The Three Capes experience

On Friday 9 November a select group of keen and adventurous students set out with Mr Daniel Blake and Miss Tyler O’Neill on a 3-day multi day walk along the spectacular Tasman Peninsula coastline to explore the Three Capes.

The small group arrived mid-afternoon at Fortescue Bay, our base camp for the weekend. After setting up base camp we decided to warm up our legs on a short walk to Canoe Bay to revisit the basic navigation and bushwalking skills honed during Term 3.

Once there, the group was set a challenge to balance as many rocks on top of each other in a tower as they could. This challenge required patience and focus and is regularly used as a meditation technique to centre one’s self and become present. This simple challenge was able to bring the students into the present moment and realise the beautiful place they were in and the importance of connecting with natural places.

Once the students returned from their walk, they were briefed on the journey ahead and given maps of the area to plan our route for the next two days across the spectacular sea cliffs that make up the Three Capes Walk.

The Three Capes Walk is recognised as one of the world’s most breathtaking coastal multi-day walks. Many of the students have been looking forward to the opportunity to experience this walk since first hearing about it when they started school at Dominic College.

The group was all packed and ready to go on the biggest leg of their journey by 7am on Saturday morning and were greeted with clear skies and cool breeze to aid their ascent through the thick dry sclerophyll forests up to the top of the sea cliffs leading to the capes beyond. This leg took the group from Fortescue Bay along the Old Cape Pillar Track which dissects with the new Three Capes Track. They then joined the Three Capes Track heading north which took them past the luxurious new public huts and then up to the summit of Mt Fortescue where they received spectacular views of Cape Pillar and Tasman Island beyond it.

Once the group had taken in the views over lunch, the track took them down from the peak through a lush myrtle forest with forest floor and tree trunks covered in moss. The track continued in out to Cape Hauy where the group peered over the 200m sea cliffs from the safety of the perfectly placed lookout. From the lookout the group completed the remainder of the track to the Fortescue Bay Base Camp noting with some nostalgia their memories of Year 7 camp, walking the very same track.

Their final leg of the journey saw the group explore the final cape, Cape Raoul and nearby Shipsterns Bluff. Shipsterns hosts a big wave surfing event, where surfers contend with the raw power of the Southern Ocean by taking on over 15 metre high waves. Once the final leg was completed, the students returned to the bus where they relaxed, content with the journey they had completed as they discussed their experiences on their journey home.

Mr Daniel Blake - Adventure Recreation teacher