Leadership Through Adventure Fund
The Great Ocean Walk
In September 2025, a Patrol of five Venturer Scouts from Queensland embarked on an eight-day adventure along Australia’s iconic Great Ocean Road coastal hike. The expedition was made possible through the support of the Dick and Pip Smith Leadership Through Adventure Fund (LTAF), providing the Patrol with the opportunity to step well outside their comfort zones while undertaking a challenging interstate expedition.
Throughout the planning and delivery of the hike, the Patrol developed valuable leadership, teamwork, and expedition skills. They navigated unfamiliar environments, monitored weather forecasts, prepared for variable climate, and adapted to the challenges of a multi-day coastal trek. These experiences fostered resilience, confidence, and independence while strengthening their leadership abilities.
Patrol Leader Emily reflects on the expedition and shares her experiences below.
On 21st September 2025, I led a Patrol of five Venturer Scouts on the adventure of a lifetime – hiking along the Great Ocean Walk. I planned this hike as my award journey, for both my King Scout and Gold Duke of Edinburgh. We flew from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, to Melbourne where we spent the first night making final preparations for the hikeand completing final route and map checks.
We started the hike at 11am on Monday morning after driving three and a half hours out of Melbourne city to start the adventure. Excitement was through the roof getting to experience something new and exciting, even though we had driven through a mini hail storm to get there, which left the environment cold and windy.
On the first day we hiked 14 km. On the track we met a group of four older hikers who eagerly showed us koalas amongst the gum forest, scared a tiger snake off our path, and became our cheer squad. This section of the hike was through a gum forest, where we walked down a hill and saw our first glimpses of the coastline. It was a hilly section of the hike and extra caution was needed in the wet and muddy conditions, particularly on the steep inclines. Today we experienced three seasons in one day!
The second day started early after having breakfast together and packing up our camp. We set off by 8am. The walk was 11 km. We walked along the coast and got to see some more of the ocean which was pretty despite the overcast weather. The walk involved a water crossing that was an inlet from the ocean. One section had a deep hole and despite attempting to be safe one Venturer Scout fell in (she wasn’t hurt) and everyone got their feet wet, some more than others. We arrived at the campsite around lunchtime where taking off wet shoes was a relief despite the cold weather. The afternoon was relaxing with talking, tree climbing, koala spotting, and laughing. At around 5pm one of the Patrol members left early due to having migraines and feeling unable to continue the walk safely, so we all said our goodbyes and took the opportunity to tell our Leaders stories of our adventures so far.
The third day gave us the most AMAZING views. The sun was out, the wind was blowing and our vibes were lifted. This was our shortest day at 9.57km. We had plenty of stops to enjoy the view of the water and to experience how strong the winds were. The path was ever changing going between sand and dirt tracks, as well as boardwalk and steps – many, many, steps! Everyone agreed that day 3 was our favourite day because of the weather and views, with our Disney karaoke session while walking.
On our final day we were feeling really tired after a night of interrupted sleep due to strong winds and rain. Our hike plan was to walk the final 14 km to Johanna Beach, but after reaching our go/no go stop at Crystal Castle Lookout, I decided to end the walk early due to weather and unsafe water crossing conditions along the beach. We were all extremely disappointed in not being able complete the last 5km of the hike but ensuring we were safe was my priority. By the end we had successfully completed our four-day hike, walking a total of 46km in a wide variety of conditions, along different types of tracks, water crossings, and amazing views in on the of most iconic locations in Australia.
Our first stop after being picked up was a café, enjoying hot pies and hot chocolate after four days of hiking food. From here we drove to view the twelve Apostles, and then a short drive further to see London Bridge. Then it was a three-hour drive back to Melbourne. During our two-day stay in Melbourne after the hike, we explored the city during the day and night.
He had a chance to recap our highlights, reflect on our planning and menu choices, and we shared our stories of meeting other Scouts along the walk, meeting other people who were also hiking, the wildlife, and the Kowari Spy Birds. (When we arrived at our starting point the first thing our Leader Kowari showed us was a blue wren. We continued to see these along the way and Sam decided that they were spy birds that Kowari had sent to keep an eye on us!) Being responsible for planning and leading this walk has helped me as a Patrol Leader and an individual. To a walk that I had never experienced had only used a map to plan from helped me to understand that each of my planning is vital and I can rely my decisions to ensure we are all and can enjoy a walk. I grew in confidence, I developed my hiking grow plan and step on safe skills through targeted learning, and I became a more confident Leader of others, being able to teach new skills, encourage new adventures, and to keep people feeling inspired and confident.
Leading a Patrol of Venturer Scouts to fundraise and work as a team has been a lot of fun and we have a lasting friendship and adventure that we will always remember. Thanks to the Dick and Pip Smith Leadership Through Adventure Fund we were able to fly out of our home state and experience a hike that would otherwise be unachievable for us.
We thank our Leaders who supported us along every step of the way, our families for trusting us to take on this adventure unaccompanied, and each other for being supportive risk takers, and adventurous buddies. And to my adventure Patrol – thank you for trusting me and joining me on this incredible journey.
Article by Emily
Patrol Leader/ Venturer Scout, Scouts Queensland)
More photos from the expedition
Looking at embarking an adventure of your own?
Dick & Pip Smith Leadership Through Adventure Fund (LTAF) was launched in July 2022 by Dick Smith to provide grants to youth members or project patrols to undertake activity skills and leadership training, adventurous journeys and expeditions.
If you are planning your adventure for next year and you would like to find out more how LTAF can assist financially to the adventure, click the button below for more information on how LTAF can support your next adventurous journey.
