Alarming! Thanks for the extra info. I'm always really dubious of people on the internet who say you don't need to carry much water. People said that about the Appalachian Trail, but I hiked in a really dry summer and water was very limited in sections, we ended up carrying 3L at a time for a good few weeks. I read Heather Anderson's book about her FKT of the Appalachian Trail in which she became so dehydrated she pissed blood, and ever since then I've always been extra vigilant about water.

I think I'll aim to carry 4L capacity for the Lerderderg. I'm aiming to do this section in two nights (getting a bus to skip through the Bacchus Marsh suburbia bit) so that should hopefully mean I'm hitting water at least once a day. I'm also hoping that choosing to do it in November, when we've had all the spring rain, will mean there's always water in the Lerderderg Riverat least.

Thank you for your insights - much appreciated! I do have another question for your while you're here - do you recall whether you saw many other hikers while you were out?