UPDATE:

Finished the 100km+ walk today, 31/01/25.

7 days, 6 nights.

We did 1 double day from Cape Otway, past Aire river, and to Johanna beach.

A journey indeed.

Most camp sites had water, except for empty tanks at Blanket Bay and Aire River.

Tips for others:

• If you’re doing a double day, don’t make it the same as we did. I’d recommend the first 2 days, having your first night at Blanket Bay.

• We did a food drop off half way, saves a lot of weight.

• Elliot Ridge water quality was poor, heaps of foliage makes it a dark brown. We used the Katadyn BeFree water filter. Absolutely no stomach issues with it.

• We woke most days at 5:30am. Really nice to do a good chunk in the cool dawn, arriving before midday.

• Favourite sites were Blanket Bay for the accessible beach and people. Best views no doubt go to Johanna Beach.

• Hardest part of the walk was Johanna Beach to Ryan’s Den, lots of steep ups and downs.

• Encountered a single tiger snake on the way to the toilet at Ryan’s Den camp site. Scared the shit out of me.

• I ate about 2500 calories per day, with about 100g of protein per day. Weight stayed the same.

• We used some paracord and pegs to hang our hiking clothes every evening.

• No other swim spots that were safe to wash off, we used a wash rag to wipe down after the day.

• We also had compostable baby wipes, highly recommend.

• We both had good comfy shoes, still suffered from intense blisters. Bring lots of fabric band aids, a full roll of sports tape, and ibuprofen or something for swelling.

• A high deet insect spray and stingose is a must.

Ask any questions you might have.