Eora Creek to Isurava

Day 9

Had a bit of a sleep in this morning, did not get up till well after 6...almost 6:30am.  Was a cold night, even had to put my jumper on.  Being warm made for a good sleep. Allan woke up feeling completely better, which is good for him. Peter is still sounding like he has a cold.

A short walk down and up a ridge where we got to the Japanese position of a mountain gun that had clear firing down onto Eora Creek.  This is what made it so hard to cross at Templetons Crossing.  Dave told us about the Menusu brothers.  Where 2 brothers we killed in action and a 3rd was pulled out of the line of fire so their mother did not have to loose all her children in the one war.  The way Dave told it and the details about the brothers really got to me.  He said he did not tell the story cause we were brothers  but he thought it would have great meaning and understanding to us.  Steven remarked that one generation difference and it could have been us.  That poor family and it was just one story of hundreds like it.

We continued on with more of the same, short hard walking until we reached a spot for "morno's".  Army term for morning tea, which I love using.  Here we were able to buy twisties and a soft drink, which I splashed out for.  It was a cute village and some really cute kids.

More short hard walking until we got to Con's Rock.  Big story about Con's rock which dave retold while we were all sitting around it.  There was also a plark there for Bisset.

We were now not far from Isurava.  When walking into it I was just overtaken with emotion.  The place is beautiful, which would have been the complete opposite of how it would have been 70 years ago.  I can only image how terrifying the place would have been back then.  The monument is perfect and its location is nothing but spectacular.

There is also a plark for Kingsbury VC here.  He charged the Japanese with his tommy gun clearing the way for his mates to retake the position.  He paid the ultimate, but without him things would have been very different.

This spot was also very special as we got to have a shower.  So we had one and washed our clothes.  Not sure how well they will dry however, looks like we are about to get some afternoon rain.  Got too have a little leisurely walk around the area with Steve and Peter.  Was really nice just hanging out with the brothers. It feels so good they are here doing it with me.  Going to be something we never forget.

I got another message!!! Feels great.  Was thinking about home and was wishing I was there to cheer on the boys (Broncos) with you.  Hope you have a good night and you can bring home the victory.

Just before bed Peter had a fall down a slippery muddy track.  We are staying up for a bit to dry by the fire.  We managed to stay up till 8:30 and Peter clothes, although dirty, were dry.

Tomorrow KOKODA!!!!!!

1900 to Eora Creek

Day 8

Day started very early again.  Out of the tent by 6 and walking by 7am.  This I not a problem cause all you want to do it walk.  It feels good getting up and it feels great to be on the track. I had a great sleep, I think it must have been the location that helped.

Allan had a rough night with lots of waking up and had fevers all night.  He continued to have them all day, but stayed tough and kept going.  He is looking forward to an early night and hopefully recovery. Peter is also getting sick and his voice is getting pretty crocky. He assures me he is fine and is not complaining about it at all, not that I ever thought he would.  I have woken up with my right index finger about twice the size it should be.  I have no idea why or how, but it is.  It is not too sore, but I cannot make a fist.  It is going to be hard to hold the walking pole with that hand.

The boys sung their song again this morning, I was able to catch it on camera.  They must also be getting excited to making it to the end.  They then get to see their families. They are all great blokes and go out of their way to make sure everything is going well and that everyone is ok.

We headed off for the day and it turns out to be a massive day or walking.  The legs are feeling it now.  It is hard on the up and the down hills.  They are tired but they are not going to stop.  Today it was pretty muddy and very slippery on the down hills.  I must have almost slipped over about 50 times.  This also makes me think about the guys who are not only carrying all their gear, but it is raining all the time and they have the threat of battle at any time.


We then went a little off track to go see a supply dump.  There was a massive amount of ammo including mortars, grenades and rifle ammunition.  There was even a helmet from a Japanese solider.

We reached The Gap which is a height of 2186, then headed down to Templetons Crossing where we had lunch.  This was the site of a massive battle and one that I will always remember from now on.

About 2 more hours after lunch where we reached camp for the night.  A quick wash in the freezing water and we were all ready for some rest.

During the afternoon we had a walk around the place, at leasure and found an amazing bridge.  From a construction point of view, it is amazing, from and appearance  point of view, it is spectacular and from a me crossing it point of view...........I will hold that opinion until I am across it.

