THE KOKODA TRACK IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA – DAY FOUR - SATURDAY 27 MAY 2023

VILLAGES: Naduru (Nadunumu), Kagi (View Only), Efogi 1 (Launumu)

SITES: None

DISTANCE: 14.1km

UPS & DOWNS: 658m + 1332m = 1990m

ELEVATION GAIN: 2005m to 1378m

TREKKING TIME: 5hrs 10min

ELAPSED TIME: 7hrs 45min

AVERAGE SPEED: 2.7km/h

 

Sam, Nick and I were woken up at 5:45am instead of 4:30am - our leader had forgotten to wake us up - no matter because outside we were greeted by a cloudless blue sky - bliss first time on the trek. The overnight temperature had fallen to close to 10C. This is because we camped at the rim of Mount Bellamy, which is 2005 metres above sea level. Our trek today was heaps easier than yesterday. We started with quite an uphill climb for 30 minutes to reach the summit of Mount Bellamy at 2249 metres – the highest point in all the Kokoda Track. It really isn't a single summit but a ridge with trees and heavy vegetation. Then it was easy going. Ridge line trekking. Along the way I took some Mini drone shots given the sunshine through the trees and the fact that we weren't rushed today. I used the rest breaks to race ahead with my fill-in porter Newton to find a good position to let the drone up and film the rest of the party as they came by afterwards - this way I did not affect our timetable. I timed it well because close to noon the clouds rolled in. My porter was the leader Ezra but he and Gibson and two others left us to trek ahead to Manari where they would attend church and not walk during the Seventh Day Adventist Sabbath or Saturday. Everyone on the Kokoda Track is Seventh Day Adventist. No booze is allowed along the track or in any village and there a re signs coming into and out of each village that remind you of this fact !!! Newton was my age but looked like he was 65 – people here do not look their age given the harsh conditions and even harsher work they do to earn a living. Newton was a humble gentle soul who was working as a porter to put his son through college with four other young kids in school !!! How does he do it. I had great respect for him. To top it off – Newton has no Identification Papers whatsoever – he literally does not exist – not in PNG and not on Planet Earth – amazing. We had lunch in Naduru. Opposite Naduro you could see Kagi village and both were nestled on their own hills covered in dense vegetation with cloud skimming the mountaintops. Lunch usually comprised noodles, tuna or spam, processed cheese and very thin pita bread. Today our cooks had rolled up all of these ingredients in the pita bread and pan fried them to create something that resembled a large spring roll - it was delicious !!! There were three separate porters carrying only food and cooking utensils. As we munched on these delicious “spring rolls” the rain came pouring down !!! We waited until the rain eased and then set off on the final leg of today's trek. Even though it was a short 2.5 kilometre segment it took one and a half hours because it had the steepest descent down to Efoge River and the steepest accent up to the village of Efogi 1 or Launumu where our campsite was located. During the ascent you literally climb up a waterfall !!! Once again we were greeted by several villagers including lots of children - quite a fantastic way to finish a long hard trek. Shortly after settling down and washing up it started to rain again - fantastic timing !!! Dinner was local fare sweet potato mash with more spam in it. We were reunited with Ezra and Gibson and enjoyed two more choir songs before bed.

THE KOKODA TRACK IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA – DAY THREE - FRIDAY 26 MAY 2023

VILLAGES: None

SITES: Eora Creek Crossings 3, 2 and 1 (Templeton's Crossing)

DISTANCE: 13.8km

UPS & DOWNS: 1310m + 779m = 2089m

ELEVATION CHANGE: 1410m to 2005m

TREKKING TIME: 6hrs 15min

ELAPSED TIME: 9hrs 30min

AVERAGE SPEED: 2.2km/h

 

Another great night's sleep was interrupted by another 4:30am rise but this time no rain today. Today was D-Day or should I say M-Day for Mud Day !!! Today would see us hike the most amount of ascends (ups). We set off at 6:30am and headed straight for the Eora river under a very steep descent lasting one kilometre. The river here has a rapid flow and deep, so you need to take your shoes off to cross it. From here there was a very steep rise and nothing but mud, tree roots and the odd boulder to climb. The track then levels off and then descends down again towards Eora river crossing number two. Here there is a bridge to cross the river. The good news up until this point was no rain. The bad news was that there was even more mud due to last night’s fall. The trek from river crossing two to river crossing three was like groundhog day - more steep uphills and steep dives down to the river and once again even more mud. By this time we realised that if you like mud then you will love the Kokoda track. We also realised just how much - mud can slow you down. By this time, everyone had given up on clean boots and dry socks !!! Everything was covered in mud !!! Eora crossing three was a site for sore eyes - a wonderful flowing river with huts and green lawns perfect for our lunch stop. None of us wasted any time cleaning shoes, socks and clothes - some of us simply walking into the river to wash. We were close to the end leaving here and saw another long and hard rise once again full of mud. Just how did these soldiers cope especially with heavy rifles. We were dreaming of a shower and hot dinner and the soldiers were dreaming about getting home alive !!! Eora Crossing 3 is also known as Templeton's crossing, a soldier who took a stand here and caused the Japanese to stop advancing. It started to rain after we left Templeton's crossing but the target was closer - another short steep rise with more mud. One final descent and we were glad to see the manicured area of the campsite underneath Mount Bellamy. The creek water here came out of a pipe but was freezing cold. Short-term pain for luxurious gain of feeling clean and sleeping well. This time the Porters lit us a fire in a separate small hut where we could dry our boots and clothes - perfect !!! Dinner was macaroni and tiny specs of beef mince. Even though it was had to find the beef we all enjoyed it given how much mud we ate today !!! After dinner we relaxed by the fire and heard the strangest sound so far - a local cricket that sounded like my drone Ava buzzing away backward and forward. Given how hard today was we all looked forward to going to sleep more than a little kid looks forward to going to bed on Christmas Eve in order to wake up on Christmas Day and open up all those presents…

