French Island overnight hike

If you are looking to do your first overnight bushwalking trip then this one is for you. We will be captilising on the free PTV on offer and heading over to French Island for a (hopefully) scenic and chill weekender. If you are someone who has done day hiking before and wants to get into overnight hiking then this one is a perfect opportunity to check it all out! French Island is famous for its koala's too so if you want to see one of those then this is also a good opportunity! Participants will be carrying all their overnight gear with them in a backpack. This includes sleeping and cooking systems.

The trip itinerary will be as follows: (please note if everyone wants to start a little later that is up for discussion, but it does meant waiting around at Stony Point for longer)

May 23

7:15am: Meet at Southern Cross to catch the 7:21 train out to Frankston

8:15: Get on the train out to Stony Point

10:00: Board Ferry to French Island

approx 10:15: arrive at French Island. It is about a 5km walk to the campsite from here. We can then set up camp and maybe do a little day walk if people want to. Maybe go for a little swim if the weather is ok (or you like cold-plunging).

May 24

10:00am: be ready to walk. We will be walking the French Island wetlands walk (approx 9.5km). We can maybe stop at the general store for a cheeky little treat if we have time.

3:35pm: Get the ferry back to Stony Point.

4:05pm: Train from Stony point back into the city.

You can see these times are generous and allow for lots of time to get places. This is because it is a beginner trip, so I am anticipating some level of faffery. Depending on everyone who signs up I am more than happy to discuss various starting times. 

Predicted costs: Whilst the trains are free, the ferry is not and must be pre-booked. The expected round trip cost of the ferry is $20.30 for students and $33.00 for adults. The campsite cost is free! but must also be pre-booked. All bookings will happen at the Tuesday night meeting. If you cannot make the trip, but have already booked, MUMC will not be responsible for refunding you. Also because this trip does not use cars, it comes under the 'human powered trip' scheme, which means you can get some money back for a baked good or some of your transport costs. There is a document on the website that explains this 

In terms of gear hire, the club has a lot of essential gear that can be hired out including tents, sleeping bags and cooking equipment. All participants wishing to hire out gear must have a $50 CASH deposit. No deposit = no gear hire. Actual gear price costs are relatively low. 

here is the Alltrails link for the entire French Island loop: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/australia/victoria/french-island

Overall approx distance: 17km with 138m elevation gain