Farewell Kokoda

We're still getting up early in the morning, although at least we don't have to worry about long hours on our legs anymore. Today we're getting an early start to travel by truck to Popondetta for our flight back to Port Moresby. Conditions permitting (with the roads and rivers) we'll make good time and be able to make a few stops along the way to the memorial at Popondetta and Bomana War Cemetery at Port Moresby.

Packed up and finished breakfast quickly we're loaded up into the back of the trucks for a bone crunching rattling trip to Popondetta that will be several hours. I've taken the precaution of bringing an inflatable pillow with me to protect my derriere (in hind site a win decision). Although we're not on our legs trekking today, everyone is still sore from all the previous days, having a buffer to the jolting of this truck ride is much better than aggravating already sore and worn out bums and legs.

I find Jimmy one last time before I get onto the truck and say goodbye. I really appreciated all of his help over the last 8 days and even though he was not my personal porter he was always there to help. This is only his 4th job on the track helping as a porter and I hope that he gets more opportunities in the future for work.

All loaded up and ready to go!



The trip back from Kokoda to Popondetta is a bit unknown depending on the conditions. Until recent years a lot of the river crossings had no bridges and depending on the height of the river you'd have to be ferried across individually out of the truck. Thankfully for us there were a few more bridges (big makeshift bridges built on top of cargo containers all lined up and sandbagged in place) and the remaining rivers were low, so we had no problems having to stop.

Here's a couple of snaps and a video out the back of the truck. Driving away from those massive mountains ranges, it was hard to imagine that we'd just made our way over them - even now, even having completed the trek, they still look so formidable.




A few observations from our truck trip back to Popondetta as we travelled through some smaller villages and passed the locals and also children on their way to school.

• Everyone was in general really friendly, waving and saying hello to the passing trucks. I actually got a really sore arm from waving hello back - in the end I had to stop - lol..

• The locals have the most beautiful smiles, but there were so many adults as well as children who had lost that beautiful smile. In it's place were bleeding gums, blood red smiles and either few or no teeth. The side effects of too much betel nut. Although a popular past time in Papua New Guinea (as well as other Asian cultures) betel nut last year was made illegal. Read more on Betel Nut

• Machetes - there were quite a few locals carrying them on the track (from when you saw and took notice), but it was rather different seeing so many kids travelling off to school also carrying them. From what I believe they're also on sale at the local supermarket. Not that there was a hint of any trouble or adverse situation - it was just such a different world.

We made great time back to Popondetta and we were able to stop in at the local memorial there, but unfortunately not for long as we had an estimated time for our flight and we had to be at the airport soon. Here's a couple of pictures of the memorial - it consisted of a few display cases, plaques and artillery guns.





After a quick stop off we rush to the airport to catch our flight, which was running a couple of hours late.. hahaha.. The airport was definitely working on island time and after getting there in a hurry to make our flight we had a good wait until our flight actually arrived. The wait went pretty slow and the clock was ticking, the longer we were delayed, the less chance we had of making the Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby.

Finally our plane arrived and off we were back to Port Moresby



Straight from the airport at Port Moresby we go to the Bomana War Cemetery. It was quite a weird experience to be walking through there, passed all the graves of those who fought and died in the fighting. Especially having only a day prior been living somewhat part of what they had experienced on the track.

Here's some pictures of the Bomana War Cemetery, it was kept remarkably beautiful.









To my knowledge I had no relatives that fought or died here, but I looked up the register to see anyway just to make sure so that I could go and visit their grave - the closest I found was a Wiggins. (not related) Instead, we had a map of the cemetery and I sought out a few of the graves of the soldiers who I have learnt about over the course of this journey.




All finished up at the Bomana War Cemetery we head back to Port Moresby and the Holiday Inn. For me some food and a quick nap are on the agenda and then I'm hoping to go and visit some of the local markets to see if there's any good souvenirs (I've already bought a bag and hat along the track, but it's nice to have a few more mementos and some gifts to bring home.

Also on the agenda for a lot of people is to clean their boots and bags and remove the mud from them as that's a quarantine risk coming back into Australia. I didn't have to worry about my boots as I left them as a gift to Jimmy, but my bag did have a little bit (but not much mud on it) I gave it a quick wipe down to make sure the dirt wasn't excessive, but I probably should have been a bit more thorough.

In the end I was lucky to make the markets as stupidly I didn't set an alarm.. but I woke up in just enough time to catch up with the others who has already left. They had some pretty good stuff, the usual bags and hats, but there was also some pictures and paintings as well as baskets and other hand crafts. I'm not really good at bartering, but think I did okay. I picked up a nice painting as well as some more bags and hats as gifts.

Then it was celebration times! We had an early dinner and then it was time for a few drinks. Here's a picture of the team :) I'm surprised how awake everyone looks.. although that did not last too long and most people retired early.. keen for a sleep in a nice comfortable hotel bed, rather than on the ground in a tent :)




The next morning was our last early rise for our plane trip back to Australia. - Farewell Kokoda

Wrap Up

This has been such an amazing journey and experience. I definitely recommend this adventure to anyone that has ever thought of doing it, but hasn't, or even for those who haven't, but have been interested by my blog. Even for those that don't think they would be able to do it, for health reasons or age - the only barriers that hold you back are those you put up yourselves. This adventure is very doable and the trekking company ensures to the best of their ability that you will make it. Put the training in - you will surprise yourself and you will not be disappointed.

