Day 2 - Ua-Ule Creek to New Nauro Village

Up early at 5am with the dying rooster crow (Gareth, the trek leaders imitation of a rooster crow). Straight into repacking my bag so that it's shorter and fatter and sits a little lower. This will be a lot better on my back and will also allow me to balance better.

It's a long day ahead of us today - the longest trekking day on the track. If I could get through today with my pack I knew that I was going to be able to carry it for the whole trek. Today we were going to start off with some water crossings, so rather than head off with boots we were all wearing our sandals.

Everyone packed and ready to head off for the day. Just getting some last details from Gareth on the day and what to expect.



Not only was today a long day, there was also a lot of hills and the terrain was quite wet and muddy with a lot of tree roots. Tree roots that could either be your best friend or worst enemy. If you could step between them okay they were great, especially as they could help stop you slipping in the mud. However, stepping on top of them wasn't much fun, after a while they really start to hurt the soles of your feet and you're also extremely likely to slip on them.

Here's some of the terrain we were trekking up to Ioribaiwa Ridge. This gives you a really good idea of the terrain of wet, muddy tree roots.



This one gives you a really good idea of the steepness of the track.



Like many villages post war, Ioribaiwa Village moved and we encountered the current Village not long before reaching Ioribaiwa Ridge (wartime Ioribaiwa Village).

Here's a picture of Anna and I looking back over our shoulders to Imita Ridge. That 25 pound gun would have been firing all the way from Imita Ridge, over our heads and on the Japanese soldiers further up on Ioribaiwa Ridge.



Some more uphills and we finally made it to Ioribaiwa Ridge. Time for a short break and a history lesson from Gareth. We have been stopping quite often at various points along the track for little talks about various events or other important pieces of information. It really makes the experience much more real and helps you to understand some of what really went on over here during the fighting.

Read more on Ioribaiwa

Gareth was amazing, he had brought some old boiled rice from the Holiday Inn in Port Moresby and was handing out scoops of this 2 day old festering rice to the team. The lesson being, both sides dealt with poor supply lines and poor rations.



About 2 small scoops of rice (barely a handful) was the daily ration of a fighting Japanese soldier. As to how bad rations were there is some debate, but there were confirmed reports of Japanese cannibalism of Australian dead and wounded troops.

With rations quite often spoiled, dysentery was common for both sides, with some Australian soldiers simply cutting the bottom out of there pants. Both malaria and dysentery accounted for quite a lot of casualties on both sides.

Read more about malaria and dysentery

Also erected at the top of Ioribaiwa Ridge was a small plaque in memory of Ian Andrew Bergman from Melbourne, Victoria who died on the track back in 2006 aged 35. We are all here trekking the track in memory and in respect of those that fought and died here, and to an extent we all have our own personal journeys we are travelling. This was simple solemn reminder of how dangerous the track can be, not only to those fighting during the war, but also to us now.



From Ioribaiwa Ridge we descended to Ofi Creek where we setup for lunch. It was a minor break in our trekking for the day and we weren't even half way through our Journey. My feet were already sore and pounding so I got my boots off as quick as possible. It was a little respite for my feet and a chance to dry them a little as well as my socks and boots.

As soon as my boots were off I went and found some water to jump in. The weather is quite humid and we are exerting ourselves so much that's it's really cooling and refreshing to be able to just submerge yourself in water.

Here was our setup for lunch. There were trekkers going the other way still breaking camp, I don't know what their schedule was, but considering the immense amount of work we'd already done and we still needed to do their schedule must have been on Island time.



Here's a friend that I made at lunch, he wasn't shy - started from my leg and climbed all the way up to my face. Look how drenched I am! I can't remember if this was before or after my dip in the water, but it wouldn't have made a difference either way. I would have been just as drenched from sweat.



From Ofi Creek we set off on the second leg of our journey to New Nauro Village where we were going to camp for the night. The Peak of Maguli Range lay in our way and we were now going to encounter some of the steepest terrain on the track, not only that, it just seemed to keep on going and going with no break.

Here's us leaving Ofi Creek and setting off. Pay attention to the terrain. It's not that bad at the start, but look at what it gets like at the end. This is the sort of terrain we had all of the way up Maguli Range.



