Trekkers' Progress - daily updates

Date

Location

Progress Update

Arrived in to Port Moresby at 1330hrs, on time and on board Air Niugini - PNG's national airline. Kori Chan and Noel Gumaba (SSH-BHMT Op's manager) greeted us at the airport and arranged our transfer to the Ela Beach Hotel (10 mins from the airport). Kori and Noel got us checked in and then we set off for a land tour around Port Moresby.

First stop was Bomana War memorial where 3600 Australian soldiers lay to rest. We spent just over an hour at this truly memorable place. It set the precedence for what we were in PNG to do and for the trek ahead of us.

We later returned to the hotel after a brief stop at Boroko Foodworld where were able to stock up on snacks for the trek.

6PM: Kori and Noel conducted a very thorough briefing session that cover all important aspects relating to the 7 day trek.

Last Supper: We sat at Ozzie's Bar, ate pizza, drank a couple of beers and watched the Wallaboes fall short to the All Blacks in Brisbane. Damn it!

Rise: All up and checked out by 4:15AM. Kori was ready outside with our 25 seater bus. We set off for Sogeri-Ower's Corner arriving at about 6:00AM.

Introduced to our SSH-BHMT team which was great.

• Kate with Ezra (Menari)
• Stephen with Seile (Nauro)
• Josh with Francis (Nauro)
• Mikey with Wumpy (Menari/Sogeri)
• Sarah with Sibido (Lamagi)

We set off at 6:30AM and it took 30minutes to walk to Goldie River (our first river crossing). We had lunch on the other side of the river at 07:00AM.

08:00AM we set off to climb the Golden Staircase up to Imita Ridge. All were feeling it early on but fortunately the gods were kind to us and provided some shade for us under a cloudy and overcast day.

We arrived at Va'Ule Creek campsite for lunch at approx 11:30AM. We set off for Ioribaiwa at 1:30PM and arrived by 3:30PM. What a beautiful campsite!

Comment of the day (If not the trip): Mikey upon climbing the final ascent to Ioribaiwa...."I think I am going to have a stroke, the left side of my face, i think, is going numb" Later that night at dinner, his left side of his face didn't look that numb as he ploughed into the bangers and mash!

Kori was up at 4:30AM (This would be a regular occurence). Early breakfast was had and then we set off for Ofi Creek.

We made good time to Ofi Creek which was the perfect warm up for the morning. We continued on for another 3 hours to Jap's Ladder where we had lunch at the village campsite. Lunch was always a very rewarding meal for the group - Warm baked beans and spaghetti, corn beef, noodles, hard biscuits (the kind that diggers ate... I love Wopa by the way!), confectionary and milo, coffee and tea.

Following lunch we continued our trek along Maguli Ridge and then proceeded down the 9 false peaks to Old Nauro village to the guest haus operated and owned by our personal porter and BHMT coop partner Francis. This afternoon it rained all afternoon so it was testing times when descending down the 9 false peaks.... fortunately out PP's were right behind us to catch us before we fell.

Up nice an early this morning and set off from Old Nauro village for what would be our shortest day of trekking to nearby Menari village (Approx 5 hours).

On the way through the Nauro valley we came across a local villager who had caught a huge eel (Maliau in tok pisin). Kori decided to purchase the eel from the villager and said that lunch today would be BBQ'd eel.

The climb up to Menari Ridge was tough (Approx 1 1/2 hours to the top) and this was followed by a relatively quick descent to Menuari village (45 miuntes).

We settled into Saii Faole's guest haus at Menari village. We had lunch at about 1PM and then by 2 PM the eel had been prepared on Kori's BBQ plate that he donated to the village in June 2008. Josh will never say another bad word about eel again!

In the afternoon the group had free time to relax, wash their clothes and walk around the village. By 3PM the afternoon showers set in over the mountains.... this would be the norm for the entire trip.

Faole Bokoi: Saii's father who is one of the last remaining fuzzy wuzzy angels along the track, joined us for the afternoon and shared many interesting stories about the war. A very simple and interesting old man who enjoyed having a good yarn with us.

We started the morning with our team song "It's not an easy Road"  and then set off down the Menari airstrip on course to Brigade Hill (Approx 3 hours away).

The good thing about this trail is that there are no warm up points in the morning.... its just staright into the ups and downs.

We arrived at Brigade Hill at around 9AM and Soloman our local historian provided a very insightful account of the battle of Brigade Hill. We spent a good 45minutes up on the ridge admiriing the spectacular views across to Mt Bellamy, back to Menari and Nauro and even catching glimpses of Mt Victoria.

