Three Capes Track: it’s hiking but not as we know it

The new Three Capes Track is fitted out with phone chargers and yoga mats. Welcome to the new age of hiking.

04/12/2015: Kathy Willis (front) and Anne Knox take in the views from the Three Capes Track in Southern Tasmania. Stuart McEvoy for The Australian.

You begin by escaping by boat from Port Arthur. The past ­becomes the present. For the convicts, misery was painted on every hillside. It was the end of the world, the landscape itself a fortress; for you, it’s the start of a new life. Life as a hiker.

You disembark on a scrap of coastline where a broad track leads you high on to a cliff top. Vertical Jurassic dolerite columns, the highest in the southern hemisphere, under your toes; the waves of the Tasman Sea smashing themselves on the cliff face 300m below.

Later, dinner in a stylish cabin, a Twitter update, a soft bed and a good night’s sleep. Two days later you’re bundled into a bus and ­returned to Port Arthur.

Ten years and $25.3 million in the making, Tasmania’s Three Capes Track is about to lay out its red carpet to well-heeled shoes. It’s hiking, yes, but not as we know it.

Conceived by former Labor premier Paul Lennon and jointly funded by state and federal government, the Three Capes Track cuts through the Tasman Nat­ional Park on the Tasman Peninsula, 97km east of Hobart.

Walkers will spend three nights in cabins catering for 48 people, with cooking equipment, showers, toilets, yoga mats and mobile-phone charging stations.

Comfort doesn’t come cheap, with the cost to walk the track $495 for adults and $396 for children. The public are voting with their feet though, and early polling is encouraging, with nearly 2000 people already lining up for what some are calling a “Disney wilderness experience”.

Travel bibleLonely Planet has named the walk one of the world’s “hottest new travel ­experiences”.

The track is a combination of gravel, boardwalks and stone steps, can be walked two abreast and is suitable for anyone with a reasonable level of fitness, including children. No wet feet. No tricky bits.

Hiker Kathy Willis said the track would open up the area for many to enjoy.

“I like that the track makes the region accessible to all levels of walking ability,” she said. “I’m very supportive of showcasing Tasmania’s natural beauty.”

She added though that caution needed to be shown when significant development occurred in wild areas. “We have to be very careful that in showcasing that beauty we don’t degrade that natural environment — otherwise what’s the point?” she said.

Unlike New Zealand, which has nearly 1000 back-country huts managed by the government, Australia has little in the way of multi-day, hut-based hiking. This has meant those disinclined to crawl into a tent and answer the call of nature by digging a hole in the ground have traditionally elected to stay at home. Tourism Tasmania hopes this new venture will be embraced by those who love isolated, wild ­places, but loathe the prospect of sleeping on the ground and sloshing through mud.

The package deal includes a boat ride from Port Arthur to the start of the track, and bus transfers back. The walk will access two of the three capes, Cape Hauy and Cape Pillar. The western section linking Cape Raoul is not yet built and federal funding is still uncertain, leaving some dubbing the walk the Two Capes Track.

Tasmanian Parks Minister Matthew Groom said the state government had allocated $4 million to construct the final stage. “We remain committed to completing the track,” he said.

Many are baulking at the cost: $1782 for a family of four. By comparison New Zealand’s most expensive huts cost $54 a night in peak season, but the vast majority are priced between $5 and $15, with children staying free in all.

Some hikers, such as Tracie Haylock, object to having their wilderness experience interrupted by crowds.

“I would rather carry my tent and enjoy the scenery in peace, than be stuck in ­accommodation with 48 other people charging their mobile phones,” she said on social media.

For others, including University of Tasmania Bushwalking Club member Jared Parry, the track was a welcome addition to the region. “This project has enormous potential, and it’s important we all get behind it,” he said.

Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania has also been accused of policy on the run after ­backtracking on a statement ­regarding proposed camping ­restrictions. “The Three Capes experience is a cabin-based ­experience only,” read the statement released on September 18.

Outcry on social media from bushwalkers, who feared being shut out of their backyard, led to a retraction a week later and an assurance that both sufficient camping and free day-walking ­access to the capes would be ­provided.

Hobart Walking Club president Philip Le Grove said he was happy with the new arrangements. “As a walking club, we want free access to the area, subject to purchasing a national park pass,” he said. “We’ve now been given that. We have a connection to this track because our club cut the original track. We want our overnight walks to continue.”

The venture has also received criticism for promoting a model that some believe creates fly-in, fly-out tourism, leaving visitors with little need to spend money with surrounding businesses. Vica Bayley from the Wilderness Society said: “The problem with this model is that many people will drive to Port Arthur, get on a boat, do three days’ walking, get on a bus at the other end, go to the airport and go home, after paying $500 to the government. Putting aside the negative ­environmental impact of new hut complexes, where’s the model that has visitors supporting ­accommodation businesses already embedded in the regional community?”

Mr Groom rejected the claim: “I have no doubt the opposite is true. The track will boost visitor numbers and allow people to stay longer, both of which will provide a massive stimulus to the area.”

Despite the concerns, bookings are solid. Of the 2000 already booked, 13 per cent are Tasmanians. Six per cent are overseas tourists and the remainder from interstate, with more than a third of those from NSW. The state government expects 6000 people a year will walk the track.

Sarah Climenhaga from ­Toronto, Canada, is one of the ­overseas visitors. She said she was excited about the prospect of walking the track with her ­husband and three children in January. “We’ve heard Tasmania is an amazing place to explore the outdoors,” she said. “We may never return to Tasmania again. We value nature conservation and keeping wild places beautiful, so if the cost helps maintain the track and keep the area wild we understand some source of revenue is required.”