Ben, Billy and Chris are attempting to walk from Melbourne to Sydney living traditionally as Yuin men. hunting and gathering as they go and have titled their mission the “Yuin Initiation Coastal Walk”.

In 2014, Mr Stainer conducted his first epic coastal walk from his home at Bodalla to the southern suburbs of Sydney, living off the land, losing 13kg along the way and making it in 10 days.

Click here to check out Ben’s previous walk from Bodalla to Sydney

This time, the trio started their walk in downtown Melbourne on September 27 paddling down the Yarra River in a three-man canoe.

Once out in Port Phillip Bay, they came ashore and handed the canoe back to Ben’s wife Linda before continuing on foot around the bay.

This initial section toward Phillip Island proved very tough as they were essentially traversing an urban area with not much naturally occurring food in the water or on the shore.

Nevertheless, by the end of the week, they made it all the way around from Phillip Island round past San Remo where they were able to harvest some black-lipped mussels.

The recent wet weather and realisation of the massive river mouths and estuaries in the area around Wilsons Promontory, Ben decided to rethink the route and get his wife Linda to come back down and transport them around to Lakes Entrance.

Mr Stainer is documenting the journey along the way on his Facebook page entitled 'Yuin Initiation Coastal Walk’ and this was the last entry before the decision to bypass the rugged section.

“Very full on day today, walked about 30km Chris and Billy ran a extra 2km trying to chase down a roo to eat with no luck. Due to the lack of food due to weather conditions and stormy seas we have decided to accept non traditional food but will endeavour to hunt as much as possible. As we travel up the coast we will be calling into Aboriginal communities to get a feed but some communities don't have access to traditional food. Myself and the boys are travelling well considering the conditions. Thanks for your support.”

On Monday, October 2, the trio swam across the river mouth at Lake Tyers but were not able to get to the local Aboriginal community to talk about the initiation walk and possibly get a feed as initially hoped.

They will now start their long walk along the wilderness coast of East Gippsland, which Ben said was much more suited to a coastal walk and living off the land. Asked how long the rest of the walk would take, Ben was unsure, only saying it could take weeks and depended on how the young fellas held up.

When they get to the Mallacoota area, they plan to catch up with award winning Aboriginal author Bruce Pascoe, who lives at Gipsy Point, and to get some lessons on living off the land.

The trio also hope to catch up with the local indigenous communities at Eden and then Wallaga Lake and Bermagui, before catching up with indigenous fishing rights activist Wally Stewart at Bingie.

Ben is keen to make back to at least the Wandandian area south of Nowra, his ancestral homeland where his Aboriginal ancestors lived and hunted.

He's been keeping a detailed diary as they travel and here are the entries so far:

September 26: Said goodbye to Billy's girl drove from Bodalla to Portsea. Calculated the first week of walking through mangroves, started to feel sick and nervous. Will drive to Melbourne in the morning to launch canoe. Weighed in tonight after pig out Indian 103.2 Ben, Chris 65.6, Billy 93.8.

September 27: Left CBD Melbourne early morning with a small smoking ceremony on a canoe down Yarra to Port Phillip bay. Said hello to ferry operator paddled past the devil Geelong Star, moved on past the port authority, container ships and random fishos. Pulled into St Kilda pier to drink and collect figs off a Morton Bay fig that Billy fell out off in his haste to collect a beautiful fig at a far and high branch.

September 28:  Just walked today Collected urban bush tucker today ate lilli pilly fruit and kangaroo paw. No fish as the water near the city is bare.  Heading to Phillip Island tomorrow. Looking forward to getting away from the city and back to the peace of the bush. 

September 29: Early morning rise after wet night, We had one rolled ankle yesterday that found us setting up camp early arvo but a good night’s rest sorted it. Young bones heal fast. Walked from Frankston to Stony Point ferry about 30km. We meet Tom a nice local fella who pulled us up and asked what we are about, wanted a photo of us. Chris scored some urban citrus we also spotted and ate native cherry. Boys slept in the sun while waiting for the ferry. Arrived late at Phillip Island and set up camp on some sand dunes. 

September 30: Walked from Phillip Island to a couple km past San Remo. Awesome spot with black lipped mussels. First fire as no rain and away from urban sprawl. Walked through lush farmland and called into the Vietnam museum interesting to see two opinions of this war as Billy and I visited the war museum in Vietnam early in the year. Relaxing by the fire eating our mussels watching the sun set. Detoxing from drugs like coffee, alcohol, processed sugar and food. 

Feeling for the boys as they are not conditioned to go without food and it's showing. For the safety we decided to get a lift around the water crossing from Inverloch to Lakes Entrance as the boys are not great swimmers and this section I felt would go beyond our limits. I felt this before I started the walk with worry in my guts to the point of vomiting as I knew the commitment and pain it would take to cross these sand spits. Morale lifts every time we find food 

Arrived at Stony Point Ferry talked to old Jack about his sailing days at Phillip Island. A young foreigner and his girlfriend offered us water and wanted to know of any good walking tracks. 

October 1: Walked toward the town of Wonthaggi, police cars patrolling camped in park but the town had a bad vibe, Billy and Chris tried to ambush a roo for dinner as we spent the day walking along the coast track with green pastures and wind turbines. At the end of the day, we passed a old mine tunnel and shed.