Another one of our favourite camping places is Wilson’s Promontory, one of the most scenic and spectacular areas in Victoria. Rugged mountain ranges with gigantic rocks, boulders as big as office blocks and densely grown bushland surrounded by beautiful beaches.
We camp at Tidal River and the first two or three times we went there we did most of the well marked, shorter bushwalks in that area and for these walks alone, the ‘Prom’ is well worth a visit for anyone who is keen on the great outdoors.
Last year, on one of the long weekends we stayed there we hiked to Sealers Cove, which is a very pretty, but strenuous walk right across the Prom and takes a fit hiker about 2 and half hours each way.
Sealers Cove consists of a beautiful beach, a small river full of fish, plenty of wild life such as Kangaroos, Wallabies and Wombats, etc, and abundant birdlife like Cockatoos, Egrets and Kingfishers. The walk back crosses ‘Windy Saddle’ which afforded us a great view of Tidal River and the caravan park.
The five hour hike gave us such a great sense of achievement we thought we’d go one better the next year and decided to do the walk to the lighthouse and back, which is twice as far in distance and normally tackled by hikers who stay overnight at ‘Roaring Meg’ campground and return the next day.
We realised that to complete the whole journey to the lighthouse and back in the one day we would both have to be very fit and also well equipped. We tackled the walk on the long week-end in March when the temperature wasn’t supposed to be quite so hot and we still had plenty of daylight, just in case the trip took us longer than the estimated ten hours of walking.
On the first day of the long week-end, just for a ‘Pipe Opener’, we climbed Mt Oberon, a good steep climb of about two hours return and then we prepared our provisions for the next day and had an early night in order to be fit and well for the long hike the following day.
We set off at 8am and for the first hour or so we set a solid pace with the intention of leaving as many kilometres behind us during the early morning walk because the forecast that day was for temperatures in the low 30’s (degrees celcius).
We reached the halfway hut by about 10am, which is halfway to the camp ground, and stopped for 10 minutes for some morning tea which consisted of water and fruit mix. We continued along the road, which is a four wheel drive track, until a few kilometres before the lighthouse, and reached ‘Roaring Meg’ campground just afterr 11.30am.
Not long after that the road finished and from there we followed a very steep and rough track down to the rugged coast line and upon reaching the bottom we were faced with a concrete path which led upwards on a 45 degree angle to the lighthouse.
We were quite thirsty, hungry and exhausted by then and after drinking about a gallon of water from a rainwater tank, we had our lunch of cut sandwhiches and fruit. The journey had taken us just on 4 and half hours and the return trip, especially the first hour of climbing back up that steep path seemed quite daunting.
Nevertheless, we tackled the return trip with enthusiam, but by the time we had scaled the steep path, passed the campsite and reached the halfway hut by about 4pm, we were pretty tired. The last hour we practically walked in slience and by the time we rounded the last bend in the road and reached the car park, the car was a welcome sight.
We drove back to the tent. It was 6pm by then and the first beer I drank didn’t even touch the sides and we both stayed under a hot shower for aobut 20 minutes.
The sense of achievement and memory of the beautiful scenes of the rugged coast line and the lighthouse, overshadowed our exhaustion and I would recommend the walk wholeheartedly to any ablebodied bushwalker, provided he or she is extremely fit and a little bit ‘soft in the head’!
Photos courtesy of Craig when he went hiking with Julie in the northern regions of Wilsons Prom , September 1992