As Brigade Hill is the name shared by our our operator, we decided to take a team photo (which is apparently tradition) with all trekkers positioned on their stomachs with the view of Nauro and Menari in the background. Following this we set off for Efogi village.

Arrived in to Efogi village at 10:45AM and to our surprise we were greeted not by local Efogi villagers but instead a sea of Aussie Defence Force soldiers who had been in Efogi for the last week to secure and protect a fallen RAAF supplies plane who's engine had dropped whilst flying over the village.

We continued on to Naduri village after a short break at Efogi. This took approximately 3 hours to trek to from Efogi. We were greeted by Andy the local councillor of Naduri village who is in charge of the tourism benefit scheme for the village. He greeted us in a very professional manner, explained where all facilities were located around the village and offered the group locally prepared food (kai kai) which included freshly baked bread.... an absolute treat!

Today the sund got the better of Sarah who was also suffering from a minor bout of gastro. The Doc (Steve Ahern) provided some gastro tablets and sound advice "Sleep" of which Sarah had no quams in accepting. 

Big day today - We set off from Naduri at about day break (6AM). First trudging up Mt Bellamy on course to Diggers Camp. We planned to visit Myola today which is about 40minutes away from Digger's Camp. We got their by mid morning and it was surely worth the detour.

Sarah wasn't feeling the best today. Still suffering from gastro but also fatigue. Kori and Sibidor monitored Sarah's physical state but she was found to be a fighter and made it to our lunch destination at Templeton's Crossing I. By afternoon Sarah had fully recovered and back on track.

We made it to Sibidor's guest haus at Templeton's Crossing II by mid afternoon. It was a big day indeed and a well deserved wash in the Eora Creek was had by all! 

TCII to Deniki

Another big day was planned for today.... the porters were not sure whether we could do it but Kori was confident that the group was capable of the trek.

We departed TCII again at day break and set off for our first destination being Eora Creek (Approx 2 hours away). From Eora we progressed around several ridges and then down to the last river crossing at the bottom of the hill that leads up to Alola village. We made it to Alola from Eora Creek in 2 hours.

We had a short break at Alola village, enjoyed some tasty local passion fruit and then set off for our lunch time destination at Isurava battlefield. It took us approximately 1 1/2 hours to get to the memorial ground.

Isurava Memorial:  A truly memorable experience and wonderful location to commemorate our fallen diggers. Soloman once again explained the battle that took place here and courageous effort displayed by Private Bruce Kingsbury.

Afternoon trek: We didn't think we could do i, especially after feasting on a plethora of food at lunch but Kori insisted that we continue our trek to Deniki campsite. Boy was it worth the trek - Stunning views over Kokoda station and from here we finally knew that we had a short distance to travel to our final destination.

This evening we relaxed by the guest haus, had a game of cards and then were attacked by a flurry of little insects who were attracted to our head torches. I think all nearby villages could hear Kate's scream across the valley. 

This morning we had a sleep in... that's right, a sleep in to 7AM (WOW!). We had breakfast and then set off for Kokoda at 8AM. It was only a short two hour walk from Deniki (mainly flat).

We passed through Hoi village and Kovelo village on the way to Kokoda.

At Kokoda we quickly settled into Henry's guest haus (a local Kokoda villager who was also vying for a position in local politics). A very nice place with spacious sleeping quarters and a relaxing haus win where we set up our dining area.

Mikey and Kori were quick to head down to the shop and grabbed a case of SP Beer - SP stands for "Stop Pain" I was told by Kori and did it surely do that!

We spent the morning down by the river washing clothes and refreshig our sore bodies.

It was a great trek to be a part off. The group were exceptionally fit and enjoyed the company of the SSH-Brigade Hill Mission Tour team. 

This morning we flew back to Port Moresby on board Airlines PNG's Twin otter plane. It took us 30 minutes to fly from Kokoda to Port Moresby and we were able to catch glimpses on villages that we trekked through during the week.

We left Kori at the airport as he had to make a quick transit across to the International airport and fly back to Sydney.

TREK END!

From here Josh, Sarah and Mikey travelled to Rabaul for a few days of R&R in SSH's hometown.

Kate and Steve travelled to Lae to spend some time with our good friends the King family. 

Date

Location

Progress Update

Arrived in to Port Moresby at 1330hrs, on time and on board Air Niugini - PNG's national airline. Noel Gumaba (SSH-BHMT Op's manager) greeted us at the airport and arranged our transfer to the Ela Beach Hotel (10 mins from the airport). We checked in and then had a few hours to kill by the poolside before our briefing session with our Brigade Hill Mission Tours team (6PM).

