A 3 Day Snippet of The Great South West Walk on Gunditjmara Country

Traditionally a 250km hike, Emily instead got a taster of the Great South West Walk on her 3-day, 50km solo hike along the trail – just enough to leave her wanting to come back for more.

We acknowledge that this adventure is located on the traditional Country of the Gunditjmara people who have occupied and cared for the lands, waters, and their inhabitants for thousands of years. We pay our respects to them as the Traditional Custodians and recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.

Highlights

• Walk one of the most beautiful sections of the Great South West Walk following the Glenelg River
• Blissful riverside campsites, quiet yet simultaneously full of life
• Accessible from both Melbourne and Adelaide

Arriving at Lower Glenelg National Park felt like I’d travelled to an incredible hidden secret. I began in the quaint and quiet village of Nelson, in the far south west corner of Victoria and just a step across the border from South Australia’s Coonawarra wine region. They say it’s best to hike the Great South West Walk clockwise, the entirety of which is about 250km and would take about 14 days to complete.

With a more limited timeframe, I followed the Glenelg River over three days, covering about 50km. Perfect for a long weekend away, this three-day adventure allowed me to soak up the richness and diversity this land has to offer; I’m talking leeches, green lands regrowing after fires, limestone cliffs, wildlife, and birds for company. Riverside campsites each night with room for warming fires and morning coffee on old wooden jetties were just some of the highlights.

Day 1 – Nelson to Pattersons Hike-in Campsite

Distance: 20km
Elevation gained: 215m
Duration: 4-6 hours walking depending on fitness level

This wasn’t a difficult hike, but there could be some difficulty in hiking 20km with a backpack full of gear (read: cheese). The track is undulating, with no steep hill climbs or scrambling. This was the hardest day hiking, with rewarding views of the twisting river and inland tracks speckled with colour. I hiked the track in autumn, the ground was wet, with summer’s remnants of drying flora, so the colours surrounding were mixtures of browns and greens, damp, dry and often glistening in the sometimes-sun.

Hiking into Pattersons Camp, I’d been gifted with a place to pitch a tent, start to fire, sit by the water, a place to toilet, and a small shelter with some walk information. I set up camp by the fireplace, whilst looking out at the water. Can you imagine anything better after hiking 20km with a backpack? I jotted down some ‘track notes’ that were more poetic-thought half sentences. First day in the bush with no reception and a heavy backpack does wonders for the brain.

20km and I made it to camp. I raced myself, or I raced my thoughts. Trying to go faster than them, trying to quieten them down. Despite them being nowhere thoughts, halfway thoughts, thoughts that don’t quite go anywhere. They were loud. Then I raced my flattening watch battery.

I walked 20km alongside the twisting river. I awe-d out loud at the first sight of limestone cliff banks by the water’s edge. They carried the river all day and the river, she carried me, as I stumbled on her smaller limestone pebbles.

There’s irony in the land, in the burnt country and the growth as it compliments, in a way, what the hell I’m doing with my life, there could be more words on this, but I just kept walking.

This day was many things and I liked it.

Day 2 – Pattersons to Battersbys Hike-in Campsite

Distance: 13.4km
Elevation gained: 120m
Duration: 3-4 hours

Day two was a much shorter walk, with more forest walking, ferns, and tall trees. I skipped breakfast at camp and hiked on to a jetty by the water to enjoy a peaceful breakfast with a touch of pelican spotting.

Read more: Remember to leave no trace!

Hiking on, I arrived at Battersbys Camp which was pleasantly green and large, enabling some distance between drive-in campers. There was a quiet jetty surrounded by tall reeds giving privacy from the campsites, an ideal spot to enjoy a cuppa and a book by the river. As it was a shorter day, I was able to sit and write some ‘track notes’ as I continued my journey upstream, but also within.

I make a new home with a new space everyday, and with myself I make a new home everyday too. And always in the beginning it feels new, to explore, to wander in, and by the end it feels familiar and warm. Maybe that’s why afternoon light always feels as if it fills the heart. 

I wish I had some chocolate left over. I’ll wake, I’ve decided, each day and walk until I find somewhere nice for coffee and oats by the water, on a landing, having landed myself by that time of day.

Day 3 – Battersbys to Moleside Campsite

Distance: 20.5km
Elevation gained: 315m
Duration: 4-6 hours

Day three gave some sun showers, and the ground was so soft beneath my feet. The leftover rainwater sitting on ferns and tree leaves rained down on me, a morning rinse as the early sun poured through the forest and I started to see the world glistening.

Although it wasn’t the only mizzling of the day. Magic often happens when there’s an animal showering its shit on you and maybe I can expand on this another day. But on this day, the possum and I crossed paths at just the right time and I couldn’t find a life-learning metaphor for this, so I just laughed.

Later, I came across half a dozen hairy looking men, about 70 years old, who’d been mowing, slashing, and carving the path. They were volunteers, and some of them the founders of the Great South West Walk. They sat with their sandwiches and enjoyed their cuppa from a thermos and delighted in seeing a hiker enjoying what they’d helped create. The path I’d been following for two and a half days now had been a mixture of single track, clifftop riverside and pebbly track, old fire-track, and now freshly mowed grassy track.

Along the trail I passed other campsites, one of which a healthy fat fox trotted in, it was late morning and he was not afraid to get a closer look at this hiker with food on their back. Unsure how confident he was, or if he could sniff out my quickly fading confidence, I backed away, stick in hand, talking politely to him.

Day three’s hike to Moleside was undulating and relatively long (although, with a lighter pack), and I was thankful to find camp peaceful and again, by the riverside. The special thing about these camps, is that often they seem to be hike in only, meaning car engines and caravans are rarely in view, and the further upstream, the fewer the dull hums of boats and the clearer the bird sounds.

Moleside Campsite was elevated and gave luscious space between bush and river, with open spaces for wallabies to come in and eat at dusk – of which there were many. I sat down in mist, with the vestibule of the tent open but my body tucked inside, boiled water for a dehydrated meal and wrote some track notes for the day. Three days in the bush with no reception and all you need on your back seems to elicit great reflections.

I like touching the surface of things, and I’m good at it. Touching the surface of snow, of flat water, of new hobbies, of relating with people. Delving in I do sometimes too, but never hang around in there for too long. I’m trying to change this. I did a freediving course to try to sit at the bottom of depth for a little longer.

How To Get There

I left from Adelaide, straight to Nelson by car. It’s about a five hour drive from both Adelaide and Melbourne.

I stayed at the Kywong Caravan Park who were hospitable and allowed me to leave my car there while I was out exploring. This campground is walking distance from to the riverside and Great South West Track.

You can organise a pick up through some locals or follow my path and contact Chris at Nelson Canoe Hire to meet you at Moleside with a kayak and dry bags allowing you to paddle back down the river over another three days.

Essential Gear

• Backpack
• First aid kit
• Sleeping gear; tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag, head torch
• Toilet paper! (Read More: How to poo in the bush)
• Water purifiers
• Hiking stove
• Water bottles – I took 3 – can’t always rely that there’ll be water tanks especially in summer
• PLB – no reception out there and you want this for snake season
• Waterproof gear
• Salt, for the leeches 😉

Skill Level

Intermediate

Some hiking experience with packs will be beneficial however not crucial. Knowledge of safety risks with snakes is crucial though.

Distance / Duration

Approximately 50km / 3 days

You can create a longer multi day adventure here by kayaking back down the Glenelg River over 3 days.