Here's one final video of our trek that was posted by one of the girls in the other team who was raising money for lifeline, it's has really awesome map of our route to some of the wonderful local singing! :)



For more information don't forget to look up some of the books that I have suggested through out the blog, or even if you want do some research and find yourself another book. There's quite a few out there from different perspectives and I think each in their own way would have great information on what happened here.

There's also the ABC documentary called Kokoda that has quite a lot of information. Personally I bought a copy, but someone has uploaded it to Youtube if you are interested.

Kokoda - abc Documentary

One final thank you to all of my sponsors that help me get her to help raise money for The Sir David Martin Foundation - In the end I raised $8,000 ($4,000 kindly matched by RESIMAC) and I know that every cent will go to help youth in need. I hope that I've been able to help you experience my journey and learn more of what happened here. I must admit, I can't believe how much I didn't know and that I've now learnt and I really want to learn more.

Thank you:

RESIMAC Financial Services
Go Dance / AILD
Navwealth
Rapid Personal Training
State Custodians
Paywise
Paul Denny Conveyancing
Wayseware Pty Ltd

Please feel free to contact me in person, via Facebook or through the blog if you have any questions about my trip or for advice if you're thinking about doing it yourself.

Thanks,

Wiggy

Day 8 - Alolo Village to Kokoda

Wow, I can't believe it. This is the last trekking day that we have on the track. On one hand it's come so quickly and on the other hand it has not come quickly enough. It's amazing how much the continual exertion of trekking each day takes out of you - especially when you're also lugging a full back pack around.

It's such a beautiful morning and with the majority of the trekking today being down hill I'm looking forward to today being a little easier than most other days on the trek. Here's a beautiful picture of the sunrise. The little building on the left is the Village Church and I'd guess to say that the really mini one on the right is something like the little rations hut that was in Naduri Village (where a portion of farming is stored to offer travellers in need)



Everyone is set and ready to head off, but before we go Peter is celebrating his birthday today, so he receives a special birthday song from the crew and team.



Off we set! I was a bit naïve thinking that today may be a little easier.. and down hill - hah! Yeah right! Although, we were ultimately descending by the end of the day, we were following the contour of the mountain around and as such it was still quite an undulating path with plenty of inclines and declines.

I must admit, I probably enjoyed trekking today the least of all the days on the track. I think my mind had already started to switch off as we were so close to Kokoda, unfortunately that's not quite the same as actually being at Kokoda. The path around the mountain side was quite narrow, muddy and slippery and there was a lot of overgrowth from the sides which made it difficult to see where you were placing your feet.

This was extremely frustrating as it meant a lot of slipping and tripping on roots and rocks. Not to mention really sore feet, also from stepping on roots and rocks. I think that I preferred some of the much harder terrain from previous days; at least you were able to see where you were placing your feet and adjust accordingly.

Here's a couple of pictures of the terrain that we were trekking.



There were also some more great little obstacles with trees :)



We're passing through one of the major battle sites today on our way to Kokoda. If you remember back on Day 4 (when heading out of Menari there was the airfield where Colonel Honner addressed the 39th) I wrote quite a lot about the lead up to and start of the fighting in Papua New Guinea. Isurava was where our militia held the Japanese forces for weeks, whilst being out numbered. This is where we get to visit today. I don't think that there was much fighting here during the advance as the Japanese had retreated all the way to the coast, but importantly it allowed our forces to recover those who had fallen.

Before we reach the battle site we come to the Isurava Rest House and a site know as Surgeons Rock. This was a big flat rock which was used during the war as an operating table. Casualties were carried back up from the battle site where they could receive medical attention.

Surgeons Rock is also the location where a well know soldier Butch Bisset died. If you have a chance to read Field Guide to the Kokoda Track the book (dedicated to his brother Stan Bisset) has some great information on the brothers and the role they played in the history of the Kokoda Track. Stan (who was also a Wallabies International) played a particularly prominent role.

Read more Stan Bisset and	Read more Butch Bisset

Here's a plaque that is dedicated to Butch Bisset situated right next to Surgeons Rock.



Gareth had prepared something a little special for us whilst we were visiting here. In the memory of all of those who had lost their lives on this rock he had printed out a version of "Oh Danny Boy" which we sang together - or rather tried to. It's quite a moving song at the best of times - but was even more so given where we were.

Oh Danny Boy

 

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling

From glen to glen, and down the mountain side

The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying

'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.

 

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow

Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow

'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow

Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

 

And if you come, when all the flowers are dying

And I am dead, as dead I well may be

You'll come and find the place where I am lying

And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.

