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I spoke with Pam Christie who will lead our first Black Cat Trek and she had not long walked into her unit after another training session in preparation for the trek that heads out next Monday.
It seems EVERYONE is excited….
- Pam – before she trekked for herself, this is the first time with TOURISTS…I could sense the excitement in her voice
- Jon Segaert – he just wants to be the FIRST and is pumped up ready to GO
- As for Jerry Schwartz – he's a doctor and has packed up some medical supplies for any surgery along the way.
- Larry & Lorraine Lawson are training really hard and cant wait to give it a go.
- John Derrick Eroro – been in Port Moresby since last Wednesday waiting for next Monday to arrive…training….no, I do not think the boys of Kokoda train for anything, they just do it…well lets wait and see.
- Victor….now he walked last year and said he is not looking forward to the leeches but cant wait to get back out there….he too is EXCITED
- Russell Eroro – cant wait to start growing this part of PNG.
- myself. From the time I received my mother's brother war records and found where he served, I have wanted to start organising treks in honour of the 2/7th and other units who fought there. Since then I have read a lot about this area; the terrain; the weather; the conditions our diggers fought under…horrific! and they say Kokoda was tough – you should read some of these details!
The trek has been designed to fly into Wau and overnight for an early start the next morning. Trekkers will be driven out to the starting point where they will commence walking. Depending on walking speeds, some 11-12 hours later they will reach their first overnight stop.
They will continue on day by day until they reach Salamaua where they will be met by boat. They will overnight on the boat, where they will enjoy a nice meal, and on the morning of the 15th be taken across by boat to Lae.
At Lae airport they will be met by Guard Dog Security Services and driven around the sites of the city and visit the Lae War Cemetery and then be driven out to Nadzab to catch the afternoon flight back to Port Moresby when the trek will officially finish.
Photograph: a village along the track. According to Pam, she says in all her walking days she has never seen such poor people in PNG. They will be very excited as both Pam and myself have promised to bring tourists, this to the best of my knowledge, will be the first trek run by a trekking company.
21.jpgPhotograph: the terrain in this area of PNG taken last year when one of our guides walked as an awareness for the commencements of treks in 2006:
18.jpgPhotograph: an elderly man in a village holds up a piece of paper to show how he was one of the fuzzy wuzzy angels in these parts who helped our diggers during World War II when they defended Wau from the Japanese taking over the Wau airstrip:
22.jpgPhotograph: one of the porters points to where the trek leads to Wau:
25.jpgIn some parts its real tough as can be seen here when Chris grabs hold of some tree roots to help him up a steep hill:
28.jpgA diggers boot left behind by a digger – just look at the colour – no wonder they stood out!
35.jpgAmmunition seen here just lying around untouched since the war:
38.jpgIn this part of PNG they still hunt with bows and arrows as can be seen in this photograph:
44.jpgPhotograph: a reminder of what took place during World War II:
5.jpgPhotograph: the final destination, arrival at Salamaua where trekkers will be able to relax and reflect back on their trek. In Salamaua they will be able to swim, dive or do whatever they wish to do to unwind from their trek.
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