May 2024: Despite being reasonably well prepared, Olga got lost in the Devil’s Hole and spent the night near the Water Board ladders before being rescued by SES (probably BSAR) the next day. This story has many useful lessons and interesting insights and is well worth listening to. The only thing she did wrong was to do a difficult walk, that she hadn’t done before, on her own. Even that might have been OK but it was in an area with poor phone reception (so Alltrails didn’t work). She took adequate equipment and told someone where she was going and when she expected to return, so she was rescued quickly. It still frightened her and the experience has made her more wary, but she is looking forward to being able to get back into the bush with a group. If you need to find a group, go with an experienced group that has insurance. You will find one in your area on the NSW Bushwalking Federation webpage www.bushwalkingnsw.org.au. Many bushwalking groups post their walks programme there and welcome new members if you ring the leader beforehand.
You can listen to Olga telling her story on the Rescued Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/020-olga-is-lost-and-found/id1681010405?i=1000758169398