We are all a little nervous but after meeting our team leader "Tom Mado" along with the SSH-BHMT team (Sai Faole, Noel Gumaba and Gaksy Siosi) we were made to feel more confident about the 6 day "Power trek" in front of us.

Briefing session was comprehensive and we are confident that we have packed effeciently for the trek.

Early morning rise and transfer to the APNG terminal where we boarded our flight to Kokoda - 25 mins.

Arrived into Kokoda.... quick look around the station - visited the memorial and museum. Commenced our trek up to Isurava village circa 5 1/2 hours. A nice warm up.

Mark: The three of us are progressing very well on the first day of the trek. We are all ok! 1st night was Isurava village. Food is good and guide and porters were very good.

Early morning start from TCI and now bound for Naduri village.

Arrived in to Naduri at 4:30PM. Spoke to Noel on the 2 way VHF radio - He has assured a 12 pack of SP "Stop Pain" Beer for us with our BBQ (SSH-BHMT sausage sizzle) at Menari village. Can't Wait!!

Ioribaiwa to Ower's Corner

Port Moresby

Early morning start after a night of heavy rainfall.

Arrived in to Ower's Corner mid afternoon. Greeted by Noel and Saii. Road trip back to Port Moresby was slowed due to rainfall. Trekkers and porters were all on the dirt road assisting the bus driver to overcome some muddy points on the road.

Arrived in to Port Moresby at 06:30PM and checked in to the Ela Beach Hotel. Boys very satisfied with the effort put in on the track.

Date

Location

Progress Update

28/6/2008

Group arrived safely to Kokoda after a 25minute plane ride from Port Moresby to Kokoda.

A few minor delays were endured in the morning due to fog and cloud covering the Kokoda airstrip. After an early morning rise (6:20AM) the group were checked in at the APNG terminal by 7:30AM but did not leave for Kokoda until 10:45AM. Charades was a hit for those couple of hours in the waiting lounge.

Upon arrival into Kokoda the group were greeted by their BHMT trekking team and introduced to their porters. Shirts/uniforms were exchanged from trekkers to porters. Also performed was a welcome singsing to initiate the BHMT's first ever Kokoda group tour.

1:30PM - Started trekking from Kokoda Station. First campsite at Hoi village.

Track condition - Generally good

Trekkers' condition - Good

Weather - Slightly overcast. No rain

29/6/2008

Weather today was clear. Blue skyes.

Trekkers condition - Psyched, physically fit and able.

Day started with the first climb (1000m) up to Deniki village. Continuing on to Isurava battlefield and then on to Alola village.

"This is really a wonderful perhaps lifechanging experience, the village life we have been fortunate to experience with is just awesome" Sandie Downes

30/6/2008

This morning was covered with heavy mist/fog. Trekkers made good progress to TCII and were accommodated at Sibidors guest house.

Traditional welcome was performed by Sibi's family and relatives.

1/7/2008

Track report for today -

All trekkers making good progress, physically fit and pace is fast. Reached digger's camp but guest house was booked out by our good mate reg. Trekkers continued on to Naduri village where they were able to meet with one of the last remaining original fizzy wuzzy angels.

Reacjed Naduri at 4:00PM.

Weather - Afternoon cloud cover.

"My pole strap broke" - Steve Carson

2/7/2008

Trekkers were accomodated at Gaksy's guest house and were entertained by the local villagers who performed a traditional welcome for the group.

A game of tip was played at Efogi with the local village kids. A real highlight for the group!

Mum's potions are working wonders and I want to bring Kelly and Liam to Efogi because it's beautiful" - Ben webb

The porter's singing at Efogi were really beutiful" - Steve Grehan

3/7/2008

Shorter trek today. Big traditional welcome performed at Menari for the group.

Group was accommodated at Sai Faole's guest house. Sai's father was warmly greeted and introduced to the trekking team. He is also one of the last remaining original fuzzy wuzzy angels.

A game of touch was played between Ashgrove and the SSH's BROX 1 group who were on a rest day at Menari.

Kori sent up a BBQ from Port Moresby and a sausage sizzle was served along with local cuisine.

"Please stock up on Diet coke and red rock chips" - Peter

"Watch out for the dogs over here!" - Lucy Hogan

4/7/2008

"Great group, Great speed!!" - Al Manning

5/7/2008

6/7/2008

7/7/2008

8/7/2008

9/7/2008

10/7/2008