Allan went to bed about 7 to try and get better, but we all only made it till 7:45 anyway.  We have been told that tomorrow might only be a 5 hour day so we should be done just after lunch.  I am hoping we pass some more of the little shops so I can buy a few things for home.

Got another message from Nicole and the kids.  So amazing how good it makes me feel know that they are thinking about me like I am thinking about them.  This time next week I will be able to give everyone the biggest hug ever!

Efogi 2 to 1900

Day 7

The day started even earlier today around 5:30.  My stomach was not right.  Small cramps and a little upset but I managed to hang in there all day.  Not like I was going to do anything different though.

We started walking by 7am today and did not finish till after 3pm.  It was a hard long day and having the upset stomach made it a little worse as I did not want to eat very much, which I was then low on energy, but at least the stomach was not bugging me as much.

As we set off this morning our lead guides, Ben and Killa sang to us.  The song was great and they were very good at getting up in front of us and singing it out.  We started out heading up, and it just seem to keep going up and up.

I am having trouble remembering a lot of the stories today as I think I was concentrating on getting to the spots more than usual.  We climbed up for a good part of 4 hours and we finally reach the top which was around 2000 m.  We all took this opportunity to rest and even lay down on the ground to recover.  The clouds were rolling past us, at our level and the view was amazing!  We have come a long way and the place was rewarding us with spectacular views.

After lunch we inspected a crash site of a American B25 bomber that had crashed into the jungle.  We also made a side trip out to Myola which is a dry lake which the Aussie used for supply drop during the war.  While walking through here, Freddy found some spent ammo just sitting on the ground.  Again it set me off thinking about how amazing it was that it was still here after all this time and why it was here and the people that needed it.

We then headed up some more to the camp for the night, named 1900.  As we come in the clouds rolled in.  It looks like mist everywhere.  I wish I could have taken a photo, but doubt it would work.

We had a quick bath in the creek, but it was absolutely freezing!  But again, felt amazing to freshen up.  It is 100% better than now getting clear and after the shock of how cold it is, it actually feels good on the sore muscles etc.

We are at 1950 m high, so tonight we spent the night close to the fire telling stories.  We managed to stay up till 8:00 pm, but that was hard.  While laying in the tent I can hear the creek trickling, a few night birds singing to each other, What a nice way to go to sleep.

Stomach is still not great, lets hope the sleep sorts things out. Thinking of you, getting closer to being able to call you and tell you how we are going.

Menari to Efogi 2

Day 6

Pretty rough night sleep again.  When I am asleep I sleep well, but you have to move within an hour or your shoulder goes numb.  Lucky for me I can go back to sleep pretty quick.  But all that is forgotten once the morning packing of the bag is done and you open your door to another incredible view.  I am not sure what type of sleep i was expecting to have, but what ever I am getting it is plenty for what is needed.

Breakfast, bathroom and a little chat with Dave to tell us what was on today.  We were headed to Brigade Hill, which was some of the biggest engagements in the entire war..  At one stage Battalion HQ was cut off from the Battalion.  First radio call was "Fight your way back to us!". Next radio communication was "We are fighting our way to you!"  We heard stories about men who had accepted their fate and did what needed to be done.

After a quick creek crossing we headed up the hill that leads to Brigade Hill.  This took a long time and at parts I am sure it was steeper than "The Wall".  We smashed it out together and the stories and chatter kept up.  Dave commented again how impressed he was with us as a group.

After some hard work we arrived at Brigade Hill  and at the point where Battalion HQ would have been.  Dave told us the stories about the battle and even in some cases some diggers fought all the way to Isurava and back to Brigade Hill only to give their life at this point for the greater good.

While we were at Brigade Hill we had a short service and both Peter and Allan read as part of it.  It was very emotional to hear all the names of the diggers that had been lost at this battle.

After the ceremony we headed off down a steep section towards our lunch stop.  While we were here the Green Machine told us that rain was coming so that we should not try and push to the original night spot but stop short of it.  We stopped at Efogi 1 for lunch and then a short walk to Efogi 2 where we made camp.  The green machine knew what they were talking about, because within 2 mins it was raining and it was pretty heavy.  We all were happy that we were not trying to walk in it.

