Gold Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey

For the Gold Duke of Edinburgh adventurous journey this year we originally had two trips planned, one to the Larapinta Trail in the Northern Territory and the other locally in New South Wales. Unfortunately; due to Covid-19, the interstate trip was cancelled and the practice journey occurred locally in the Royal National Park from the 13th to 15th of December this year.

The hike itself featured 3 days of hiking totalling 40km throughout the Royal National Park, covering rainforest, bush and coastline. The weather forecast; was in a word undesirable, with heavy rain and thunderstorms predicted for each of the 3 days. However, it thankfully held off for the most part, with rain only appearing on the 3rd day in the form of an overnight drizzle.

On the first day of our hike, we intended to catch a train from Central to Heathcote. However; due to track work, we were forced onto a replacement bus with our heavy rucksacks. Luckily the transport officials set us up with our own bus! Upon arriving at Heathcote, we had a chance for a quick toilet break where two of our hikers Carlo and Luca bought fishing rods from a junk store which never got to be used. We then set off on the Karloo Pools bush track and had a swim and game of water polo at the bush pool. We then continued onto Uloola Falls for lunch and followed a fire trail to Waterfall station and a nearby campsite where we camped overnight. Marshmallows, raw meat and sausages were cooked on the fire and we had warm showers making it a great night.

The next day we set off at 9:45 am in true lazy teenager fashion, rushed up a massive hill to Waterfall station, and caught our 10:16 am train to Otford where the coastal track to Bundeena started. Despite the days hike to our campsite at North Era only being 8km, we took our time with large rests and many demanding hills. To further add to the challenge, there was no drinkable water along the trail and so we had to carry two days worth of drinking and cooking water with us. The combination of heavy bags and difficult slopes unfortunately resulted in our teacher and a student breakdancing too hard down hill obtaining twisted ankles. We had to slow down for a bit and stopped where the cicadas were incredibly loud as we waited for everyone to meet up and adjust plans. With the groups rearranged, we all set off. After finally reaching the campsite, we went for a swim at the beach and made a group fire with minimal wood, had “lit” rap collabs about hiking and calculus, and held a ritual around the fire with a deer skull. Pro tip for everyone, bring a clip to block your nose if you ever end up using the toilets at North Era campsite and don’t look down the hole. Also did you know it was a student named Yash’s birthday that day?

The last day of our hike was by far the hardest with 18km to Bundeena and many challenging hills. We set off early at 8 am with the goal of making the 3pm ferry at Bundeena back to Cronulla. The day started off with a massive hill which led to Garie Beach at the other side of the headland where we took our first break of the day. We pushed on to Watamolla where we stopped for lunch and the rain subsided. After lunch we pulled together, admired the spectacular scenery and raced up hills in hopes of making the ferry. We eventually made it to the end of the trail at 2:40 with 20 minutes to walk to the ferry which we made with a few minutes to spare.

Despite tragedies such as Ms Jenkyn’s sprained ankle, Meg kindly regurgitating food for the bushes and some epic sunburns, moments such as the swim at North Era, the sunset on the second night and the group campfires made up for it all. Overall this trip was heaps of fun and all thirty of us are excited to complete our qualifying hike later next year.

Jack Coleman, Alex Kilham, Karen Luo – Year 11 Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Leaders