Kangaroo Island Wilderness TrailIn mid-2016 Kangaroo Island will have a new walking trail. The Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail will take five days to walk and should rival other popular walks such as New Zealand’s Milford Track and the Overland Track in Tasmania. The expected cost is $5 million, and will showcase Kangaroo Island’s unique natural environment.
Environment and Conservation Minister Ian Hunter expects it will bring up to another 5000 visitors to Kangaroo Island every year, adding to the 190 000 people who already make the trip, “The Trail will give walkers the opportunity to experience the outstanding natural beauty of Flinders Chase National Park, Cape Bouguer Wilderness Protection Area and Kelly Hill Conservation Park. The trail will lead them to Cape du Couedic light house, Admirals Arch, Remarkable Rocks and Kelly Hill Caves. This is some of the most iconic and breath-taking scenery that Kangaroo Island has to offer and we’re extremely pleased to be able to offer it to a new group of travellers.”
Nearly 170 hectares of untouched bushland on the north-western side of the island has been purchased with the intention of being added to the Cape Torrens Wilderness Protection Area. Read more here environment.sa.gov.au
Three Capes TrackBushwalkers with a spare $500 will have a new track to explore in Tasmania by the end of the year. The Three Capes Track on the Tasman Peninsula will be open just before Christmas. The 46-kilometre walk covers Cape Pillar, Cape Hauy with views to Cape Raoul. Environment Minister Matthew Groom told Parliament it would be a world-class tourist attraction. “It’s already set to become one of the truly great Australian coastal walks and I think one of the great coastal walks of the world,” he said.
The four-day walk costs about $500 with walkers staying in huts along the way. Mr Groom said it meant walkers would not have to carry a tent. ”Each night walkers of the Three Capes Track will rest and relax in the warmth and comfort of striking, environmentally sensitive, architecturally designed hut nodes,” he said. “Each node has sleeping cabins with comfy beds, spacious living areas, equipped with heating and cooking facilities.” Day walks would not attract a fee. In 2014, travel guide Lonely Planet listed the Three Capes Track as a highlight for people visiting Tasmania when the state was named fourth in the “world’s top regions to visit”.
Bookings for the track opened on 17 September 2015. The revenue raised will fund costs associated with the experience. Standard park fees apply to camping. The locations of the campsites are not known. Three Capes can be walked with accommodation in tents. Read more here mobile.abc.net.au
See pages 75 and 79 for more In the news.
Bushwalk
