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This morning Tom Wilson and his friend Christian Powell were up bright and early for a 6am departure to head out to Owers' Corner to commence their trek. One of the longest walkers, John Derick Eroro is their guide who has walked hundreds of times across the track.
Both trekkers are farmers from NSW and last night when I met up them, they looked quite excited and ready to GO!!!
At some stage this trek will meet up with our other trek that left a couple of days ago. Our guide will aim to try and get Tom and Christian from Owers' Corner to Ioribaiwa Village today but it will depend on how they are going as our treks are not set in concrete and the guide has the discretion to pull up wherever he sees fit based on how they are coping with the hot and humid conditions.
Sorry cannot be updated from PNG as the internet is down at present. When the internet is up we will upload Photo's of the trek. Please keep an eye on this news section for updates. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will update as soon as we can.
Trekkers are doing extremly well. They managed to reach Ioribaiwa mid afternoon and a decision was made to move on to Jap's Ladder.
Updated from Australia…
Hello Tom and Christian, glad to hear you were able to go past Ioribaiwa. Hope the humidity is not a problem. Did you see big yellow moon last night? Waiting on more news. Bob says "grader boarding complete". Rain is about. Take care!
Hello boys! We think you should do the track then return. Good to see you are doing well. Take care and have fun! Ga & Will
John Derick phoned up this morning to say they spent the night at Brigade Hill and today were going to try and reach Templeton's Crossing. Apparently Tom has developed some blisters which has slowed them down a little but all is ok and as I spoke to John this morning around 7am they were getting ready to move out.
Unfortunately due to a power blackout which altered my internet connections, I have only just now this morning been able to access the internet to post photographs taken when they were driven out to Owers' Corner the drop off point.
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IMGP1261.jpgTheir guide John Derick Eroro a veteran of hundreds of treks spanning over 20 years.
IMGP1262.jpgHello Tom! I hope your blisters aren't too bad. I packed lots of things in the First Aid Kit that should help and Mum put blister packs in your bag too! haha
I still have my blisters from our walk last Tuesday!
Lots of rain in Brisbane and it is raining in Gundy, St George and up to Roma.
HelGA
A big hello to 500Hey T & C, glad to hear you're doing so well! Hope the blisters are not too bad Tom. The photos are great. Can't wait to hear more news!
hi boys. fantastic photos! good luck for the next leg of the trek. hope your blisters are better soon tom.
John called in by sat phone around 3pm to say they were at Mt Bellamy the highest point on the track and were heading down to Templeton's I where they plan on spending the night.
Tom continues to struggle with his blister problem but apart from that they the are both well. They are almost home as they can see Kokoda from Mt Bellamy area and will know they are on the home straight now which should inspire them to step up the pace.
They are due to arrive in Kokoda on the 3rd so all is still going according to plan.
IMGP4101__Small_.JPGDoing well guys, Fergus wishes he was there too! Not long until you'll be enjoying cocktails back in PM, reminising about the 'good times' on the trip!
Enjoy, love janineUpdate 2nd Feb: The team have now reached Alola Village where they are stopping for lunch before pushing on down to the Isurava Monument area. The plan is to spend the night at Isurava Village and then walk off the track tomorrow.
Photographs:
Pic 1: Eora Creek which they would have crossed over today.
Pic 2: Alola Village
Pic 3: The track from Alola Village to Isurava
Pic 4: Isurava Memorial
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D2_ISURAVA_MEMORIAL__Small_.JPGUpdate 3rd Feb: Congratulations to trek 652 who have just walked off the track in Kokoda around 10:45 am this morning.
As I type this they are walking around the 'Kokoda Station' before heading down to Orohaven Kokoda Retreat where they will rest until the drive down to Popondetta tomorrow morning for their flight at 1300 hours back to Port Moresby.
Congratulations boys!! So happy you did it and so fast! Who got there first?
See you Friday!
Love Helga xox
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