Bushwalk Australia

Hi - I'll be hiking the Great Dividing Trail this Easter - specifically the Lerderderg, Dry Diggings, and Leanganook sections (northbound).

I'm totally unfamiliar with the area, but I've got a few maps and GPXs of the tracks from the great dividing trail association - and they are in the all alltrails app too - so actually finding my way shouldnt be a problem. I am however, having a lot of trouble finding any good information about drinking water - and really dont want to be carrying days worth at a time.

Can anyone tell me what the water situation on these tracks is - and ideally point me at a resource that lists possible sources ?

Thanks.

..I'll reply to my own post, 'cause now I know ... it was a great walk - took me 7 days. As I feared - water was a challenge - although contrary to expectations, only the Lerderderg section was a problem. I got pretty dehydrated in that section - and it would have been worse, if not for a lucky accident - I missed a turn, and discovered a lovely campsite and water source at Margarets corner.

Dry diggings and Leanganook were not so much of a problem, for probably 3 reasons - 1. There was a significant weather event on the 3rd night - 45mm of rain in 8 hours - cooled things down a lot, and meant the creeks were running - even tho I didnt actually need to dip into them, because 2. The touristy mineral springs, and 3. The trail follows a couple of aquaducts into Castlemaine and especially Bendigo. Also, aside from Mt Alexander and Dog rocks, the Leanganook section is pretty easy / fast compared to the others.

..so in the dry and heat, I really needed to be better at finding water or carrying 6+ liters for the Lerderderg section (I was carrying less than 4), and for the other two sections, 3 or 4 liters would have been plenty. (of course, I carried 6+ for these).

Aside from the water, how did you like the track?

Any particular sections you'd recommend/avoid?

Yeah on the whole - loved it.

I really hated the afternoon around Mt Alexander / dog rocks - but I think most people love that section - and maybe on a different day I would have as well. It was hard for me - steep, slippery and the trail was washed out and *very* hard to follow - I constantly got off trail, and with dusk encroaching, I was just having a bad time.

The bit immediately following that - the last day heading into Bendigo was my favorite. Easy walking by the aquaduct - clocked up some big kms and got home early !