 

And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me

And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be

If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me

I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

 

I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

Here's a picture of me at Surgeons Rock



After Surgeons Rock we continued our way down to Isurava, where there's a big memorial in honour of those who both fought and lost their lives here. It was such a beautiful view, but there was nothing beautiful about the decent. It was just as difficult as the rest of the track and it must've been really hard to transport the wounded from the fighting back up to the Rest House (or Surgeons Rock).



The memorial at Isurava was definitely something to remember, it was simply breath taking, and although much of the area had now been cleared (at least at the site) it was still hard to imagine the intense fighting that occurred here.

Here's a picture of the memorial from the front with such a beautiful scenic backdrop. At the forefront there are the two flag poles for the Australian and Papua New Guinea flags, followed by a plaque dedication at the centre and finally backed by the four pillars of the ANZAC fighting spirit. Courage, Endurance, Mateship, Sacrifice was a motto born out of World War I, but many believe that it was really and truly epitomized at Kokoda.



Courage, Endurance, Mateship, Sacrifice - a great YouTube tribute.

Here's a team photo of everyone at the memorial. As well as of the plaque in the centre and of the four pillars. (Taken from the far right pillar Sacrifice you are able to see the other three pillars in the reflection.)





The battle at Isurava was one of the hardest fought by Australians during the war and it not only delayed the Japanese from their objective of Port Moresby it also inflicted heavy losses. It was instrumental in our ultimate victory and it's significance is definitely displayed in the memorial.

Read more on Isurava

There's was a lot to take in here, too much to mention, but I would like to mention Private Bruce Kingsbury VC who was the first serviceman to be awarded the Victoria Cross in Australian Territory. (Remember Papua New Guinea was classified as Part of Australian territory at the time so that's how our militia were even sent there) During a heavy onslaught Kingsbury (part of the AIF reinforcing our militia) took two Bren Guns and charged straight into the oncoming Japanese troops firing from the hips. Although Kingsbury was killed by a sniper (whilst stopping to reload his guns) - he himself killed as many as 30 Japanese soldiers and demoralised the remaining Japanese, forcing them to scatter. His actions inspired the Australian Battalions to force the Japanese back.

Later accounts from Japanese soldiers after the war describe a man [Kingsbury] charging through their lines, inflicting heavy casualties. This was significant because up until fighting the Australians, the Japanese had never encountered any real defence or resistance from their enemies, let alone the courage and sacrifice displayed by the Australians. The Japanese were used to intimidating the opposition and steamrolling over them by bombarding their defences with wave after wave of unrelenting attacks - a tactic that failed against the Australians. This caused the Japanese to think more about their attacks and certainly take longer to plan them, something that helped the Australians.

Here's a plaque dedicated to Private Kingsbury near to where he fell in battle.



Read more on Private Kingsbury

Further on from Isurava and we're on the homeward stretch, but it's been pretty tough trekking in the heat up until now, so it's time for a lunch stop. Pretty much all of the rest of the trek to Kokoda is along dirt road, which although is not difficult, it still exposed to the heat and sun, so it's best to rest up and recover now for the last leg of our journey.

It was still such a beautiful day, but the sun beating down made it a challenge, regardless of the terrain.. hmmm where's a beach in this weather?



Where we stopped at lunch was at the most beautiful little village with a massive water hole (pool) that all the locals were swimming in and enjoying themselves to escape the heat, especially the kids.

Here's a quick picture of everyone arriving at lunch and getting ready for a swim. Believe me, it didn't take too long for the packs and boots to come off and for bodies to become submerged in the water. Just to our right was a stream that was flowing beautiful cold, fresh water - feeding into the water hole a little further below.



It was getting pretty hot by now and the dip in the water was definitely required to be able to cool the body temperature down. Not to mention getting a little food into us to help refuel our tired bodies. We had about another hour and a half trekking out in the heat and now was not the time to have a blow out - not this close.

The final leg of the terrain was pretty much flat (well compared to what we were used to) and even though it was open dirt road exposed to the heat, you could almost smell the finish. The auto pilot was set and off we went.

In the end I think we made pretty good time, just over an hour to get to Kokoda - I think everyone by then was running on adrenaline and there's nothing to hold you back. You can see by the picture that it was also still quite muddy and rocky, but the visibility was much better than earlier coming down the mountain so it wasn't nearly so hard as you could see where you were stepping.



Coming into Kokoda the surroundings definitely got a lot greener and lusher - here's the difference.

THE FINISH!!!!!!!

 

It was all a little bit surreal, coming in on the final leg of the journey, tired and weary from the trek. It was really just still sinking in that we had made it and what a gruelling and amazing experience the past 8 days on the track had been. Here's a video of us coming up to the finish. It was amazing to have started the journey with such a wonderful team of people and for everyone to complete it together, It was pretty funny though, everyone trudging across the line with not much energy left. :)

 

 

We'd made it, but before we could relax we quickly dumped all of our stuff at the campsite and headed off to see if the museum at Kokoda was open or not. I'm not sure that there was set opening or closing times, so it was just luck of the draw when you turned up.





Read more about Bert Kienzle - The Architect of Kokoda.

