My Kokoda Journey: Day 4 on Kokoda (Day 5 in Papua New Guinea)

First of all, I am super dooper sorry for falling behind on these posts, school has become hectic and procrastination is also growing at an alarmingly exponential rate. Anyway, today was actually a pretty good day on the track and not only because it was one of our shortest days on the track (for some reason we did all the long days at the start and then one right near the end [Days 1, 2 and 6]). It was amazing because we were able to play with the village children and the weather was great (for our hike at least, when we arrived it poured) and the awesome sun set you will see below was one of our most memorable experiences on the track.

Those photos were from the Naduri Community health outpost where we had our morning rest before continuing on. We were able to try some of their local bread as well as refill our energy levels with cans, twisties and fruit (some of the best fruit around mind you) before we continued on our journey. We also met some local children who enjoyed playing with our hiking sticks. It was an amazing view as we were on the side of one of the mountains in the Owen Stanley Ranges and the sun was shining but it was not oppressively hot as it was still relatively early (I think it was around 8 or 9 so three or so hours into our trek).

This was a tree-house that was behind where we were resting and enjoying some of the local fruits. Below you have our group lying around in the sun just soaking up where we were. Kokoda really was a beautiful place and I would do it again just to be able to see this beauty again. It was hard, but the rewards were everywhere you looked.

They lay our tents out so they would dry as they had not really had a chance to dry after some of the rainy nights we had recently witnessed.

After about thirty minutes we continued our trek and quickly descended towards a river. The worst part was that the river seemed to be teasing us as we could hear it for at least an hour before we finally finished our descent down to it. There are a lot of winding paths on the track and so patience is greatly needed from time to time (well, most of it). It really is a mental challenge in having to find distractions so that you don't focus on anything that might be hurting you and ensure that you can continue on.

When we reached the river we were taken one by one across where we then began probably the most beautiful ascent on the track. We were literally climbing up a waterfall as the path we were using to get up actually was the waterfall for parts and when we weren't in the waterfall we were winding our way around it. Once we passed the waterfall there was a bit of a further climb before we reached Efogi 1 (we were camping at Efogi 2 so after a bit of a climb it was a bit of a tease when the porter told me were at Efogi. Still, I feel our porters enjoyed teasing us sometimes with what they would tell us [only ten more minutes, two hours later we would arrive]).

We were able to break at Efogi 1 before we continued on and during our break we were able to play with the local children. It was so fun to see them enjoy themselves so much. It was wildly entertaining to see some of their sneaky tactics (they knew how to use their height to their advantage) to ensure they maintained control of the ball. They were quite the opposition!

However, as Efogi 2 was just thirty minutes away and it was not even lunch yet (well, we arrived at Efogi around 1 or 2pm and sometimes that would be when we would have our lunch) and we continued on. We had to descend to a river before we climbed back out the other side. It was wonderful and I only fell a few times (and that was because one of the police officers was behind me because they needed 'entertainment' and knew I would fall [thanks for the confidence vote Tommo (nickname, not his real name)]. It was still an amazing view though.

This was our first glimpse of where we would be staying that night and it was actually quite the first view. The only catch was we still had to go down further, across a river, and then back up the other side. Still, it was an amazing incentive. Especially since we had never arrived at camp so early before.

We were again welcomed by some village children as we arrived at Efogi 2. They were all so welcoming and amazing. "Oro" [meaning welcome] was a phrase commonly thrown around on our trek [even though some were unaware of its meaning] and it just showed our welcome the local Papua New Guineans were.

This is the famous sun set we were talking about. There are other shots but this was the best and did not have anyone in the photos.

Once again I am sorry for taking so long to get these out but still, it is fun to relive these experiences so many months later. See you soon!

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!