Three capes, two lodges, one great walk. The first private lodges on Tasmania’s Three Capes Track offer adventure and rejuvenation in equal measure.
Words by Maggie Scarfield, photos by Luke Tscharke.
There’s silence apart from the crunch of gravel underfoot and the low echo of the Tasman Sea foaming below. A yellow-throated honeyeater dips and hides between eucalypts.
A stiff sou’easter rolling in from Antarctica chills my cheeks. I breathe deeply.
We’re winding through coastal heath dotted with guinea flowers and boronia bells as Heath Garratt explains the Japanese notion of shinrin-yoku, or “the benefits of going for a long walk in the woods”. It makes perfect sense as we stride along the 46-kilometre Three Capes Track, one of the newest walks in Tasmania. Garratt has been engaging in shinrin-yoku since he was a baby perched in his father’s hiking pack. As general manager of the Tasmanian Walking Company, the “woods” are both business and pleasure for him. “The effect wild spaces can have on a person is remarkable,” he says. “All that fresh air, the views, the quiet moments – it’ll catch you off guard.”
(Photo: Getty Images)
The company opened two exclusive lodges in Tasman National Park late last year – controversially, the only private accommodation in the park – and launched a four-day guided walk between them. The experience follows the pattern set by the company’s other Tasmanian ventures, which include Cradle Mountain Huts, the only private-hut accommodation on the Overland Track; the Bay of Fires Lodge bordering Mount William National Park; and the Wineglass Bay Sail Walk.
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
Crescent and Cape Pillar lodges, about 11 kilometres apart in the park’s east and invisible from the track, are models of low-impact architecture and understated beauty. The building materials were chosen for camouflage – non-reflective lightweight steel and timber in varying shades – and construction techniques chosen to minimise the impact on the park. The build began off-site in July 2017, modular panels were dropped in by helicopter and the method of excavation limited ground disturbance.
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
Lodge access is restricted to foot, and every six to eight weeks everything from food and laundry to waste collected in the 400-litre composting toilets is flown in or out of the lodges. Both lodges, designed by Sydney architect Andrew Burns, are powered by a mix of solar and wind (via a bird-friendly turbine) and a state-of-the-art Swedish recirculating shower at Crescent Lodge is said to use 70 per cent less energy and a fifth of the water of a regular shower.
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
Each lodge has seven guest rooms, with calming views, Tasmanian recycled-wool blankets and hot water bottles. The communal kitchens and living rooms have floor-to-ceiling glass doors that slide back to admit birdsong and the scent of eucalyptus, and as the guides don aprons to prepare dinner, guests browse well-stocked bookshelves and gather around a pellet fire.
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
As handsome as the lodges are, however, all eyes are on the great outdoors. “We wanted to create lodges that had all the comforts of a boutique hotel,” says Tasmanian Walking Company co-owner Brett Godfrey, “but the star attraction had to be the wilderness itself.”
I haven’t spent much time in national parks – in fact, I confess I’ve never hiked. And that’s the point of the lodge walk, says Godfrey. “These lodges are for people who won’t visit otherwise,” he says. “Many think of hiking as too challenging, but I want people to see that you can do it tough during the day, and recalibrate and re-energise at night.”
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
The three-night, four-day guided hike starts with a private boat trip to the beach at Denmans Cove and finishes at Fortescue Bay, both locations about 90 minutes’ drive from Hobart. We walk between two and seven hours a day on a mix of wide timber duckboards, dry gravel and pavers made of locally sourced rock, predominately dolerite, each of us carrying a supplied backpack containing only our clothes and incidentals. We stop for ploughman’s lunches featuring Tasmanian produce, and for tea and coffee at themed sculptural seats along the route.
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
Despite its name, the walk spans only two capes (Cape Pillar and an optional side trip to Cape Hauy); the third landmark, Cape Raoul, is at the southern tip of the peninsula and can be seen from Crescent Lodge and the summit of Arthur’s Peak, which we climb.
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
By the time we arrive at Cape Pillar Lodge on the second night, we’re eager to retire to the Relaxation Pavilion, where an indigenous-inspired treatment begins with a smoking ceremony and, afterwards, a slice of ginger-and-pear cake straight from the oven, or a dip in the 9,000-litre outdoor bath (just don’t call it a pool).
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
But as welcome as a massage, a glass of Tassie pinot and a three-course meal are after six hours of walking, the stars of the experience are the guides.
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
They deftly interpret the geology of the park’s mighty dolerite cliffs and the secret life of a temperate rainforest. They know the flora and the birdlife, and inspire guests to tread lightly. “These spaces are becoming rarer and rarer, and our guides help adventurers become advocates,” says Godfrey. “If you really want people to protect national parks, first they have to care about them.”
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
The peninsula is busy with projects opening in the next 18 months on privately owned tracts of land: Remarkable Lodge by Baillie Lodges (Southern Ocean Lodge, Longitude 131), and a retreat at Port Arthur by the Federal Group (Saffire Freycinet).
The private lodges on the Three Capes Track are a “test bed”, says Godfrey, for the next project by sister company, the Australian Walking Company: a four-day guided (and pack-free) walk on the 61-kilometre Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail. Two private lodges and three restored lighthouse cottages at Cape du Couedic are due to open in October to coincide with the park’s centenary.
On the last day, when we reach the creamy sands of Fortescue Bay, a whale and her calf are lolling offshore. I’m handed a glass of Tasmanian sparkling and, feeling brave, I peel off layers of thermals and dive into the icy blue. If this is shinrin-yoku, I’ll go another round.
(Photo: Luke Tscharke)
The four-day Three Capes Lodge Walk operates year-round and costs from $2,790 per person. This includes return transfers from Hobart, boat transfer from Port Arthur to Denmans Cove, three nights’ lodge accommodation, national park pass, the use of a backpack and weather-proof jacket, all meals, non-alcoholic drinks and a selection of Tasmanian wines. taswalkingco.com.au