The museum was a small little setup with a few little bits and pieces. There were some old weapons etc.., but mainly there were a lot of display cases with historical information about the whole Kokoda Campaign.

Here's a tribute to the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels as well as some pictures of the first Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB).




There was quite a lot of documentary evidence from the actual time, photos, information. It was really quite interesting. Some of the information I have seen on the web, or read in books, but there is nothing quite like being here.




Finally, here's an intact machine gun and mortar. I picked the machine gun up an it weighed a tonne! The rifle I had picked up on Day 5 in the museum at Efogi had weighed enough, but this was something completely different.



Just outside the museum there was the Kokoda Memorial. It was quite beautiful also and had various different pillars in memory of various aspects of the fighting. I had to throw the picture of me in, it was amazing to be here. This is my version of the Oh what a feeling jump - without the jump because I'm too tired! :)





Here's the rest of the pillars up a little closer.

The first on the left in in memory of the fallen VC recipients. In the middle of the pillar is a dedication to Private Kinsgbury. The second is in memory of the capture of Kokoda and the subsequent fighting which saw Allied troops eventually defeat the Japanese in 1943



The third is a tribute to the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, without whose help the outcome of the fighting may have been very different. Finally, the last pillar is in memory of all those persons that perished during fighting, whether friend or foe, military or civilian.



Now, it was time to collapse and die :) well maybe not die, but definitely get off these burning and aching feet and relax. Back we head to camp to get unpacked, cleaned up and rested. Everyone is just so exhausted. Not much really went on for the rest of the day, or maybe I just can't remember as I was too tired to absorb anything going on.

We had our normal 6 o'clock news, talked about the day and what was planned for tomorrow and we organised to have a thankyou and farewell to the crew, where we could as a team and individually thank all of the porters and our individual porters respectively for all of their help during the trek. The crew really do play a role as Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels by being there and helping you, even sometimes when you don't realise it, or take it for granted, they're always still there helping.

Here's a picture of our group porters whilst Gareth was thanking them as well as a picture of me with Jimmy. I didn't have an individual porter as I carried my own pack, but Jimmy quite often still help me out on the difficult parts of the journey.



One more early rise on the track tomorrow for our journey back to Port Moresby. We're to travel by truck to Popondetta where we catch a plane back to Port Moreby. Time permitting it's possible we can see another Memorial at Popondetta as well as the Bomana War Cemetery at Port Moresby.

Here's the trekking we did for the day

Day 7 - Templetone’s Crossing to Alola Village

Another morning and we're up early.. It was definitely the coldest night we've had, but it didn't bother me too much as I was rugged up well. What's better was that, I didn't get any visitors during the night from any leeches.

Being prepared on this trip was always going to be important and this morning was just another little example. A week of solid use, mud and water got to my boots and as I was tying them up ready to head off one of my boot laces broke (probably better here than out on the track). Off comes the boot, bag unpacked to find spare laces (in the last dry bag I look) and I set about repacking and relacing my boot. (I've never ever relaced such a muddy boot and it was not easy - mud makes everything more difficult)

Not that you can really tell with all of the mud, but my right boot is the one with the new lace :)



Apart from my little mishap it was another nice morning. Take 2 and we're ready to set off again.. I just love being so high up in the clouds. Today was going to be a big day, we're going to be visiting another big battle site at Eora Creek as well as some old relic exhibits so there's going to be a lot to take in.

Here's everyone ready, set and then we're off.. Straight away we're walking down to a pretty cool little water crossing and then across the other side into a steep uphill. Today is predominately a decent, but that doesn't stop you going up!




On this section of the trek the jungle was really damp and wet and there were plenty of leeches. I had another couple get on me that I felt and was able to remove before they started sucking. One really massive one got on my leg, he was about 2 inches.. If he was able to latch on and start feeding I reckon he would grown massive.

Here's a couple of videos that show what the terrain was like.





We were under another tight schedule today as there was a few little detours off the track to visit some exhibits of weapons caches and relics. One at Eora Creek and other along the way that a local had uncovered and set out on display. It was quite a beautiful day and our first stop was Templeton's Crossing Dump #2 (last night we stayed at Templeton's Crossing Dump #1)

There were a couple of little wooden bridge crossings today, some looking safer than others and some quite sophisticated. A couple of the bridges are below as is a plaque dedication to Dump #2.




Eora Creek was important in the counter offensive because it saw quite a lot of fighting. As the Japanese, who held the high ground with machine guns and artillery were able to hold off any Australian advance due to the open area, water crossing and the high steep defensive position that they held.



Read more on Eora Creek

Across the water at Eora Creek and over the other side we began the steep ascent around the mountain side. After climbing for some time we were able to take the detour off the track which took us even higher to where the Japanese troops were defending above the Australians. To attack this position was virtually impossible. The Japanese held the high ground with more advanced artillery and machine guns any frontal assault was virtually impossible, especially when the mountain side gradient almost a sheer cliff face and about 90 degrees.