Spent the afternoon telling more stories about war and some more general conversation.  Late afternoon the rain stopped so we headed down to the village to have a look around.  Allan handed out some lollies and the kids really liked them.  I think Freddy would have liked some more as well.  We raced back up to my bag to grab the glow sticks to take back down.  When we got back to the camp, I got a beautiful message on the sat phone from home.  Felt so good to hear from everyone and that they were all thinking about me.  I choose to read it out to the group as I am sure other would like to hear contact from outside world.  I did choke up a bit while reading though.

Was pretty hard to stay awake tonight but we managed to hang in till 8:30.  Moral is very high still and there is zero tension between people.  It is more like we have know each other for 6 years  not 6 days.  Could not have hoped for it to go any better so far.

Just before bed we all stood outside looking up at the sky again.  Soaking in the world in all its glory.

Missing everyone a lot!

Nauro to Menari

Day 5

Woke up this morning before 6 to the crowing of the 7 roosters in the village.  Was a pretty good wake up call actually, even if one did stand right beside my tent :) Slowly packed things into the bag again, I think I am getting better at it.  The moon was still high in the sky when I came out of my tent and it looked like something out of a movie.  The sleep last night was not the best as I was restless and took a while to go to sleep as I was thinking about home.

After breakfast David told us that we were going to have a short day today and make camp early.  This was for 2 reasons. The first was to give the Green Machine a chance to rest and then 2nd reason was to give us some time in a village.  We also had to tackle "The Wall" today, so it might be a hard climb.

When they call it "The Wall" they are not joking.  It was very steep and just kept going up and up.  We started with a little creek crossing before hitting the wall and we all managed to keep dry.

Everyone made it, but it was pretty hard going.  After that was done the rest of the day was pretty easy.  We made it to camp about 12.  As we arrived at the village the locals had setup little stalls selling things.  They had things like bananas, pineapples, paw paw and even some cans of soft drink.

The rest of the time today we spent around camp.  We went for an amazing swim in the creek where we had a natural massage from the running water and we also managed to wash our clothes again.

We then went for a walk back to the stalls and I bought a coke.  It was an interesting treat to have in the middle of the Kokoda track.  Steve also bought a pineapple to share and it was beautiful!

During the afternoon David showed us some 2 and 3 inch mortars that were on display in the village.  There was also some other little items like a food tin and some grenades. Amazing to think these items are still around after all this time.  While looking at it all, my mind often wonders away to think about the people who it use to belong to and how much of a different time we would be having if I was one of them

After dinner just before bed the sky cleared out and the universe turned on her lights. It was amazing. I have seen stars when camping before, but the milky way was so so clear.  I had never seen anything like it.  I have to be able to share this with my family.  We will have to go some place you can see it together.  So worth it!

Ofi Creek to Nauro

Day 4

Woke up to a beautiful morning at camp.  Was so wonderful sticking my head out of the tent this morning and looking around.  Hard to believe where I am sometimes.

After breakfast, we were told we were doing in the morning what we did all of yesterday.  That sounded like a challenge to me.

David is very happy with how our group is going.  The 3 brothers are all smashing it out so far, lets hope they can all hang in there.

We started the day with a creek crossing which was pretty hard on the rocks cause they were so slippery, but the porters all helped us over, if you needed it. It was a hard slog up some pretty tough hills, but we all made it together as group.  We just get into it, no one complains, we know what needs to be done, and we do it.  The hardest part is to make sure you are looking around an enjoy things as you are doing the hard work.

We got all the way to the top and David told us a story about some diggers that got lost on the wrong ridge line.  After a short break we got stuck back into it and headed to our lunch stop.

Four hours of hard work but we made it to lunch.  We were able to eat, rest a little, hand out wet clothes.  The lunch stop location was amazing.  As we were coming into it, it just transformed into some amazing open views, instead of the dense jungle we had been tracking through. Hard to believe how much it changes sometimes.

The hard stuff was over for the day, except this meant we had to go back down the hills, which is pretty hard on the knees.  After a while of heading down, the landscape changed as we reached an area called the swamp.  The name said it all and the it did not disappoint us as it looked and felt just like one.  Took about 40 mins to get through it.  A few more mud and creek crossing bought us to a massive river crossing.  Previous trekker and porters had fallen a few big trees that were now being used as a bridge.  The green Machine quickly set up some ropes up to help us over the log without falling into the river.(they are very thoughtful)

Was not far form here where we reached tonight camp, which was a little village that had been created just for trekkers.  It had a creek running through it which we had a great bath in.  It was again cold, but so refreshing.  It is a great way of cooling down and relaxing the body.

