7 hidden benefits of joining a small-group hike with the pros
I vividly remember my first multi-day deep-nature hike. It was Wilson’s Promontory in Victoria in 2002: 3 days, 32 km, and a 15 kg backpack stuffed with heavy camping equipment, 4 litres of water, and food to last until the finish line. I loved it. I saw my first wild echidna, I snuggled into a boy I realised I would never marry, and I inhaled air born from the Antarctic. But I also recall giddily cantering the last eight kilometres, driven by a single thought: I NEED a shower!
As much as I love big nature, I detested being sticky. Sticky by day under the oven-hot sun and sticky at night in a tiny tent zipped up tight to keep the bugs out. By day three, I smelt like a forward prop running a rugby final. There had to be a better way.
Last year I found it. I joined Tasmanian Walking Company on their Three Capes Signature Walk. While the hiking was appropriately challenging, the experience was effortlessly breezy. Instead of reconstituted food ripped from a packet and reheated, I devoured fresh, homemade meals, slept in a comfortable bed, carried a light day pack, and cleansed under a perfectly heated shower (using bio-sensitive soap). Sure, the cost was many times my “solo” hiking model, but it was worth every cent. Here are seven reasons why I will no longer go it alone.
Photo: View out towards Tasman Island, Three Capes Track. Taken by Shelley Winkel
1. Guide Wizards
Remember when Dorothy woke up in Oz, and everything around her was in technicolour glory? Brighter. Clearer. More anticipatory. It’s the same with a guided walk. Everything you see is intensified by the two wizards (i.e., the guides) who lead you. For example, the trail is not just a pretty path; it’s a curious lesson layered with stories about Indigenous history, local scallywags, and geology tutorials showing that resting spots are not just rocks but 180-million-year-old Jurassic chairs made of Dolerite. These guides are walking Chatbots, ready to answer random questions about anything you see.
Value: A full-day small-group tour in Australia averages $150 - $250 daily. Now multiply that by the number of days you walk.
2. Edge-of-the-world harvest
I love food. So, capping off a 16km hike with a freshly cooked, three-course meal is a top way to refuel. Each night, the feature dish – one evening a steaming curry drenched in just harvested herbs – is prefaced with a crisp glass (or two) of Tassie wine, a charcuterie of local small goods, and baked-at-the-lodge sourdough bread rolls. Impossible! Or is it? Chat with your lodge hosts, and you learn that some are qualified chefs who traded commercial kitchens for the joy of nourishing 14 hungry hikers in the middle of staggeringly beautiful nature.
If dinner is divine, wait for the holy trinity: Breakfast is hearty, lunch is healthy, and snacks are heavenly. Strong advice: don’t skip the blue ribbon-worthy homemade cakes!
Value: Eat like this in a big city and expect to pay more than $200 a day!
Photo: Three course meals served by our guides and hosts on the Three Capes Track.
Keep reading our view our Three Capes Signature Walk
3. Steamy showers
It may have been early spring when I hit the Tassie trail, but my Queensland blood was constantly in a semifreddo state. No words can capture the relief of turning a faucet that promises hot water EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Value: priceless!
4. Time-Saving Logistics
There’s a physical and a mental load when you do a multi-day nature hike. Go with the experts, and they will shrink the planning time. Physically, you still need to do the hard yards. Mentally, the logistics are taken care of. Tasmanian Walking Company has consulted ferry schedules, packed the medical kit, prepared nutrient-dense meals, prepped the rooms, and kept their eye on the weather. The only thing you need to do is walk, chat, laugh, and look.
Value: Signing up for a TWC hike saved at least 10 hours of planning time.
5. Get the good gear
I wasn’t prepared for four seasons in a day. But Tasmanian Walking Company was. The company offers a range of top-shelf hiking gear. There were hiking poles, day packs, overnight packs, and sleeping sheets. My most prized item was a thigh-length rain jacket that blocked the unseasonal September gusts. I loved it so much that I coveted my own. Ah, no! At $600 bucks a jacket and no forecast for use in balmy Queensland, I gratefully returned my hire coat at the end of the hike.
Value: $1000s saved on having to buy quality, but rarely used, hiking gear.
Photo: Wet weather gear, Three Capes Track. Taken by Shelley Winkel
6. Find new Friends
Hello. I’m an extrovert, and I have a 6000-a-day word talk habit. My husband is an introvert whose daily chat count barely exceeds 1500 words. There’s a deficit between us, and I have 4500 fascinating discussions aching for an escape hatch. Joining a small group tour means instant new friends and multiple new ears. Our Three Capes Walk group turned out to be a friendly cohort of newly retired business owners, captains of industry, a scientist, a tradie, and an organic gardener. I probably chewed through 10,000 words each trail, more than hitting my daily speech quota.
Value: Let’s start with my marriage!
7. Sweet Dreams are made of (designer) this
“Evil Dead” ruined me, and on day two of an 88-km forest hike in another state back in 2018, I spent an entire night inside my tent with one eye open after encountering an odd character. These days, I prefer to join others and sleep peacefully. I also prefer comfy digs. On the Three Capes Walk, the Tasmanian Walking Company is the only organisation with permits to build architecturally designed and carbon-zero lodges inside a national park. That means dreamy comfort and group safety at zero impact on the wilderness.
Value: At least $200 per person per night board only.
Photo: Bedrooms at Cape Pillar Lodge.
So, there you have it. Seven reasons why I am a group walk convert. I’ll always cherish my solo adventures. However, now that I’m a little older and more focused on comfort, I count value in increments of time, excellence in local knowledge transfer, and personal safety. As the balance sheet above shows, my four-day Three Capes Walk hike with Tasmanian Walking Company was, in fact, outstanding value.