There was plenty of stories of Australian soldiers who made it across the water only to be pinned for days at the bottom of the mountain with no ability to climb up. All the while being shot at by Japanese soldiers who had to lean over the side to be able to shoot down. One Australian soldier was even shot through the ear and the foot with the same shot..

It was really cool to see some more munitions and left over relics from the fighting. Once again everything is big and chunky metal objects which would be so difficult to move anywhere, let alone up and down this terrain.

Here is a display of some left over Japanese helmets, mortar launcher, mortar shells and artillery casings. Not far from it was this tunnel that came out from under a tree. We didn't go in, but the tunnel went a lot further and no doubt networked with a few others for shelter and also the protection of supplies.



This is the view from the Japanese position looking back over Eora Creek. On the right, I've just taken a few steps back and where the guys are standing is where the Japanese artillery was set up in a commanding position over the entire area below. Unfortunately there was nothing of the gun here, but the final photo is a picture of the artillery gun that was there at the time.



Just check out all of this left over munitions. Big artillery shells, mortar packs, shell casings, rifles etc.. it all just looks so heavy.



After 10 days of futile attempts to cross Eora Creek in frontal assaults the Australians managed to outflank the Japanese by going around and above their position. Not far from where we currently were Gareth told us about 'The Lost Battlefield' just a bit higher up on the ridge where a lot of fighting took place with the Australian flanking movement. Discovered back in 2010, this has yet to be included as part of trekking and presumably won't be until the necessary excavation work has been done to investigate and preserve the area.

Channel 7's Sunday Night did a piece on it back in 2010



Past Eora Creek and out of the thick of jungle we spend a lot of the afternoon following the contour of the mountain. A small windy track in and out of tree cover, in and out of the heat and direct sunlight. I think I may just have preferred the thicker jungle where at least the canopy of trees protected you a lot more from direct sunlight.



On this part of the track we were also able to visit another location where a local had uncovered a weapons pit of grenades, mortars and a few other things. It makes a great income for the locals to make a nice little display out of them so that passing trekkers can visit and have a look. Although, I wasn't too sure about this one, something about standing next to so much explosive power (albeit old and hopefully not in tact) was a bit un-nerving.




I've already mentioned that we had a really great team on the trek. We all came from different places, different backgrounds, but we all got on so well. There was a lot of fun, a lot of banter and a lot of laughs. Speaking of grenades, Larry, an ex-soldier was kind enough to demonstrate the throwing of a grenade.. hahaha :)



There were quite a lot of water crossings for the day and there was yet another one not far from Alola Village, our destination for the night. I can hardly believe that it's only one more day on the track, but to be honest I'm ready for the finish line. :)



It was nice to finally arrive in a Alola Village and camp for the night. It has been another long day on the track, a lot of tough terrain, a lot of beating down sun and a lot to take in from the stories about the war. It was still day light, so it was once again time to set up camp, get washed and get warm before it got dark and/or rained. It was much cooler on this half of the track and it was nice to find some comfort in being warm.

I like the idea of a bit of comfort so much that, for tomorrow I'm even going to change my trekking gear.. what?!? I hear you say.. "change" your trekking gear. Yes, you heard right. Although I've been washing my all my gear - top, shorts, socks and undies, every single night, I have not changed that gear. I just hang it out and it stays wet and damp. There was no point, in 5 minutes of walking you're already sweating (if it's not raining) so I was always going to be wet, may as well not dampen and smell up my pack with wet (washed) clothes that don't get a chance to dry.. but for now, it's time for something different, something fresh for that last part of the trek, maybe just a little something to help the mindset.

Here's us arriving at Alola Village and setting up camp.



The locals have set some soft drinks out for purchase and I grab a couple, for me and who ever wants one.. I know it's not good for me, but I'm just after a quick fix to get some energy after the days trekking. Once the housekeeping was out of the way, it was great to settle back and relax, enjoy dinner and play a few games. If I remember correctly, it was guess who, 20 true/false questions about a music personality (which is surprisingly tough) and there was a lot of conjecture about how old snoop dog was (with no internet to help).. it provided a lot of fun for a short time, as everyone was dropping off quickly and hitting the sack. Understandable given the journey we have been on.

Last day on the track tomorrow. Even though I'm really feeling it and craving the finish, I can't believe how quickly it has gone. 8 days tomorrow trekking for us is no comparison to the months and months spent by our troops in these conditions.

Here's the trekking we did for the day

Day 6 - Naduri Village to Templeton’s Crossing

We're up early in the dark getting prepared for another day trekking on the track and we're trying to get away a little earlier, with little fuss. Naduri, like most villages along the track is quite religious and as part of their Seventh-day Adventists religion, today is the Sabbath Day (the day of the week for rest and worship), so we don't want to disturb everyone after such a wonderful welcome yesterday.

This meant that we didn't even get our usual dead rooster call in the morning, not that it mattered though, everyone was already up. There were several actual roosters living in the village and they didn't get the same memo and had been up crowing their heads off since at least 3am in the morning.  Just what you don't need when you have to get as much rest as possible to recover in between trekking days.

All packed up, you can see how wet my tent still is and that there was rain over night. Now however, it looked to be the start of a beautiful morning.