The village is looked after by 3 families and there are a few kids around. Once the sun had gone down, I bought out some glow sticks for the kids.  The loved them!  As it was already dark, the kids were in their huts, but one of the green machine walked me over to the village and one brave little kid come out.  I cracked the glow stick and the smile on his face was amazing. Once the other saw what was going on, they came from everywhere.  They were all dancing around with them and having fun.  No photos though as it was so dark.

The green machine cooked again, looks like they will be doing it every dinner time.   It was then story time.  We were all pretty tired tonight and only managed 8:30 before we hit the sack.

I have so many stories to share, would be great to be able to talk on the phone :D

Dump 66 to Ofi Creek

Day 3

Woke up after a pretty good sleep at around 6am.  Poked my head out the tent to see what was going on and a few people were already up so I thought I better get a move on and all my stuff packed back away.  It was even harder to fit the stuff in this time, maybe I found more stuff while walking.

Just got done when Name Sake headed over to start packing my tent away.  Had a little chat to him about the track.  Very nice guy, very quiet, but very nice.

We had porridge for breakfast cooked with hot water, which the guys have had on boil well before anyone was awake. Also got to have a coffee, which made me feel good about things.  Just before leaving I had to take my first pit stop in the local toilet that the village had provided.  We have been given a tip about the best way to use the.  Still pretty hard work on the legs :D

David told us and showed us on the map where we were headed today.  Looking up I could see the ridge he was talking about and it was a pretty sleep incline.  I could not wait to get stuck into it.

We headed off about 8am and climbed up for about an hour until we reached Imita Ridge.  This was the furthest point the Aussies got push back too during the war.  We had come a long way, but when you are back in Australia, looking at a map, it looks very close to Port Moresby.  David told us about the person in charge had to call up from the previous position and tell them he could not hold it and had to withdraw back to Imita Ridge as it was a better position to hold on from.  They told him he could move back to there, but that was it.  He would hold it or die there.  Pretty blunt way of letting them know.


We headed down the hill again and it was very slippery and hard to keep your footing.  The porters cut us all a walking pole out of the bush and trimmed it up so it was nice on the hand.  This would help to stop slipping over....well attempt to help us.  (It turned out that we kept the sticks for the entire trip, it just felt right walking with it.) The little bit of rain from last night made the roots and rocks very slippery, I started to think about what it would be like after weeks or month of rain and the threat of enemy contact at any moment.

We had to cross the Ua-Ule creek 9 times today so it looked like we would be getting wet feet today.

David had told us that he had not had a group this year go as well and as far sticking together while walking.  He was pretty exited that we were all going to have a great trip together and so was I.

We got to do a little side trek.  We left our bags and walked off the track to see some foxholes and supply pits.  He told us about a story where during the withdrawal on Aussie was left behind in his foxhole and became separated from the rest.  He stayed there from 10am till night fall by himself picking off any enemy that went past. Once it was dark, he headed back to find the troops, 

We stopped by a creek for lunch today and the guys boiled us up some water so we could have some noodles and coffee.  The also cooked us some donuts which were amazing!

After lunch we headed up hill towards Ioribaiwa Ridge which was the actual furthest point the Japanese advanced to.  From the point at Imita Rodge to there they call no mans land.  From this point on we were going to see evidence of the battle that took place.  A little bit further on we reached the camp site for today at Ofi Creek.  David told us a story about Ofi Creek where the Aussie put cans of bully beef in the creek.  They waited for some Japanese soldiers to come down and get the free meal.  They did not pick off the first guy, they waited till they thought it was safe and lots of them came into the water to get the free meal.  Which turned out to be a mistake for them.

The village was in an amazing, beautiful picture perfect spot.  The rain started to fall hard, which made it hard to get sorted, so instead we went for a bath in the creek.  We just walked in fully clothed and washed the clothes and washed ourselves.  It was so cold, but so nice at the same time.

Namesake did a great job setting my tent up again and all my things stayed dry.

The green machine have their own hut which they all sleep in and this is usually where they boil the water and cook food.  The cooked us dinner again.  This time we put all our dehydrated meals in together and they cooked it up.  We like to call this train smash.  We also got some rice which was really nice.

We stayed awake as long as we could talking again.  We managed to make it to 9pm.

Missing everyone a lot.  Would be great if I could send a message.