Its been a bit over a month since I came back from my Trek along the Kokoda track, and I’m finally ready to share my experience.

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! The first and second parts you can find here:

Diary of a Kokoda Trekker Part 1

Dairy of a Kokoda Trekker Part 2

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!

16th of September 2019 

Menari Village – Ofi Creek; 10hrs on track, approx 19km

What a day! It was tough. We started with the intention of walking 5 hours and stopping at New Nauro Village but that didn’t happen! We started the day uphill, of course. It was hard going but then again it always is first thing in the morning, it took my breath away. We past over a swamp area, pretty cool, the logs are all tied together for about 100m. So awkward to walk on, as there was no hand rail. The best part of the day was coming up.. a river crossing across the brown river. Boots off, sandles on. The water was quiet strong – my porter carried my bag so that was pretty cool. I tried to video it, hopefully some of it came out! More uphills then down till we came to a part called the “wall”. We were given the signal to put our hiking sticks away and I basically climbed down using our my hands to support myself. It was tricky but I was glad to be going down and not up! Soon enough we got to New Nauro Village – the spot we were going to camp at. It was a gorgeous village and to be honest I would have loved to have stayed. But soon after we arrived, we were back off again.. Uphill! We tackled the “9 false peaks” It was exhausting- every time I thought we had finished there would be more. I internalised my thoughts, because if I had said what I was thinking I think everyone would have been shocked! Finally we got to the last peak and kept going ( after a short break) we saw some of the Japanese trenches and began heading down to our camp, along the way paying our respects to the lady who had passed away while hiking the trail. Our camp for the night is Ofi creek. There is another lot of trekkers, a small group but we all fit ok into this small space. It also has an amazing river, even I put my legs into it for a little bit.! Early to bed tonight because I’m exhausted.

Highlight: Seeing  my fellow trekker ( Mary) stand at the top of one of the false peaks waving at me as if to say ” come on, whats keeping you?” – I must admit internally I was cursing Mary at that point.. but I absolutely loved her attitude!

Spent: 16 kina; 2 x Cokes

Dinner: must have been too great to even remember what it was!

17th September 2019

Ofi Creek – Goldie Creek; 9hrs on Track, approx 14km

Today was another huge day. As always we started uphill. Seriously it seems to be the only way out of camp on the track. We went upwards for about nearly 50mins. It was really hard going especially for the beginning of the morning. My legs felt the burn especially my right thigh. I felt a bit better about today then yesterday even though we tackled two ridges – Ioribaiwa ridge and Imita ridge, both hard work. We came in to a gorgeous village overlooking the valley. The kids were playing tag with a ball, basically you throw the ball at someone and if it hits you then you are “in’. While we were there Damien pointed out a kinda dip in the ridge line and told us that’s where we were heading, it looked so far away and seriously steep – but sure enough we made it. It was tough but at the top there was coke for 8 kina so I jumped in and bought one before heading downward (it was to be our last downward hike). The mud / clay made it slippery but I took it slow and didn’t have many slip downs. For the last hour it rained- the first time while on the track . Rain cover on and I was all good. It was a quick set up at Goldie creek and I finally went in for my first big swim in the creek. It was so refreshing and not as cold as the other rivers, and a lot deeper, perfect place for a swim. The rain continued all through dinner. We had an amazing send off to the porters and crew- lots of singing, laughing and heaps of goodbyes. Went to sleep listening to the rain come down knowing that this will be my last night on the track.

Highlight: Trying not to slip and hurt my self in the mud along the way to the toilet… I held on till day light… there was no way I was going to be injured so close to the end!!

Spent: 6 kina; 2x twisties and crackers, 8 kina coke.

Dinner: tomato soup, pasta and bolognese.

18th September 2019

Goldie River – Owens Corner; 1 hour approx 6km.

Our last day!! It was bitter sweet. Too be honest I didn’t want it to end. We didn’t start as early (but still still early for me!) and first thing was a river crossing. The river was the one we had swam in yesterday arvo and it was brown and running fast becuase of all the rain last night… and we had to cross it! My porter grabbed my pack and took it across, then guided me safely over.. so cool! Then it was literally a “quick” hike up to the end. We went up together, waiting for each other. Our porters had gone ahead and we soon found out why. They were standing under the arch, with the flags. We sang our national anthem as we went up the final hill and under the arch and through a tunnel all our porters had formed for us, we hi fived them all as we walked by. They also started singing, it was really amazing! At the top we enjoyed the view, took heaps of pictures and came to the realisation that we had done it!! I didn’t want to board the bus, I know I probably will not be coming back, and I wanted to absorb every last minute. We had one last stop for the day before getting back to Port Moresby, the Bomana War cemetery. So sad to see all those headstones, the youngest was 16 years old. I read out loud the letters each of my children had wrote me to the men who had died and I cried big tears. Maybe it was grief, maybe It was exhaustion or maybe it was tears of relief that I had successfully finished the hardest physical challenge of my life so far. Either way this trek will be one I will never forget.

So that is that… my diary of my nine days on the Kokoda track. It was hard, but then again I had expected that! It was life changing and I met some amazing like minded people who I would have never met if I hadn’t taken on this challenge. All I can say in conclusion is that if you have ever thought about taking on the Kokoda track then you need to do it! You will not regret it!

Please share your thoughts on my diary below.

Have you taken on the track? or would you one day love to have a go?

Safe Travels

Kerrie.

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