The day wakes just as we're about to set off out of the village and I manage to get another couple of quick shots. There were a couple more things of interest in the village that I couldn't get to yesterday.

The first was a shrine to the late Ovoru Indiki, one of the last Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels who sadly passed away at the end of last year.



Read more on Ovoru Indiki

Read more on Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels

The second was this little hut up a tree. Historically, it would have been used as a lookout as well as for protection against attacking enemies, but I'm not sure if it gets much use these days. Personally I think it would be the most awesome cubby house.



We set off from Naduri, our destination at the end of the day was going to be Templeton's crossing. With Mount Bellamy, the highest point on the track before us, we were hoping to make good time so that we were able to take a detour off the track to visit Myola. (a dry lake which was used for supply drops during the fighting)

Off we set, just a leisurely walk up that little hill in the distance - yeah right! :)



Here's a nice view not long after leaving Naduri, just before we start our ascent up Mount Bellamy.



The beautiful view didn't last long though, and with a very steep ascent ahead of us it wasn't long before we working hard to keep on track for our planned detour.



Almost to the top of Mount Bellamy and we got a great team picture, but the highest point in the track would have to wait for us, as we made our detour off to Myola.



Our detour took us back through more of the jungle terrain that we were used to, however there were a surprising amount of fallen trees and I couldn't remember a part of the trek so far that consisted of so much climbing over and under the big fallen tree trunks across our path. A novel new experience for the first couple of times, but with a heavy back pack the novelty soon wore off.

Myola was quite unexpected, considering all of the terrain that we were used to. It was really kind of weird to walk out of the bush into the vast open sea of grasslands the two dry lakes of Big Myola and Little Myola formed.

Here is everyone just after we popped out at Myola, packs were pretty quick to come off as we were keen for a look around.



Before we set off for our little adventure to investigate Myola, Gareth gives us a bit of a talk about the history of the area - as both a forward supply depot and a medical post. What I find interesting is that there may still be munitions and supplies somewhere out there in the vast sea of grasslands.. good luck finding it though, unless you had a spare few weeks and a meticulous attention to detail in your searching.

Also of interest was how the supplies used to be dropped, with the planes flying in from one side to the other. Over the mountain range, throttle off to get as low as possible to the ground before dropping their supply packages and then throttle back on with the hope of getting enough speed to clear the mountain range on the other side. There would be a few plane wreckages along those ranges where planes didn't make it.

Read more on Myola and Myola Ridge

Everyone sets off for a look around the grasslands. There's one or two little paths leading different directions, but the majority of the area is covered in thick clumps of kunai grass which is very tall and strong. Look at how massive this area is.



Still on a tight schedule we don't have too much time to look around and after a few altercations with the kunai grass I decide to head back to the rest of the group where we have setup for lunch. With my poncho drying in the sun, I quickly tuck into some lunch before it's time to head off.

Lunch over, the weather turned pretty quickly. So the covers go on our backpacks and off we set back into the bush. This part of the trek was really cool because the ground was really amazing. After years and years of falling leaves and debris, rather than walking on a hard surface we were walking on a spongy, cushiony surface. I have no idea how far the actual solid ground was underneath us, but I was thankful I didn't find out, especially as though in some places my trekking pole did go through the surface and disappear for a bit.

It's hard to see, but here's a video I took to try and capture some of the spongy, cushiony surface.



Here's some more of the terrain in this area of the track, lots of mud and roots.. as well as.. you guessed it, steep inclines.



As the rain settles in here's some video of me trekking.



Gareth was a bit of a prankster again today. After one of our breaks he sent the girls up to the head of the group. I just thought he was trying to mix the line up a bit, but we were to find out later that wasn't the case at all, rather a bit further up the track he'd setup an ambush by the porters. I wish he had told me because I would have loved to get it on camera :) The poor girls were walking along and all of a sudden there were porters jumping out of the ground, from behind trees and swinging from vines! :) How easy an ambush can be in this sort of environment.

Having reached the top of Mount Bellamy there's some pretty steep declines as we make our way on the last leg of our journey to Templeton's Crossing where we will be camping on someone's private land for the night. Here's a couple of pictures and a video as we set off down some steep declines.




It's still light when we get to camp, but it's been raining most of the afternoon and the temperature has dipped. Tonight is going to be one of the coldest nights on the track, so it's important to get cleaned up, dry and warm. A fire has been lit in our little hut, but I don't feel like it's doing as much as it should be to keep me warm.

With the weather still being rubbish Larry and I set off trying to find some sticks of bamboo that we can use to tie our ponchos off on and for the first time on the trip I encounter a little friend. I felt a leech wriggling on my hand as we were cutting some bamboo and quick smart I pull it off and flick it away. Luckily for me he hadn't started to suck on me yet, if that were the case it's either best to let him finish, or to get him off with fire or salt.

Here's a few pictures of the little setup we had on the private property. There's the hut where we got to have a fire and dinner, the area we had to setup our tents (right next to the bamboo and leeches) and finally the toilet (which I was a bit worried about being perched right next to a ledge).