This part of the trek was really challenging and the steep ascent seemed like it went on forever, which it did. I was very thankful to Jimmy, a group porter who was helping me throughout this stage, he stopped me from falling countless times.

The terrain really kept on going



As if to emphasize the reality and difficulty of our journey we came across another plaque in memory of Samantha Killen, from Hamilton, Victoria who died on the track back in 2009 aged 36. She was walking the trail in honour of her grandfather, who fought in World War II.



We had been walking past a few fox holes or weapons pits over the last two days, but on the way up to the Peak of Maguli Range we came across quite a large Japanese gun placement.

Pits and trenches like the ones below connected and formed a network of defensive firing positions around the gun placement which was in the middle of the cleared area where we are standing.




I'm not sure how far up the mountain we are at this point, but off we set again. The steepness of the incline was still relentless as you can see when I pan both directions up and down the mountain.



We passed quite a lot of trekkers on the track today going the other way. I was sad to think that they had come all this way and would be finished and back home before Anzac Day. To come all this way and miss something so core to the reason why I was there seemed unimaginable.

Everyone was there for their own reasons though and nothing could detract from each of our own experiences. It was a tough day for everyone and at a few of the stages we encountered other trekkers one guy took a fall right in front of us (so much so that I thought he must have broken something), whilst at another we passed a guy who was just walking along crying. There really was no hiding from the emotional fatigue and the mental and physical drain of what we are doing.

Almost at the top of the Range and just for something different there's a dip, well a steep decline. Also, for a little variety and to increase the difficulty the rain started to settle in. (In the trekking for the day map below this about just above the 1200m mark)



I definitely think that the declines are more difficult than the inclines because when your legs get tired you really start to feel the real impact of your pack on your legs and feet. I was not looking forward to the last leg of our journey which was the descent from the Peak of Maguli Range down to New Nauro Village.

After our dip, there was one last push up the steep incline and finally to the Peak of Maguli Range!



A quick rest and chance to enjoy the view (up in the clouds); albeit wet and then we were off on our way to New Nauro Village.



With the rain and clouds settling in it wasn't long before it started to get dark and visibility really started to fade. Even with head torches this meant we really had to concentrate a lot more on where we were stepping and the likelihood to slip and fall was greatly increased. This really slowed us down and added to the fatigue factor, as well as mental and physical drain.

With my legs already screaming from such a long day on the track we still had quite a long descent to go and this part of the trek was really living up to expectations, but I was determined to finish.

I had spent a lot of the day trekking with Anna and at points where we were able to still talk it was great to find out more about her and her involvement in the Sir David Martin Foundation. As the only two SDMF trekkers in the group I wanted to make sure we both stuck it out together and got through the day to finish strong.

Mentally we had prepared ourselves for the first two days of the track being the toughest (well initiation into everything we were to expect from here on in) and for me personally I knew if I could get through the first two days with my pack I could do it for the whole trek.

We got there in the end, over 12 hours after we began our day and I was so relieved to enter New Nauro Village. Not what I would expect, it was a village built on red clay, we were lucky that the rain had settled down otherwise we were going to get very muddy.

Wow!! Today was extremely tough and I'm worried that I haven't brought enough provisions. I went through extra hydrolyte tablets today ensuring that I combated my dehydration and ensure that I replace the lost electrolytes and glucose in my body.

I realise that I need to keep up my energy so I make sure I have extra helpings of food at dinner and I also concoct my staple drink for the rest of the trip. Hot water, powdered milk, sugar, instant coffee and milo. Sounds disgusting right, well it's not, we found out very early on with both food and drink it didn't matter what it tasted like, so long as it was hot it was the most amazing and delicious thing ever!

Everyone has basically had dinner and gone to bed and there's only a few of us left talking over coffee and biscuits. No one's really eating the biscuits so I take a whole heap back to my tent for the track, ensuring that I have enough energy also means more snacks on the track.

What's more concerning though, is not my energy and nutrients for the rest of the journey, it's that our trek lead Gareth has come down with stomach cramps, cold sweats and fever - Symptoms of malaria. There was no 6 o'clock news tonight and I go to sleep to the chatter of how we proceed tomorrow, which may include Gareth being air lifted out and our team joining up with the other team going our direction and their trek lead Martin.

Even with a myriad of thoughts going through my mind sleeping was easy and it wasn't long before I was out like a light.

Here's the trekking we did for the day