Ben and I took the opportunity between Christmas and New Year to do the new Three Capes walk while it is free for independent walkers.
We made the long drive down to Fortescue Bay and had to use the inland track to get down to the new track.
So with all the warnings out of the way we were off to a late start.
Only an hour or so into the walk and we make it to the Boot washing bay and new track which only allows us access to a certain part as the rest of it is reserved for those that have paid the $500 fee!
Luckily the part we are allowed to walk on (anti clockwise only) goes to Cape Pillar.
There is an immediate difference in the track. The new track is like a national highway.
We were told the only place we were allowed to camp was down at Wughalee Falls so we made our way down into the damp and mozzy infested valley!
Parks have built quite a few tent platforms where we set up camp and there is even a toilet down there, albeit with no seat.
The next morning we made the decision that we wont be camping down in this hole again so we packed up our gear and stashed our packs in the bush to make our way down to Cape Pillar and back.
Plenty of these signs going up at all the good camp sites near the main track. Parks dont want riff raff like us messing up the experience for the paid walkers.
Its not long down the track and we see one of the new 'huts' the paid walkers sleep in.
It was a shock to see what they have built down here to be honest. And that was only one hut of three along the walk. They are not just a hut, they are like a small town with all the sleeping quarters, kitchens, lounge rooms etc not to mention the massive amount of water tanks.
But anyway we continued along the well built track to the 'blade' on Cape Pillar.
The views finally start to get very nice. The new track and infrastructure is something to behold!
Up the blade we go.
Ben doing his best Cleo Centrefold pose
Me doing my best 'Im a tourist' pose
After spending quite a bit of time way up the blade we turned around and headed back out to grab our packs and see if we could find a sneaky camp site.
But not before we grabbed some water from one of the many water tanks at the huts. There was no one looking so we figured filling a couple of small drink bottles up wouldn't hurt.
Fancy toilet blocks near the Hut.
We grabbed our packs and had lunch while contemplating where we would find more water as it was very hot and we were going through a lot more than we expected.
We arrived at the next Hut and the thousands of gallons of water in the tanks but to our surprise the ranger at the hut was very rude and wasn't giving us any water! He even very abruptly told us there is no water for us on our way out and said we shouldn't have even used the water at the toilet block at our designated camp site as it was for washing our hands only.
And to top this off we told him the tap was leaking at the water tank and he said he knew and has known about it for weeks!
We were so disappointed we forgot to grab any photos of the Hut and its massive amount of infrastructure around it.
But it was up and over Mount Fortescue we went.
There was no water to be found and Parks have done their best to make sure there is no where to sneaky camp so we agonised over our situation and decided to push on and walk out. It was a 30 or so kilometre day but we had no other real option.
After a massive day we made it back to the car late in the afternoon. It was disappointing to be treated like a second class citizen but the views made up for it.
We will have to go back to see Cape Hauy another day and if I was to ever do it again Id do the walk slightly different to how Parks would have you do it.
