Ower's Corner to Dump 66

Day 2

Woke up in the morning after a pretty good sleep ready to go. Started with packing my bag, trying to fit all the things in there.  The hardest part was all the food rations.  Did not work, so I had to pack again, and again, until I got it all in there, well except a few things I decided not to take :D.



Had a warm breakfast and the we packed all our gear and us into the bus and headed for Ower's Corner.  When there we got to meet all the porters who are called "The Green Machine".  We also got to meet our personal porter who will carry our bag the entire trip, and help us out in general, including setting and packing away the tent.  David, my guy is very shy.  The don't like to call him David as the tour guide's name is David so they call him "Name Sake" :D  He had completed the track 32 times.  Pretty amazing in my book!

Steve has Nathan, Allan has Noel and Peter has Dora. Steve is already giving it to Peter about letting a girl carry his bag.

We got a group shot under the start and we headed off.

First mission was to cross the Goldie River.  To get there it was all down hill.  We took it pretty slow as we all got use to our footing and bags.  I found myself constantly turning to check on Steve and Peter.  The introduction to downhill was pretty hard on the legs and was interesting to think about what I might feel like in a few days time.

At the river we took our shoes off and wadded across.  The water was so clear and cold, it felt great.  Once on the other side we put the shoes back on and headed up to Dump 66.  This was not the wartime location but it was close by.  Dump 66 was a supply dump during the war for the Aussies.  We stopped for a bit of a chat about the area and what it would have been like during the war.

A little further on we reach base for the day.  It was not very hard today, but more of an introduction into it.  On arrival at camp there was another group just coming into the village for a stop for lunch.  There was around 30-40 people and they were trekking with Kokoda Spirit.  Already I knew that the size group we had was a way better way to go. 

Our tent was setup by our porter and Name Sake did a great job.  Lucky as later that day, it started to pour down.  So much for the dry time they have been having.  It was nice to see the rain fall, it just felt right. The clouds coming over the mountain and rain starting, looked beautiful.

Spent a great afternoon around the camp, getting to know people more.  Even for sometime to fit in a kick the footy with Steve for a while.

Later in the afternoon we saw a local coming back with a pig on his shoulder.  He told us that he had just been out hunting and caught it, with his dog and machete.  He told us he was going to sell it to people that would be walking past.  They were very happy to tell us about it and let us have a look.

The Green Machine cooked us dinner and then we spend the night around the fire hearing more adventures people had been on.  Allan (Robbo) had a lot of stories about things he had done including competing in the Dakar on a bike, sounded amazing and scary .

Freddy and Dave have heaps of stories about the war and army life in general.  Everyone is getting on really well.  Seems like we have a great bunch of people doing a life adventure together.

Just before sleep we spotted some fire flys flying around.  I have never seen one before.  They were amazing.

Great spot to camp for the night, that's for sure!!!!

Brisbane to Port Moresby

Day 1

Adventure of a lifetime.  This is how this trip was being sold, and this is how it was feeling.  It was a long time in the planning and many many hours spent running around the streets of Keperra and walking the hills of Brisbane.

The day had finally come, it was time to leave for PNG with my two brothers and my mate.

Got a great send off from Nicole, Harrison, Amelia, Marcus, Mum, Dad and Shoshana. Was a bit tough leaving as I was worried about what was coming and how I was going to do it with out my number 1 supporters. I had never been apart from them anywhere near this duration and I had never been in a place were I could not even call to talk.  This was a part of the journey that had not really sunk in, until that moment.

The plane ride was pretty fast and we made it there without any dramas after a quick meal onboard.  On arrival we met David (tour guide) and we hit it off straight away.  We got to have a little tour around Port Moresby to check out what it all looked like before heading to the lodge where we would be staying that night. 

Right away it was clear I had never been to a country quite like PNG. There seemed to be people everywhere, little stalls everywhere selling things from beattlenut to diesel fuel.  There was lots of rubbish, things on fire and people carrying machetes.  That said, everyone seemed happy to see us.  Waving and saying hello as we drove past.

Just before heading to the Lodge, we stopped by the Bomana War Cemetery.  There is around 3000 souls buried there, including unknown graves, like in Europe. We were shown a few ones in particular which David shared stories about.  The place was both saddening and inspiring at the same time.

He told us about 2 VC winners and their battles and a 16 year old that had lied about his age and they gave the ultimate sacrifice.  He also told us about Kensington's guys and how they were the most decorated troops and they were all in the one squad.

David's last words were.
"They gave their today for our tomorrow"


We have a few people with us.  Jim and Penny (Father and Daugher),  Freddy (Daves friend), Allan and Tip.  Along with those people we have the other who I like to call The Kokoda Brothers.  My mate Allan and my brothers Peter and Steve.  We all enjoyed a dinner back at the lodge together and shared a few stories about other things we have done in our lives.

My back seems on the edge, it hasn't quite decided if it wants me to do the trip yet or not..  Fingers are crossed that the sleep helps, not makes it worse.  Either way, there is no real stopping me now.

Cant stop thinking about home already.  Lucky I have a few letters that the kids have written and a nice picture of the family to keep with me.

Tomorrow, the work starts.