Wandered along Southbound from Bendigo over 8 days taking my time, enjoying short hiking days and clear weather with absolutely no one else on the track.
Great wildlife sightings, super quiet camping (well, there was no one around to play bad boy bogan and mess up the serenity), friendly trail towns, brilliant signage and simple train access at the Northern and Southern terminus'. Distinct lack of trash was a highlight and if you like mineral springs there are a few to sample on the walk. I stealth camped above Hepburn Springs in a sweet spot and watched the stars and endured the local dogs barking, bark bark bark!
Lederderg State Park is quite lovely, very lush and great singletrack. Definitely the highlight.
Water was a luxury and the lack of it kept things exciting enough. There are taps when necessary and the Lederderg River at the end. There were no gnarly road walks except for the last push into Bacchus Marsh where I jumped into a public toilet cubicle and slept the night, classy as right.
I was woken at 9pm when the security guy attempted to 'lock' the door except he didn't do a stirling job and I was free to escape and hop on the train to Melbourne next morning. Definitely recommended (the hike, not being a cheapskate and crashing the night in a dunny) and a great change from my local tracks here in Tasmania that are heaving with people and cameras and drones. Way too many rules and tourists.
Love these trails in Victoria, thank you to the volunteers who maintain them and dream them up and fight for their existence. You help make mine more meaningful.
Peace.
Blog post soon.
