Random Strangers

This week, I thought I'd talk about something that happened last week on a hike I was leading. It was in the Royal National Park. For those of you who don't know it, it's an amazing national park just south of Sydney, featuring rugged sandstone cliffs, secluded beaches and home to the famous figure 8 pools and the infamous wedding cake.
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Our hike was with 27 kids heading North from Otford on the amazing coastal track. It was a hot afternoon and the 10km took us approximately 3 hours to cover. The cool coastal breeze hitting us as we reached the summit of the headland between North Era and Garie Beach was a welcome relief.

Garie Beach, NSW

​In at Garie beach, we'd just unpacked the trailer when I was approached by a girl in her late teens. She said to me "Hi. Sorry, ummm... I've got three questions", "Sure what's up?" I replied.
"Where's the coastal track continue?" she asked
"Just at the end of the beach here."
"Ok... Question 2, does anyone know first aid?"
"Sure! What's up?"
"My friend's rolled her ankle. Could you take a look?"
"Sure no worries. I can take a look."
I had a look and she had a sprained ankle, so I strapped it and so that was question 2 sorted!
Then for question 3!
"Where's the nearest public transport?"
Oh dear... I thought... I asked a few questions about where they'd come from and what their plans were. They'd come from Sydney via Bundeena and walked about 22km of the track, aiming to cover the whole 32km in a single day. An ambitious goal for the fittest of hikers. They were obviously tired, injured, no head torches, low on food and completely out of water... So my risk management brain started to go into overdrive, trying to do the sums of how many hours the rest of the trip would take under normal conditions, then estimating the addtional time with an injury, then add in no torches. It was late afternoon and no chance of water resupply along the way. This was not a pretty picture!

​I quickly ran through a few scenarios in my head and didn't like any of them that involved the girls continuing, so after a quick chat with the other instructors, we put the offer to the girls to transport them to Waterfall station, which wasn't too far away! To everyone's relief they accepted our offer and we dropped them off at the station. 
So the question becomes what to do when you come across others in a similar situation? You've still got to consider your group as the number 1 priority. If they're all ok and supervised, then I think there's a moral obligation to help, especially if you perceive that the third party could be at risk of harm if they were to continue on. After all, the experience you have as an educator and leader can mean that you see things which others don't. It can be a complicated problem, which must be considered each time you run into someone and the circumstances surrounding your meeting them (and yes this group wasn't the first I've come across, but more about that later). At the end of the day, protect your group, but also give freely of your skills and experience to prevent harm coming to those who might not have been as well prepared as you.

Part Of The Amazing Coast Track