Wilsons Promontory - A Winter Adventure

By Soonlee Lim

The ruggedly beautiful southernmost tip of Australia's mainland is also one of Victoria's best-known national parks - the Wilsons Promontory National Park. 'The Prom' as it is affectionately referred to, offers outstanding opportunities for bush walkers.

For the 15th Essendon Sea Scouts this is our second trip to The Prom. Our previous trip was during September 1996 and we hiked the Mt.Oberon, Sealers Cove, Refuge Cove, Waterloo Bay, Oberon Bay and Tidal River circuit. For this trip we decided to tackle a different route.

Preparation
We realised the success of the hike depended very much on good planning and thorough preparation. There were three patrols participating in the hike. Each patrol was given the responsibility to plan their program, food, gear and accommodation for the hike. The leaders provided advice on the types of food and gear to bring, how to pack, foot wear, weight of the backpack etc.

On the Troop Night before the hike all the participants brought their fully packed back pack to the hall for final inspection. Each of the pack was checked to make sure that it was properly packed with the correct contents and the weight was appropriate for the Scout carrying it.

The 15th Essendon Sea Scouts hike party consists of 10 Scouts and 4 leaders. Below is one of the patrol's account of our winter adventure through the beautiful Wilsons Promontory National Park.

Day 1 - Conor
On the 27th of June 1998 Saturday morning about 7am the frosty stillness around our Scout Hall was rudely interrupted by the laughter and excitement of Scouts about to embark on their adventure. We loaded all the packs in the trailer and said 'good night' to the shivering parents so that they could go back to their warm beds. We managed to start our long journey just before 7.30am.

It was a cold morning. After all it was middle of winter. On the way to our destination we noticed the sides of the road were covered in frost, ice and mist. When the sun eventually came out the landscape was like a carpet of diamonds glittering, glittering. When we finally arrived after thousands of jelly beans, barley sugars and mandarins we had a bit of trouble at the entrance gate because someone lost our booking. But our leaders had that sorted out pretty quickly. After passing a few kangaroos and emus grazing on meadows we arrived at Tidal River. It was quite a relieve after such a long trip because we were starting to have sore bums. After changing from our uniforms to hiking gear we headed up Mt Oberon where we started our hike.

We set off at about 11.30am. For the first part of the hike I was with the older Scouts at the front of the pack. Then I eventually dropped back and I walked and chatted with Christian. The weather was cool but nice. The smell of the bush was heavenly. We stopped at a bridge for lunch and then we continued up a big mountain. It was a fairly challenging climb. We had to slow down so that Owen our youngest hiker could catch up. On top of the mountain we had a rest and then forked off down a narrow track with lots of puddles. We arrived at our first camp site, Roaring Meg just before dark. Owen and I camped by the side of the creek. It was a bit damp but nice. I think everyone had a great day. We were all very tired and we went to bed straight after dinner.

Day 2 - Madeleine
Today, Sunday was probably the easiest day hiking because we only hiked about 8Km in total and we were only carrying day packs. It was a day hike to the Lighthouse from our base camp. The terrain was very rugged and steep but the views were magnificent! We stopped at a lookout and had our scouts own. It was a perfect surrounding for such an activity.

Scout's Own at the Lighthouse lookout

At the Lighthouse we met the lighthouse keeper. He showed us around and told us a bit about the Lighthouse and its history. We all climbed up to the top of the Lighthouse and the wind was unreal! When I looked down at the ocean I saw 5 seals. It was very exciting. It was lucky they have fresh water. We filled up our water bottles, had lunch and then started hiking back to our camp. We got back quite early so Alissia and I decided to go for a dip in the creek. It was freezing. After the dip we had to stay in our sleeping bags for a while to keep warm. Before dinner we all helped one another with our badge work. After dinner it started to rain so we all went to bed. It was only 6.30pm!

Day 3 - Alex
This morning when I woke up it was still raining. I didn't think it had stopped all night. We had to pack up everything in the rain. But eventually we were all up and ready to go 'cloaking' in our wet weather gear. Then Laura screamed, "EeeeK! Alex, there's a leech on your face!" I froze and didn't know what to do. Luckily our leader Helen appeared from nowhere and saved the day. Unlike me, when Alissia had a leech on her face, I was attacking it with a twig.

As we started walking the rain stopped. It wasn't a hard day hiking but everything seemed much heavier as it was wet. We stopped for lunch at the turn off to Oberon Bay and just as we were about to set off it started raining 'cats & dogs' and out came out jackets and pants again. It rained most of the way to our next camp site at Oberon Bay. But luckily it stopped once we got there and held off for the rest of the day.

There were some huge sand dunes near our camp site. So after setting up camp some of us crazed Scouts put on our bathers and set off for the sand dunes and the beach. Alissia and I found our way up to the sand dunes first and about 5 minutes later Laura and Maddy (Madeleine) turned up. About 20 minutes later the boys eventually found their way. Now that says something! The sand dunes were real fun even though we landed on one another rolling down the dunes and had a nice 'snack' of sand. After we got sick of the sand dunes 6 of us headed off to the beach for a swim. It was absolutely freezing! But after all it was the middle of winter. After a quick dip we went back to camp and sat around the 'Trangias' and candles to cook and eat our dinner. After dinner we sat around our pretend Trangia burner 'camp fire' and chatted our night away. Today was especially fun but I was pretty happy we're getting back to civilization tomorrow, although you do get to see some magnificent views out here. Today we walked a total of 6 Km.

Day 4 - Tim
Well today is the last day of our journey and it is meant to be the easiest walk of all our 4 days here. We started walking along the beautiful sandy beach of Oberon Bay. Then we ascended a mountain and as we were walking along the mountain side I saw one of the best views Wilsons Prom is known for. It was simply spectacular. When we arrived at Little Oberon Bay we stopped for snacks. Alex's patrol conducted a scouts own on the side of the sand dune. While we were walking along we could see majestic mountain on one side and the ocean pounding against the rocks on the other side.

Suddenly Norman Bay was in front of us and we could see Tidal River Camp Site. Our pace quicken and before long we were on the Norman Bay beach heading towards the car park. We stopped at the car park and had our lunch before heading back to our cars along the board walk. Along the board walk we saw and patted a number of wombats. Just before the end of the walk we saw some deer as well. Then the rush was on for the hot showers. It was one of the best showers I had. After the showers we changed back into our uniforms and went to feed the rosellas. It was a lot of fun. They stood on our shoulders and heads while fighting for the sunflower seeds. It was a perfect ending to our journey.

Epilogue
The 15th Essendon Sea Scouts Wilsons Prom hike was a real adventure for both the Scouts and the leaders. It was a magnificent environment to explore, have fun, learn and share. Each one of us had built and strengthened our relationship and friendship with one another over this trip. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Joan Higgins who helped to make this adventure a reality.

Soonlee Lim (Scout Leader), 15th Essendon Sea Scouts, Victoria Go back