First Corner: South

First Corner: South
Well blogsters, a fortnight has passed since the grandly named 4CornerS,W,N,E expedition blasted out of the starting blocks. That seems an apposite sort of period to send in this first report.

Very briefly, the aim of my expedition is to travel around mainland Australia, seeing what comes my way. To ensure that no corners are cut the southern, western, northern and eastern points of the continent will be visited.

For the initial stage of the journey I am very fortunate to have the company of Peter Howlett, a good friend of many years, a former Melbournian, and with a good knowledge of Wilsons Promontory. For the lighthouse on the southern tip of Wilsons Promontory is my first goal. There is no vehicle access, only a twenty kilometres walking trail.

Wilsons Promontory is often buffetted by blustery winds blasting in from Bass Strait, and that is exactly the weather that prevails as we set off from the Telegraph Saddle carpark about 8:15am one morning. Neither of us has done any bushwalking with backpacks for some years so there is some apprehension as to how we will go.

The early going is very easy, down a long slope and the track is vehicle width, this is the fire access road that runs almost to the lighthouse. Then there is a long easy flat stretch and in just under two hours we have covered the 7.5kms to the Halfway Hut. All good things come to an end and the next stretch is uphill and the weight of a backpack becomes obvious to me. We are at the Roaring Meg campsite before 12noon and here we have lunch and a spell - we are still going very well and have covered 13kms of the required 20kms. We continue on, the first view of the lighthouse complex on the rocky promontory is dramatic. We see it from quite high up. The wind is pushing the seas heavily westward through Bass Strait, crashing onto the rocky bastion and also crashing against a big ship pushing around the promontory, heading for Port Philip. It is about 2pm and we stay here for quite a while, just enjoying the scene, and enjoying the sense of accomplishment.

At the lighthouse we stay in very pleasant accommodation - formerly the house of a lighthousekeeper‘s family. For company there are people from Melbourne and an extraordinary couple from Germany - well travelled, hugely knowledgable in many areas, and good natured to go with it.

So, I sleep this night at 39.12907 degrees south latitude and 146.42421 east longitude - that is the furthest south point of mainland Australia ( rejecting the arguments of pedants who will claim a closeby point, but that doesn’t count as it doesn’t have a lighthouse).

For the next day we must climb up to about 300 metres, lovely views on this stretch back over the lighthouse, thankfully the wind has abated and the sea is much calmer. We then drop down to beautiful Waterloo Bay, a long stretch of pure white sand backed by wetlands. We camp the night just over the hill at Little Waterloo Bay. Sadly campfires are now banned in many places. There are good reasons for this but it does detract markedly from the bushwalking experience as I knew it in previous times.

On the third and final day we must walk about ten kilometres and that is about far enough for me. I need a few spells on the final pull up to the carpark at Telegraph Saddle. Peter has travelled remarkably well, says he is a bit stiff, but doesn’t show it.

So the job is done - the South corner can be ticked.

Fashion Note: Raymond was exclusively outfitted by Pierre Cardigan of Paris. All garments were carefully chosen from the exhilarating 2011 collection of stylish designer wear for the outdoor adventurer.