Luxury lodges open on Three Capes Track

UPDATED: CASHED-UP Three Capes walkers now have a luxury option for traversing the popular coastal route. The operator says it’s worth every penny but conservationists are far from sold on the idea.

TASMANIA’S newest luxury bushwalking lodges are open for business on the popular Three Capes Track.

With prices starting at $2790 per person for a four-day three-night 46km “guided walking experience”, it’s an expensive stroll in the park, but operators the Tasmanian Walking Company says it’s worth every penny.

The new development has been criticised by the Greens and the Wilderness Society for being a blight on the last patch of wilderness in the state’s southeast.

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Tasmanian Walking Company CEO Brett Godfrey said the huts would add another option for people wanting to visit one of the state’s iconic walks.

“We are thrilled to open Australia’s most innovative and environmentally sustainable lodges, and offer this unparalleled experience of the Three Capes,” he said.

“The opening signifies the next phase in our pursuit to redefine the current perception and raise awareness of Australia’s exceptional walking destinations and associated product offerings.”

Three Capes Walk private huts.

The two luxury lodges feature solar-powered hot showers, large decks to take in the stunning views and beds with linen sheets.

For walkers looking for a more affordable experience, completing the Three Capes Track using the public huts along the way costs $495. For the determined, the track can be walked using the single public campsite for the price of a parks pass.

Premier and Parks Minister Will Hodgman hailed the launch of the huts.

“Visitors are voting with their feet and demonstrating they will travel to Tasmania to experience a well-crafted, high-quality product that is sustainably developed and sensitively managed.

Inside one of the luxury lodges. Picture: LUKE TSCHARKE

“Our aim is for Tasmania to be the eco-tourism capital of the world and Three Capes Track self-guided multi-day walking experience is another high-quality step in the journey to that vision.

The State Government declined to release details of the lease arrangement, or its length, saying they were “commercial-in-confidence”.

Green leader Cassy O’Connor said that was not good enough.

“A dark cloud of secrecy hangs over the exclusive arrangement between the Tasmania Walking Company and the Hodgman Government,” she said.

“We understand the company is after a 45-year lease on the Three Capes track and its other developments inside the wilderness on public land.

A bedroom in the Cape Pillar Lodge. Picture: LUKE TSCHARKE

“Tasman National Park is owned by the people of Tasmania. ‘Commercial in confidence’ doesn’t wash when we are talking about public lands and the capacity of a private company to derive profits from that public land through an exclusive monopoly arrangement.

“The lease must be made public. The state’s protected jewels are not the Liberals to trade away in secret.”

The Wilderness Society rubbished any claims that the lodges were eco-friendly.

“There is nothing ‘eco’ about privatising publicly-owned reserves and clearing forest previously protected in a national park to build luxury lodges, ‘relaxation pavilions’ and to o

A lounge at the Crescent Lodge. Picture: LUKE TSCHARKE

pen up a nice view,” society spokesman Vica Bayley said.

“The Three Capes Track and its five accommodation complexes, including these luxury lodges have destroyed some of the last true wilderness that was mapped in southeast Tasmania.

“Just because a luxury development is in one of Tasmania’s precious national parks and has a million-dollar view, doesn’t mean it’s eco or environmentally sustainable and these lodges are case in point.”