A Wonderful Cultural and Personal Growth Experience!

I decided to join the Mountaineering Club at Melb Uni so I could get more involved in hiking/climbing/ general outdoors things, and also meet likeminded people. Towards the end of the semester, I went on a hike in the Mornington Peninsula that was supposed to be about 14 miles. There were about 20 of us in the group walking. I went in thinking that it was going to be a pretty casual walk where we could take in the views and take pictures and whatnot. Boy was I wrong. Our group leader literally only let us stop once to eat! We ended up walking almost 17 miles on pretty hilly trails. It was quite the workout. We finished at Cape Schank where we were actually able to see the ocean, and not just Port Phillip Bay which was unbelievable. We were completely beat by the time we finished. Sore, tired, hungry. No one was fully prepared for it food wise either. On top all this, we had to carpool and do some car shifting to get the cars so we could get back to Melbourne. Me and a few other people ended up being the last people to get picked up; we literally felt like we were stranded in the middle of nowhere. It was pitch black and we were by a sort of creepy lighthouse. It was quite the experience. Definitely a wonderful and interesting way to experience a new place. All I can say is Mornington Peninsula is beautiful, but if you want to hike it, be prepared!