spent a couple more days in Hobart with our good friends Len and Saan, spending many hours \u2013 and more bottles of wine \u2013 catching up with each other and reminiscing about the past. We drove to the top of Mt. Wellington, the 1,200 metre mountain that overlooks Hobart, and drove through the beautiful Huon Valley. It was a great ending to a spectacular week in Tasmania. Julie and I agreed we have to come back and explore more corners of this huge outdoor playground.<\/p>\n\n\n Helicopter views of Hobart and the Derwent River from the top of Mt. Wellington<\/p><\/div> Old friends reunite – Julie and I joined Len and Saan for lunch at an Apple Cider distillery in the Huon Valley<\/p><\/div><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tasmania is a giant playground for outdoor enthusiasts, people who like to walk through native rainforests, stride sheer ocean cliffs, trudge up and down dramatic mountains and mix with unique flora and fauna.\u00a0 All of this while not really caring about the weather, which in Tasmania can change hourly.\u00a0 Julie and I have been flat out busy during the last couple of months in Sydney but we took a break …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia"],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/20191013_154746.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14663"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14724,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14663\/revisions\/14724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
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