Remember Sam Templeton from Day 4 on the track? He was the original commander of the 39th Militia Battalion lost in early fighting near Kokoda. Templeton's Crossing was named after him.

Read more on Templeton's Crossing

All rugged up for the cold night and ensuring that my tent was completely sealed (I don't want any visitors), I turned in for the night. The routine is definitely starting to wear me down mentally and I need to ensure that I get my rest. There's only a couple of days left trekking, but none of them is going to be easy.

Here's the trekking we did for the day

Day 5 - ANZAC DAY Brigade Hill to Naduri Village

The dying rooster call roused us from our tents, although most people had been up earlier than that. The day that we all had come for was finally here. In the dark we moved up to Brigade Hill and assembled with the fallen soldiers (the stakes set the ground in the memory of each person that lost their life) in front of the flagpoles to begin our dawn service.

In the dark of a morning yet to be born, the service started to the sound of the bagpipes played by one of the trekkers in the first two groups. He had a relative fight at Brigade Hill and he had carried his pipes all the way from Kokoda especially for the service. Which is currently one of, if not the most remote ANZAC day service there is. There was so much raw emotion and feeling from everyone there, in a spot that saw so much fighting and lives lost. The very reason why we show our respects at ANZAC day and honour our fallen heroes for their ultimate sacrifice.

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

The flags of both Papua New Guinea and Australia are raised to the singing of the porters.



Thus began the service, and to be honest, sometime, I do not know when - dawn broke. I was so captivated in the ceremony, caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't even realise it. There were several speeches by Trek leaders as well as some by other trekkers, all were heart felt and several not completed without the support of others. A lady from one of the other teams giving a speech had a son about to go overseas for duty - now for me this is such a moving and emotional experience, but how it was for her I could only imagine.

The most memorable part for me though was, one of the trek leaders, Martin McIver singing "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" (adapted for Kokoda). I don't know whether it was him, the way he sang the song, or the words in the song, but I could really just imagine him being one of our boys there at the time. One of our boys in the middle of the fighting, writing a few verses, singing a few songs - to keep up spirits up or pass the time. His singing was so moving.



Wreaths were placed to the accompaniment of the porters once again singing and to end the service the bagpipes played once again



It was a short and very meaningful service and then it was all over, but no matter the length, it is something that will always stay with me forever. Here's a picture of the team and also of me a top Brigade Hill. Below them are a couple of pictures of the fallen soldiers.




It was time now to depart for our next destination, so off to breakfast I rushed - Next stop Naduri Village. Before breaking camp, here was my wonderful poncho in action.



Today was going to be nothing different than a normal day on the track, by that I mean there was going to be lots of steep inclines and steep declines. Off we set over Brigade Hill, past where our history lesson on the Bone Man of Kokoda took place yesterday and on our way down to Mission Ridge.

What was really interesting about this little part of the track was that there was only one steep narrow path down from the summit of  Brigade Hill to Mission Ridge and you could guarantee that the commanders of both of the armies at the time; Brigadier Potts (Australia) and General Horii (Japan) had walked on exactly the same path and on the same ground that we were walking today.

Read more on Brigadier Potts	Read more on General Horii

Down from the summit and back into the jungle the steepness did not seem to stop.



There was a lot of varying terrain on the way down to Mission Ridge, it even seemed a little flat in a few places, but there was always, always the steep descent.



When we hit the bottom of Mission Ridge we crossed a nice little water crossing before having to ascend again to Efogi.



It's not long before we make it to Efogi 1 (South) village, where they have a little war museum with old munitions that we are going to stop and look at. Whilst we do this, our crew are going to replenish all of our food supplies for the rest of the trip.

During the advance Efogi 1 was a staging post for troops whilst they advanced over the track, whilst during the withdrawal Brigadier Potts hoped to delay the enemy at Efogi 2 (North). Unfortunately there was no suitable ground for defence and we withdrew to the main village (South)  and then to Mission Ridge and Brigade Hill were defences were setup.

Read more on Efogi

As we wait to gain entrance to the museum we enjoy watching the local village kids playing and spend a little bit of time relaxing and throwing a ball with them. They are so cute and are having so much fun.





We were able to finally find some one that could let us into the museum - well the small hut that was setup to display a bunch of old wartime munitions. It wasn't big, but it had a bunch of different artefacts and it was really interesting.

Here's some old guns, helmets and bullets. You can see the difference between the Australian (left) and Japanese (right) hard helmets.

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Here's a picture of some grenades and me holding one of the old guns. The gun was really heavy and that's without any of the stock, with all but the metal decayed away. I couldn't imagine carrying this as part of your normal pack - let alone with all your other supplies.



Below are some random bits and pieces as well as some machine gun bullet casings, the casings are huge and I'd imagine you'd be cut in half if a few of these hit you. To the right is a mortar placement missing the barrel.



Team photo in front of the museum (yep, that's the little hut behind us)



When we were leaving the porters were still organising our supplies, I think it was taking quite a bit of time as there was a Ranger there itemising their stock and ensuring that each pack was under a certain weight.

