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hey i know this is the wrong season and all but i was wondering if anybody could give some input advice into my trek. i am going to do the kokoda in a weeks time and people have advicsed me against but its kind of the only time i can do it so i am going.
my main question is will i be able to see the trails or is it easy to get lost cause i am going solo to do it??
thanks
and any other advice would be very apreciated.my other question actually is there any danger from the environment like snakes or rocky areas where i could fall of cliffs or steep downhills and is there any danger of getting my gear jacked on the trek or on the way to the trek.
then my other question is how do i get from port moresby to owners corner.
you see the thing is i dont have a lot of money.
i am 23 coming all the way from france so the plane ticket took all my money and i cant afford to owners corner or pay for porters and a tour and stuff. also i will start from owners corner and head to kokoda and wondering if from kokoda i could catch a ride to popondetta cause from there i am thinking of catching a boat to lae or madang to see the area before heding back to France.
thank you very much. any logistics info would be very much apreciated.
Hi Khorr
From my own research in the main from chatting to those who have walked the track and whilst it will not be want you want to hear it would not only be unsafe but I feel foolish to undertake the track firstly by yourself more so with no or little money to get to Owers Corner and back again to Port Moresby after the walk you just cannot hitch hike back.
Please remember if you are solo all by yourself if you get lost you stay lost for as far as I am aware unlike here in Oz and I guess in France there is no search and rescue service to come looking for you. You get lost, hurt or injured you stay that way without anyone knowing or coming looking for you.
I have been lost/misplaced more than once here any honest bushwalker will say the same fortunately I had taken the right precuations and without help got my own way out. In my younger days I headed a seacrh and rescue team finding people in a couple of cases hopelessly lost only a few minutes in each case from a track I would hate to be lost/misplaced in PNG without such help coming looking for me.
Go with a group or not go at all, by the way there are many great and safer walks here in OZ that you can safely enjoy and solo if you have to without the expense you would have treking in PNG.
Enjoy Oz there is so much that you can safely and inexpensively do here.
Brian
hey brian,
thanks for the advise. i agree with you, it is dangerous and foolish but i have to try and if i do get of track i can always just turn back and retrack my steps??i was thinking like this i will have lots of food in case iget lost and i was going to use a compase to aproximate points of reperage i think in english its like points of lookouts or what i mean is i will have a note pad and mark my average direction using a compase and using time as well to map my route and make lookout points every 3 hours of hike or so or shorter if there are drastic changes in direction or if there are ideal lookout points. so that if i get lost i will have enough food to last me a couple days and if i get lost i may try to head for my previous last lookout point. if you see this response do you think it is feasable to not get lost this way???
i will also see if i can get a guide or someone to come with me if there is anybody willing coz i know its off season. maybe ill cut off on some housing expense at port moresgby and crash in a church or something and get a porter or guide. i think its like 500 kina or there about i think.
anyhow thanks for your comments.
Hi Khorr,
I have thought of how to answer your post,You have obviously bought your ticket if you are leaving in a weeks time, and I suppose that there would be very little anyone could say to change your mind but I do I agree with Brian, you would be one very foolish boy to attempt to do the Kokoda Track solo.
New Guinea is still a very primitive place, there is little Law & Order, and 'rascals' which is a very nice name for thugs and of which Port Moresby is full of, have little or no regard for human life. It is a very poor country with high unemployment, to 'crash' at anywhere other than a reptable hotel could lead to grief as well as personal injury, and you could well end up a lot poorer in a very short amount of time.Once you get to Ower's and start the track, there are no roads, or signs, the track itself is just that, a track, with hundreds of tracks leading off it to villages along the way. the area itself is dense rainforest, and would be so easy to get hopelessly lost in. Whilst the majority of locals are ok, there would always be an element of 'rascals' who would love to relieve you of your gear, once they discover you are on your own.At the moment there is a huge argument about mining along the Kokoda Track, with numerous talks and negotiations between the New Guinea Government, the landowners and the Australian Government, for one person to get lost, mugged or hurt, wether it is through thier own stupidity or not, would set these talks back and cast a huge shadow on the trekking companies.
As I said before, you would see this as a huge adventure so I urge you to be very, very careful, be aware at all times, language will be a big problem, none of the natives will speak french, in fact most along the track will have very little english. I am pretty sure that you would be able to hire a guide at Ower's, it will cost you about $150.00 kina and would strongly urge you to go that way, at least you would have someone to show you the way. Don't deviate off the track, even with a guide, you will be putting him and yourself in a dangerous position. If he advises against going to a particular area, don't go, this is a very tribal domain and there are numerous incidents of tribal fighting between opposing clans, you don't want to get caught up in any one of these.
Before you start, contact any one of the trekking companies and let them know what your intentions are, when you will start, and when you expect to get to Kokoda, remember this is their domain, and it is only fair that you let them know you intend to do this alone. I would be contacting them as opposed to the local police, who i would not put a lot of faith in. One thing you have to remember, there are no hospitals, and only very few aid stations along the way, run by locals, most who have had only the very basic of medical training. The only way off the track is by helicopter, which you would have to pay for.
Be careful, as a mother I would be horrified if my son was to attempt to do this, I can only feel for yours.
Nettiethank you for your input. i will hire the guide as you suggested then at owners corner seeing its 150 kina and ill probably give him a little extra; and i will also notify and contact one of the treking companies once i reach Port moresby. i really, really apreciate your advice.
1000 thanks youz.
thanks for your input and likewise Brian. I have read them and truly taken them into consideration. anything to help my sojourn is very apreciated. If I manage to finish the trek, i would hope to share more with youz.
p.s. another question, do you know if i can catch a bus to owners corner or do i have to go by plane???
Hi Khorr,
There is very little public transport, there are local trucks which go to ower's. If you contact one of the trekking companies, they may be able to help you get there, at a cost. i am not sure how they would accept this, but you MAY be able to hook up with one of their treks and walk with them. BOOK YOUR ACCOMODATION BEFORE YOU GO.. accomodation is very scarce in Port Moresby,most are booked well in advance. Don't thnk you will just land there and be able to get somewhere to stay. There are no trains and very few buses from the airport, apart from the shuttle buses put on by the hotels. This is not France or anything remotely like that. By the way, I would definatly not go to Lae, which is worse than Moresby for lawless. A friend of mine had a gun pulled on her in the middle of the street recently, she escaped by driving her car straight at him, this is definatly not a place you would be wanting to walk around.
Nettie
Hi Korr and 39th. descendant… good to see there were warnings about getting LOST on the kokoda track… remember the Japanese Soldier who got lost near there in 1943? couldn't find his way back until 1961!!! (hehehe!) seriously though, even soldiers in PNG have got lost occasionally, though some suspect a few "greenies" (SP) were responsible. Others reckon they were just ducking work detail! _ I came accross the story of the lost Jap from Police at Brown River Station. He was the only survivor of a whole platoon. Returned back to Japan to find his wife remarried.. thought he was dead.
I was just thinking the same thing the other day.. although I think we would have heard something if anything had happened to him, no news is sometimes good news.
Hi khorr
I had 1 mate who did the track all by himself and loved it,,about 2 years after that I had another 2 mates who did it together.None of these guys used guides.
All 3 of these guys were experienced soldiers,,but they had no problems at all.
Doing it solo would be fool hardy,BUT,,I must admit,,it would be a hell of an adventure,,good luck with it mate.
Buy a book,Im sure you could get a mail order book on the track for a website in Ozz.(Australia)Try Abbeys books online http://www.abbeys.com.au/
Peter.
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