Wilsons Prom, Victoria, Australia

In August 2009 we spent four days hiking Wilsons Promontory, the southern-most tip of the Australian mainland.

It was the first time I'd done a multi-day hike and had to carry so much gear with me, so the first time I put the pack on I wondered how I could carry it for four days!

The first day we walked to Roaring Meg, the second to Little Waterloo Bay and the third to Sealers Cove. During the four days we only saw one other person and each night had the whole campsite to ourselves.

We had heard that the birds have learnt how to open zippers to get your food - and we indeed witnessed it twice! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.

We also awoke once to find a critter in the vestibule of the tent trying to get into the saucepan.

It's a sad reality that these animals have come to rely on the food of tourists and adapted to getting their food this way.

It rained on-and-off the four days we were there, but we had enough sunshine during the day to dry things out while we made some food.

There is a tidal crossing near Sealers Cove and we hadn't planned what time to cross so when we got there it was, of course, high tide. Sam made three trips across - once for each of the packs and once for me! He was very wet and cold after that, but we made it across ok.


Walking out on the last day we went through areas that had been burnt in the terrible bushfires of 2009. The park had been closed for a few months and parts of it were still closed, but this part had just reopened.

It's a truly beautiful part of Australia and for my first multi-day hike I had a great time.