It’s not travel as I used to know it but more a quick escape- temporary flight from the claustrophobia of coronavirus oppression. Luckily wilderness therapy is still some of the best medicine so I packed the rucksack and headed to the rugged Tasman Peninsula in Tasmania.
The Three Capes Trail is a new addition to Tassie hiking destinations which opened in 2015. Four days and 48km distance with lodging in beautifully appointed huts gives a leisurely opportunity to experience a slice of the wild Tasmanian coastline.
In a world that seems to mostly over-promise it was a true delight that this trip exceeded expectations. I had only pictured a rugged trail atop dizzying sea cliffs with views over the southern ocean from the brochures. But the journey was a surprising patchwork quilt of different landscapes- gentle boardwalks over buttongrass and tea tree moorland baked in sunshine, paths meandering through coastal shrubs of casuarina and silver banksia trees, the shrill melodies and joyous birdsong of fairy wrens, finches and thrushes in the heath that follow your footfall, rainforest atop Mount Fortescue carpeted in vivid mosses that beckons you to step into Middle Earth, avenues of giant treeferns that dwarf you in their shadow.
My days of camping on a trail are also numbered as one of only a handful of hikers on the trip I was treated to spacious huts with wide verandahs and panoramic views over the Capes (Cape Raoul, Cape Pillar & Cape Hauy) and cosy mess areas with heaters and fully equipped kitchens.
Of course the highlight was still the exhilaration of standing atop sheer, vertical cliffs that drop a thousand feet to the churning blue cauldron of the southern ocean below. Sapphire waters are framed by narrow chasms of rock and then rocky viewpoints open out onto an infinity of vast glittering sea.
It’s been a joy to fall through the rabbit hole again to emerge briefly at the end of the earth for another adventure.
