Hiking in the northern part of Wilson’s Prom, an area of Victoria that I absolutely love. Unfortunately I lost my bearings and found myself in dense scrubland, unable to get back to the route. The scrub was at head height in some areas and after pushing through for hours, attempting to follow the direction my map and compass told me I needed to go, I realised there was no way I was getting there. The terrain was brutal, and I was well and truly lost. Out of water, dizzy, badly bitten and scratched all over, I called it in. The police SAR team were great, and within an hour I heard the helicopter. Because of the landscape it took them another hour to locate me, and I was glad then that I called when I did – if I hadn’t been alert enough to signal as well I don’t know if I would’ve gotten out. They had to winch me up to the chopper. Even though I now realise that the list of things I did wrong is much longer, there’s at least one thing I did right and that was make sure I had the PLB – it’s given me the chance to learn and do it better the second time.