Nearly one month a go I finished the grueling Kokoda trek. I hiked 96km for 9 days along a muddy, step trail with 10 other people, all who were complete strangers to me.  It was hard both on my body and mind and kinda changed me a little bit. It has taken me a while since I have got home to come to the realisation that “I did it!” and hearing the praises from others at home has been weird and surreal. Going on this adventure was a long term goal of mine and just a little bit crazy, but of course it has motivated me to do more…

Anyhow, I thought I would share on here my diary which I wrote along the way… I’m going to type it as I wrote it, so hopefully it makes some kinda sense and my hope is that it also inspires others to tackle the trail. It going to be on here in three parts… I think that’s the only way people are going to be able to cope with my ramblings!

Please note: sometimes I note how long I was on the track, sometimes how far, sometimes both! There were days that nobody could actually tell me how far (in distance) that we had walked… but to be honest it didn’t really matter .. reality is that I just had to keep going till I reached camp each day without much thought on how “long ” it was!

So here we go…

My Kokoda Trek September 2019;

10th September 2019. 

 – Port Moresby – Popondetta – Kokoda – Hoi Village : approx 6km on track –

First day on the track! Early start at 4am, we packed our Porters pack, our day pack and headed out of our Hotel – we were excited and maybe a little bit nervous! I was just tired and a little apprehensive about the small propeller plane ride that was to come! Thanks goodness it was only an hours flight over the mountain ranges, the view was so gorgeous that I didn’t notice much more else. The flight, and landing was so smooth so that helped too! Next part of our journey today was in the back of a truck (their “bus” system ) everyone piled in and we began our 3 hour drive to Kokoda! Everyone was so excited until about 1 and a half hours in when we hit the dirt road – it was VERY dusty and dirty!. After a long drive we finally made it to Kokoda – to be honest I was so ready to get on to the track – it had seemed like a long day but it was just lunch time. We had a walk around seeing the memorial and museum then meet our porters. They were randomly picked and mine seems quiet young. I don’t know much about him, he seems very quiet and maybe doesn’t speak much English. His name is Pindana… anyhow soon we were off. We all seem to be of the same pace at the moment, but even if there is someone lagging they are not far behind. I took video and photos but not really sure how they have turned out! It was an easy walk to start, maybe about 6km and we soon came to the village of Hoi. The porters are the best, no sooner had we arrived they were putting up our tents and getting snacks and dinner ready, while this was going on I jumped straight into the river fully clothed! Don’t think I will do that again tomorrow, my shorts are still very wet. I decided to move them into the tent to dry thinking that might help.. time will tell. Two of the trekkers brought some bananas and pineapple to share.. we are going to take turns in buying fruit to share around. Headed to bed early… we are up at 5am tomorrow and it is definitely going to be harder…. BRING IT ON!

Dinner: Deb mash potato with peas through, curry sausage, corn, broth soup.

11th September 2019

– Hoi Village to Alolo Village: 8 1/2 hours on Track-

Today we were up at 5am to get ready for our first “proper” day on the track. We packed up / had breaky ready to hit the trail at 6.15am. Right from the start it was full on. We seemed to go up forever, then pause for a break, then keep going again! The team leader Robbie set the pace which was great for me. It didn’t really matter how fast or slow you walked every so often we would stop for one of three different breaks… a pause, water, or snack break. We walked for quiet a while before we had our first river crossing. The boys put out the rope and we used it to balance ourselves across. I so wanted to take a video while crossing but knowing my luck I would have dropped it in! Going downhill was just as tricky as going up, to be honest in parts it was easier for me to use my hands instead of my hiking poles. Also at one stage a root of a tree practically grabbed my foot and I stumbled a bit. A few minor slides and one foot landing in the water at one stage and we finally made it to our lunch spot of Isurava. The history behind this spot is crazy and to actually be where our Aussie soldiers basically buried themselves in ready for the Japanese onslaught was surreal. We walked down to the memorial and heard some facts about the spot before having some time to sit and reflect. This was our lunch spot before we headed off on our final stretch for the day. It was another doozey, basically up the whole way before plateauing out, where we first got a glimpse of the Alolo Village.. set up on top of  the mountain… it is glorious! Quick set up of camp ( I couldn’t help but assist with the setting up of the tent!), a freezing cold shower – just stuck my bits in and soon we were sitting around enjoying dinner. We were also treated to some amazing singing from the village girls soccer team and as it write this now laying in my tent, I’m listening to the porters sing. What a sweet lullaby!

Best thing from today: Was some village boys were walking on by (aged 4 – 7 years) two had amazing slingshots, while another had a huge kitchen knife!! No adults present… love it!!

Dinner: Chicken soup, Spag bolognese, Vegetable Curry.

Spent: 5 kina bananas, 5 kina donation to girls soccer team.

12th September 2019 

– Alolo Village – Templetons Crossing: 7 hours on track –

Gorgeous morning to wake up – fog all around. I doubled up on the porridge this morning to get me through the day ahead, as I watched the sun rise above the mountains. We soon enough hit the trail… the lead porter does this chant thing every morning to get us going and it really raised up moral. It wasn’t long till we were heading up. Damien (Backtrack leader) had warned us that there was going to be lots of uphills today… and he wasn’t wrong. The first uphill was tough. There were parts that I was practically on my hands and knees. I cannot imagine doing it in the rain, it would have been so muddy. That part was very very hard. Not soon after we had our first big river crossing over Eora river. It was pretty interesting to cross, the porters put out the rope again and one by one we went across. I must admit I was a little bit wobbly in the legs. After a break on the other side (I bought a donut!) we went straight up… 500m in altitude we trudged upwards using the tree roots as steps. I had to be so switched on and everyone is so quiet during these time as to concentrate, so not to slip and fall. Halfway up we took a break and took a detour to see a weapons dump. Its still crazy to me and quiet incomprehensible that our Aussie soldiers fought here in some unbelievable circumstances.  Along we hiked and soon we were balanced on the track along a ridge, the land fell either side of us. Lunch was along the track, the porters cooked up a storm in the bush, and we sat and chatted while we ate. We are all getting on great. Not long after packing up from lunch we headed into camp… another river crossing ( a ‘proper’ bridge this time!) and we found our campsite right by the river. It is so gorgeous here. Everyone jumped into the water and were trying to tell me how nice it was… nope it was freezing!! I soaked my feet and legs and that was enough. Seriously beautiful here sitting by the river and later relaxing by the fire – still so surreal.

Best thing from today: Seeing a trekker heading the opposite way carrying a full size guitar… he said he hadn’t used it much!

Spent: 1 kina donut, 7 kina coke.

Dinner: Fried rice, tortilla mix, veg curry, veg soup.

So there it is.. part one of my three part Kokoda dairy series. I hope it made some sense.. I hope you made it to the end of the page… I hope it inspired you to give it try yourself! Part two coming next week!

You can find part 2 HERE!

Thanks for following along on here!

Safe Travels

Kerrie

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