Duke of Edinburgh Gold Hike

From the 19th to 22nd of August, Gold Duke of Edinburgh participants from Year 11 & 12 went for a hiking trip around the Bouddi National Park and Brisbane Waters area as part of their Qualifying Hike for the Adventurous Journey. It required us to spend four days and three nights, and spend a minimum of 32 hours of purposeful effort toward accomplishing the journey. The route along the coast was over 65 km long, giving students beautiful scenic views throughout the hike.

One the first day we arrived at Wondabyne train station at 9 am and set off for Patonga. The first day was the longest leg of the hike, with 20 km being covered in around 8 hours. At Patonga, we set up our tents in a caravan park connected to the beach. It was a charming location, and waking up early in the morning we saw the sun rise against the beach and started the next day of our taxing hike.

On the second day, we walked for 22 km along the coast from Pearl beach to Ocean beach. This proved to be more challenging as we were forced to tackle the slippery sand whilst walking lopsided for 4 hours. At Ettalong ferry wharf we stopped for lunch, and enjoyed the view of the coast and the saline smell of the breeze.

We arrived at Putty Beach at 4 pm and played frisbee before dinner. Meanwhile, Mr O’Neill flickered between joining us and building a campfire. To end the night, we joined Mr O’Neill at his campfire, roasting marshmallows that had been brought by a few students.

The third journey from Putty Beach campsite to our destination at Tallows Beach was 15 km long, involving climbing up and down a 180 metre mountain. When we arrived at Tallows Beach, we played another round of frisbee and almost lost the disc in the grappling waves of the ocean, while others built a sheltered area for the night’s campfire.

On the last day, we walked the final 13 km from Tallows beach to Woy Woy train station. This day’s hike was the easiest, although the final home stretch seemed to take forever as we trekked through a park.

The trip was overall a highly enjoyable experience, and we were aided by pleasant weather, using navigational skills, teamwork and motivational words of encouragement to complete our Adventurous Journey as a team. Wishing a special thanks to Mr O’Neill, Ms Thompson and Ms Fluitsma for taking the time out of their busy schedules to accompany us for this trip.

Written by Matthew Soegiono & Stephanie Banh