Return to Wonnangatta-Moroka

Wonnangatta area, 1992

Around 20 years ago, in the early 90s, I did a walk with some friends across the Crosscut Saw to Mount Speculation and back again. One of the strongest memories I have from that time is the view across the Terrible Hollow to the Razor and the Viking - such striking peaks in an area of true wilderness. I remember thinking at the time how I’d like to return to the Wonnangatta area and do another walk that would take me to those peaks.

Well, life intervened. I moved to Europe about a year after that wonderful walk and stayed there for most of the following 11 years, finally returning to Victoria in 2005. By this time, the memories of the Wonnangatta area had taken on an almost mystical aura - one of a handful of times I’d really felt completely removed from the traces of humankind’s impact on the landscape. I hadn’t given up on the idea of walking in that area again, but also hadn’t investigated it any further.

Towards the end of 2012, I was able to organise some extended time off and had decided that I really wanted to get back into doing some overnight walks again - the previous one I’d done had been a brief foray into the mountains of Snowdonia in Wales in 2007. I decided I should return to my beloved Wilsons Promontory, tackle the Great Ocean Walk and parts of the Great South West Walk … and do a walk somewhere in the Victorian high country. It was then I remembered the Crosscut Saw and eagerly began looking into walks in that area. I stumbled on a couple of web pages that described the “Viking Circuit” and was reminded of that imposing peak. Eventually, I found John Chapman’s book “Bushwalking in Australia” and discovered that a similar walk was described therein. Excitedly, I began my preparation.

The walk I planned to do followed the same route I’d walked all those years ago, starting at the Howitt Plains car park after a lengthy drive on rather rough roads and walking in to the pleasant camping area of Macallister Springs. From there, the trail is followed towards the Crosscut Saw, firstly branching off to scale the summit of Mount Howitt. Then across the Crosscut Saw and Mount Buggery to Mount Speculation. That was as far as I’d been before, but this time I planned to continue eastward to the top of Mount Despair, then traverse across behind the Razor, ascend the Viking, then continue down its southeastern spur to the Wonnangatta River, before climbing back up to Howitt Plains to finish after four days.

Chapman rates the walk as “hard”, for good reason. Getting to Mount Speculation is a physically challenging task but the track is clear and there is a good water source at Macallister Springs. Beyond Mount Speculation, things change. The track becomes much harder to follow, water sources are no longer so reliable, and significant parts of the walk have been affected by very vigorous regrowth following bushfires over the past few years - making progress and navigation much more difficult. For good measure, I was planning to do the walk solo, which tends to magnify any of the difficulties mentioned.

So, it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I set out in mid-December to take on the might of the Wonnangatta-Moroka wilderness area by myself. I didn’t wish to leave anything to chance so was well equipped, including having invested in a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) in case of emergency. I had 1:30000 topographic maps of the area and, of course, a compass. But I also had digital maps and a GPS on my smartphone, along with some spare batteries so that I could always work out exactly where I was, even if visibility was greatly reduced. I invested in an ultralight tent, a new 45 litre pack and some thermals for the (potentially) cold nights. And so I set off from my home in southeast Melbourne at the start of a lovely, sunny afternoon.

Howitt Plains car park

The drive to Licola was uneventful and was followed by about 90 minutes driving on roads that were passable with a 2WD car, but certainly more suited to a 4WD. Some of the drop-offs along the way were giddyingly high and left a knot in my stomach after many years based on the coast and away from the mountains. I arrived at the car park at Howitt Plains and set off to walk the short distance to Macallister Springs for the first night ......