My Kokoda Journey: Day 3 on Kokoda (Day 4 in Papua New Guinea)

Welcome to Day 3 of my Kokoda trek (Day 4 in Papua New Guinea)! Notice how the space between posts this time was shorter (I'm trying my best). Today was set to be a pretty awesome day for a few reasons. For one, I was no longer sick (thank god for Gastro Stop) though still low on energy, and today was going to be the first day on the track where we would arrive at the camp site before sun set. It was a heap of fun! My tent-mate and I were able to pack up our tent in time today which was great because we were slowly getting used to it and faster each morning. We were excited because today we would be reaching the highest part of the Kokoda track and would be walking through some pretty amazing landscapes.

There were a few more rope bridges today which was entertaining and we also came across some other tour groups today. Sadly, they were overtaking us but in our defence, they had their porters carrying their packs and were only carrying small backpacks with water and snacks. Plus, the ones we passed today were all very nice whereas some of the other ones were really rude (more on them in future posts). There was a lot of uphill today (obviously because we were going to the highest point on the track) but I may have fallen over once or twice (by once or twice I mean a few times and by a few times I mean a lot) but hey, why not? Today was such a great day on the track (even though it was overcast).

We got to stop here for a break at one point which was great as it was after a long climb up and a bit of a drop down. It was awesome just to be able to rest our legs for a sec and refill our energy reserves.

This is a view from the highest point on the track. It was sort of funny because once we reached it, we didn't realise at the time because it looked like the track continued up for a bit further. Still, we used it as a break spot anyway so we still thought it was the top at that point. There was a whole lot of mud going up the hill today which made it fun. The mud continued for a little further on so our boots looked disgusting after a while but still, it made for some fun and gave us something to concentrate on for a while there.

After a few more hours we reached Myola which seems like a very nice plain but is actually a giant swamp. It cued us up for a few "Shrek is love. Shrek is life" jokes (some of the others were pretty obsessed with that and it came up a lot if we were struggling: "it hurts, but I'll do it for Shrek."). In all seriousness though, it was a very interesting place. We learnt about the historical significance as well. Apparently, one of the higher-ups in the Kokoda campaign (who had never been to Kokoda but was commanding things from Australia) had ordered the place to be used as a drop point or something (I forget the specifics) because they thought it would be a great piece of land (they did not know it was a swamp) and they would not listen to the soldiers when they said it was not plausible. It was really interesting.

It was another short walk a bit further down until we came to a spot where we dropped our packs. From here we walked for five more minutes to the spot where debris from a crashed biscuit-bomber was still there. It was beside a lake which had been formed by the crashed plane. What was really special was that it was the first time that our PNG Trekking Guide had seen the lake where the water was clear (this was her fiftieth time). It made us all feel pretty special. It was also rather poignant as this was just a month or so after flight MH370 had disappeared. The story of the American biscuit-bomber was also very similar. The plane had disappeared in July and then it was found in December of that year. It was a really interesting story.

We managed to get in to camp just before sunset and we were able to watch it set over the horizon under a clear blue sky. It was amazing. Another awesome thing about today was that when we came into camp a porter came around with popcorn. Yes, popcorn! It was amazing! It may not feel so special to you guys but back then, it was the best thing ever. By now we were already getting tired of some of the ration packs (guys, the spaghetti is awesome!! [but not the vegetarian pasta, stay away from that]). Today was pretty great.

I am sorry about how the photos are getting fewer every time but it is just because as the days went on we had less energy or looked too bad to take photos. Also, there are a number of photos I don't post because there are people in them that might now want those photos online.

Hopefully the rest will be up soon because they were pretty amazing. See you soon!