One final team shot on the way out of Efogi 1 (South) to Efogi 2 (North), the nice little sign that we are all standing around reads <- Kokoda 48.1kms and Owers Corner 45.5kms ->



It was another steep climb ascending to Efogi 2 (North), but we made good time and this is where we set up for an early lunch. This is also where one of the local dogs decided to start peeing on the waist strap of my backpack, but luckily someone saw and we were able to scoot him away before too much damage was done. A quick rinse down with some water and I no longer had to start smelling like dog pee, well worse than I already smelt...

Do you remember the Bone Man of Kokoda from the previous days blog? When he returned to Paupua New Guinea to spend some 20+ years toiling for the remains of his fallen comrades, he also built a shrine that is situated in Efogi 2. I've purchased the book about him on kindle and look forward to reading it, even though war is a terrible thing, each side have their own perspective, orders even, and both sides have stories that I would like to hear.



Like most of the villages that we pass through the locals have set up theirs stalls and are selling crafts as well as food and drink. After the steep climb up I grab a bunch of bananas and hand them around. It's generally safe to eat something that has a skin you can peel off or shell you can crack open. I also have a look at the hats and purchase a nice blue one, with winter on it's way back home I'm sure that it will come in handy.



With a lot of trekking still to do, we were not here very long before setting off. We descended down to the Efogi River where we crossed our second log crossing for the day and then up the steep ascent to Naduri Village. This was one of the larger villages along the track and we were hoping to get there early for a tour around the village. Naduri was the home of one of the last Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels - Ovoru Indiki, who sadly passed away at the end of last year.

We make good time to the village and there is still plenty of time in the day for a tour around the village. It was really cool, there were so many things happening - we visited the local health clinic, church, school and got to have a general look around.

The first place we visited was the Naduri Community Health Post which was created as part of the Papua New Guinea Government's National Health Plan 2011-2020 - to transform the countries health system and improve heath care. Work commenced on the Health Post in 2012 and it was commissioned in 2013. It contains a lot of health education material as well as facilities for birthing and minor surgery.

Read more on the PNG Government Health Plan here - (search for Naduri and Kokoda)

The facilities were pretty basic, but at least there were facilities that were available to the locals.

This is a look at what the Health Post was like from the outside.



Inside it was pretty simple, but essential. Below there are a couple of beds in the recovery room with one bed in the labour ward.



In the labour ward (room) here was their supplies and their sterile / contaminated facilities.



Finally, there were a lot of posters about health care, children's health and malaria, which were just basic information on what was good or bad, with what signs to look for in illnesses and when to consult a doctor.



From the Health Post we head to the church. The religion of Papua New Guinea is predominately Christianity and a lot of the villages / village people on the track are Seventh-day Adventists. Here are a couple of pictures of the local church in Naduri.



From the local church we headed off through some more of the village. On the way we stopped at this little miniature hut on stilts, which to me looked about the size that would fit a midget. I was right about the size, but completely wrong about it's true purpose. This was a little rations hut and each person from the village garnished a portion of their farming to be stored in this little hut. The idea was to be able to provide food for passing travellers in need.



We then continued on to the school which was another simple little set up with one main school room and one office / storage space. The rooms walls were plastered in basic teachings as well as drawings and paintings. It didn't look much different to one of our classrooms in Australia.



 It was great to have a little look inside and see what was there. I thought that the storage room was great, firstly because of all the sports equipment (they are Rugby League MAD here), but then we found a massive calculator that must have been years old and it was as big as John's head!! Jokes aside about it's age and size, I was glad it found a home of use, rather be obsolete in our world.



That wound up quite an interesting tour of Naduri and insight into the village. As we walked back to our tents it started to rain, but that was okay, it was nothing different than what we were used to. We made our way back to camp and to some cover in the local huts, where we based ourselves for dinner and more importantly where there was a fire and we could get some warmth.

Had to laugh at this little guy, he was the cutest little puppy and he was definitely more after warmth than he was scared about the fire. As the fire grew he just seemed to curl up closer and closer to it, so much so I thought that he was almost in it.. However, after he got singed a few times from embers he moved and resettled, but even then he was still pretty close.



At the end of the night we got to enjoy the same treatment from the Naduri Villagers that we received in Menari. They too were looking to raise money, not only for their 100 years as a village celebration later in the year, but also for solar panels for both the school and the church. We were happy to listen to their beautiful voices and contribute.

The lighting is not good again (as it was dark), but the singing is great!













After the sing songs were completed most people went to bed, but I was up a bit chatting to a couple of other team mates, just relaxing and enjoying the company. We all came from different places, different lives, but it's amazing how well we got on. Maybe it's the situation we are in that bonds us, a common cause or belief, I don't know, but I'm glad to have such a wonderful group to trek with.

It gets late and I head off to my tent, it has been a really long day, but a really memorable day. There has been so much to take in it's absolutely ridiculous.. We're half way now and I'm starting to feel my endurance starting to feign so best get some rest. Tomorrow will bring on even more adventure.

Here's the trekking we did for the day