Trekking the Three Capes Track

Trekking the Three Capes Track - Day 3

October 01, 2023

Munro Hut to Retakunna Hut via Cape Pillar – 19 km

‘Life is too short for a cold breakfast’

Today was to be our biggest day distance-wise, but in many ways one of the easiest, as we could leave our big packs behind at Munro and take a day pack with us for the 16 km ‘out and back’ section to the tip of Cape Pillar.

We were up early at 6am, Tess and I packing up the bunks while Phi did the all-important work of preparing the coffees, which we then carried out to the helicopter pad to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately the cloud cover made the sunrise a little less than spectacular, but we did enjoy watching the local pair of sea eagles soaring overhead, and we were pleased to see that the rain from the previous day had dispersed.

In accordance with Tess’s philosophy that ‘life is too short for a cold breakfast!’ we heated the milk and enjoyed our muesli before making lunch, packing the remainder of our belongings and heading out for the longest day yet. Stashing our big packs and shouldering day packs felt like a complete luxury. We set off just before 8am, planning to walk at a leisurely pace and enjoy all the stories in the guidebook along the way, as there were many sculptural seats on the section of track ahead.

There was also much stunning scenery to take in as we passed through forest, moving into a pocket of rainforest, and then onto the open heathland, with many enticing glimpses of the ocean on our right and Cape Pillar, our destination, up ahead, all the while traversing well-crafted boardwalks and solid stone steps. Until, that is, we approached the tallest point, the aptly named, Blade, which overlooks Tasman Island. Here, the path became narrower, steeper and rockier, with sheer drops either side. We held our breath, and mustered our bravado, until we finally all stood (or sat, in my case) on the furthest point of the Blade, with one large chest height rock between us and a sheer drop into the ocean 262m below. We marvelled at the foolhardiness of some, who we had been told, would climb onto this rock and stand there, buffeted by the winds, for the sake of a selfie with Tasman Island in the background. It was only after we reached Cape Pillar and looked back, that we realised the sheer drama of the rocky outcrop we had scaled, and the danger, those who stood on top subjected themselves to.

From a well-placed seating area on the Cape, we marvelled at Cathedral Rock below, while Phi recounted the story of the intrepid group who had been the first to cross at low tide, scale it and build a cairn on top, back in 1967. We heard too, the stories of the hardships endured by the lighthouse keepers and their families on Tasman Island and the innovative solutions that had been necessary to haul building materials, supplies and families onto the important outpost.

From here we began the return journey to Munro Hut, where we retrieved our packs, enjoyed a hard-earned coffee and moved onto Retakunna Hut for the night, a mere hour’s hike from Munro. On the way, close to Munro, we spied a track off to the right, which Phi, of course, had to explore. After waiting a while, Tess and I reluctantly followed, the lure of the coffee much stronger than any further exploration at that stage, however FOMO kicked in, and we followed the track to the top of the hill, only to find Phi on her way down, having stumbled across a private hiking hut complete with plunge pool. This, we discovered from Ranger Joel back at Munro, cost individuals $3600 to enjoy, in exclusive guided hiking groups of 14, who were willing to pay an eye-watering amount to enjoy the Three Capes Track from a luxurious viewpoint.

We reached Retakunna at 3:15 and settled into our allocated hut. Previously, we had chosen our own huts, owing to the small number on the track, but at Retakunna, the maintenance team were in, replacing decks and securing roofs, so the available huts had been allocated this time. From our bunk room window, we watched a wallaby grazing, and then adjourned to the dining hub for some relaxed reading, followed by a dinner of pasta, supplemented with the remainder of our lunch-time cheese and salami and an evening of raucous card games with our fellow hikers, for tomorrow we would all go our separate ways.

Although we had been allocated a larger, 8-bed cabin, it felt like a warmer space and we all slept very well after our day of adventuring, dreaming of sheer cliff faces, elusive whales and the romance of being a lighthouse keeper.