THE KOKODA TRACK IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA – DAY TWO - THURSDAY 25 MAY 2023

VILLAGES: Isurava, Aloli, Abuari (View Only)

SITES: Isurava Battle Field, Callis (Surgeons) Rock, Aloli War Museum

DISTANCE: 11.3km

UPS & DOWNS: 986m + 465m = 1451m

ELEVATION CHANGE: 817m to 1410m

TREKKING TIME: 4hrs 32min

ELAPSED TIME: 9hrs

AVERAGE SPEED: 2.5km/h

 

What a great first night's sleep – deep, comfortable and warm except for Nick's snoring that soon replaced the sounds of crickets all around us. It was still dark when our trekking leader Ezra came around to wake us up at 4:30am. We all packed away our gear and met for breakfast at 5:30am. Our porters take care of everything including setting up and packing up our tents. Their packs weigh 15kg and we have a day pack with snacks, water and simple gifts for local children that weigh 3-6kg. It was very overcast and misty when we set off at 6:30am. The five kilometres to Isurava village involved constant ups and downs with lots of mud, rocks and roots since it had been raining the night before and this slows you down immensely. The residents of Isurava village had set up a stall and we feasted on the bananas and soft drinks it is here that I became the first injury statistic having walked through a barbed wire fence in my efforts to get to a hill to take a photo of the village. Our dedicated trekking medic quickly took care of me and patched up my leg but it wasn't deep and there was no pain - just a bit of blood. Isurava memorial was just another two kilometres away but it took us the better part of two hours to get there because it started to rain. Isurava memorial is extremely important and probably the most important site on the Kokoda track as it is the location of a four-day battle where the Australians desperately tried to hold off the Japanese advancing from Kokoda. Many Australians lost their lives here and there is a memorial with four pillars to commemorate the fallen and each pillar embodies the spirit of Kokoda being: mateship, endurance, courage and sacrifice. It is here that Private Bruce Kingsby bravely fought off Japanese on his own holding a Bren Mark II machine gun and cut a passage through the Japanese front line to save his battalion but sadly he was shot by a sniper as he made his way back for more ammunition. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery. Lucky for me, I was the first to the memorial and snapped up some footage before the rain came pouring down and settled in. We decided to bring lunch forward so that the rain could  pass and at around 2pm the rain lightened enough that we made our way back to the memorial and hour historian Gibson led a commemoration where Nick read a poem and Jacob read the Anzac Oath. The 90 minute walk to the village of a Aloli was slow and slippery due to the enormous amounts of mud and I thought - how on earth did the soldiers endure all of this with 28kg packs on their backs and many of them injured or sick !!! On the way we passed a place called Callis Rock (also known as Surgeons Rock) where the wounded Australian troops were treated on top of a large flat boulder. Next to this is a memorial to a soldier who sadly died on the operating table (rock). We were relieved to finally see the children of Alola who welcomed us and it was not long until we were showering and drying clothes by the fire. The weather lifted so I flew my crazy drone Ava over the village and into the valley. All the children of the village gathered around to see Ava. When Ava returned she had a little bit of battery left, so I put the goggles on all the kids and raced around with Ava in my hand to give them a sense of the flight experience and they simply laughed and shrieked with delight !!! Imagine that - a little village on the Kokoda Trail and the children there experience a drone for the very first time. Alola was the place where the Australians set up headquarters for the Isurava campaign. We visited a small but very effective museum in the town containing actual munitions found by the locals including rifles, mortars, shells and even Japanese helmets. The prize find was the Bren Machine gun used by Private Kingsbury. Dinner was rice and chicken curry with peas, which was excellent - washed down by loads of hot tea. After two more moving church hymns by our porters we settle down to sleep since we would be waking at 4:30am again and facing the steepest ascent of our journey towards the rim of Mount Bellamy.