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Jennifer Hickey & her son Zach Holmes are now on the track walking in the opposite direction to the other trek that commenced today in Kokoda. They were all supposed to be walking together as a group of 7 but there was a hickup with Jennifer's passport and she could not leave Australia on Monday as planned. Zach flew ahead and Jennifer arrived yesterday afternoon.
At the last minute, we had quite a few anxious moments, as there was no way of getting them to Kokoda to play catchup until this afternoon so we decided to change their trek around and walk them from Owers' Cnr to Kokoda.
This of course meant we had to quickly purchase tickets for boys to fly in from Popondetta, get the message to the boys, have them picked up and dropped off at Girua airport which not always an easy task to do in remote Kokoda but somehow it all came together and the group walked onto the track at Owers' Corner late yesterday and spent last night at Goldie River. Today the plan is to reach Ioribaiwa Village.
All photographs taken have been posted to our Kokoda Trekking Facebook page. To view, please click on the following link:
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IMGP4497 640×480.JPGReceived a sat phone call close on 11pm tonight to say the group had a tough day as it poured rain and everything got wet. He said they did however reach their destination of Ioribaiwa Village where they have settled in for the night.
After dinner the boys have been trying to dry out everything by the fire in readiness for tomorrow where they set off for Agulogo. So, another tough day ahead as they do down to Ofi, then climb Maguli Range, and walk through Naoro before heading to Agulogo.
Horace said everyone is doing well and despite the rain enjoying themselves. It was Horace's 27th birthday today and he said it was good to spend it with trekkers, his brother Chris and other porters on the Kokoda Trail.
One thing went wrong however, when after crossing over Goldie River in the rain, he put down our GPS and later when moving off he forgot to pick it up again. Tomorrow morning he told me he was planning on being up by 4am to head back down to retrieve it then back to Ioribaiwa. To most people this might be in the too hard basket but for Horace, when he enters our Kokoda Challenge Races, he always finishes in the top 5 and regularly walks home to Kokoda in two days so this might just be a quick run for him.
He is hoping however, that the GPS is still where he left it, fingers crossed it will be otherwise him going back will be a waste of time.
Goldie River Trek 715.jpgAfter leaving Ioribaiwa Village the following day they stopped at Agulogo for the night. The plan was to reach Efogi but this trek has experienced a lot of rain and instead of pushing on to the half way point yesterday they pulled up at Brigade Hill for the night. This morning I received a sat phone call to say they were preparing to move out and the plan was to head to 1900 for the night. Their guide said everyone was ok and doing well. This morning they will run into our other trek 858a who were at Efogi last night.
During the war, the Australians reinforced to six battalions, tried to hold the enemy at Brigade Hill/Mission Ridge south of the village. The 2/27th Battalion joined the battle with the 2/14th and 2/16th. Whilst the 2/27th repelled eight heavy assaults, the Japanese struck at an area between the 2/16th and brigade headquarters. This was one of the most savage battles of the Kokoda Campaign.
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Menari River before Brigade H.JPGAround 2pm this afternoon trekkers reached 1900/Myola Junction. Trek 858a caught up with them this morning at Brigade Hill and after a chat, each moved off in order to reach today's destination.
According to Horace their guide, everything continues to go well for them with the exception of the rain which it seems has followed them all the way.
The other trek walking in the opposite direction have not experienced much rain at all. Tomorrow this trek is heading to Eora Creek for their last night on the track as they walk off on Monday.
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Walking towards Myola Junction 2.jpgCongratulations are in order as this trek walked off the track today and under the archway in Kokoda. At the present moment they are relaxing in Kokoda before flying back into Port Moresby tomorrow morning.
At the moment both ends of the track are experiencing heavy rain this afternoon. Well done from all of us here at Kokoda Trekking.
Picture them today as they made their way to the finish line in Kokoda.
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