Trek 955 – Trek Completed

[Boss Meri]

Firstly I must apologise as have tried to put something up several times but the local power company PNG Power keeps cutting the electricity so any free moment I have had the power was off.

This trek left on the 16th April and is now at Manari for the night. Their fist day on the track was a tough one as they walked from Owers' Corner to Ua'Ule Creek. The next night was spent at Naoro and now today they have reached Manari.

The plan tomorrow is a short trek up Brigade Hill and down to Efogi for the night. At that point they will have reached the half way point.

Trekkers in this group include :

[*]Rod Crozier
[*]Brendan Crozier
[*]Rebecca Riggs
[*]Leigh Arrowsmith
[*]Tamara Thomas
[*]Nicole Thomas
[*]Jonathan Willis
[*]John Williams
[*]Peter Roberts
[*]John Pegus
[*]Brian Pegus
[*]Ian Russell
[*]Ken Toombs
[*]Michael Guidi
[*]Pat Vainerere

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[Boss Meri]

All photographs for this trek can be seen by clicking on the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153119692770971.1073741912.374403025970&type=3
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[Boss Meri]

Trekkers have now reached the half way point of Efogi where they are spending the night at Landy Noel's guesthouse.

According to Pat, everyone is doing just great. Today was another wet slippery walk from Brigade Hill down to Efogi but everyone managed ok.

EFOGI – Battles of Mission Ridge and Brigade Hill.

In 1942, Efogi was situated in the large river valley below today's Kagi airstrip with its river known as fast and dangerous. Said to rise three metres in an hour. Halfway up the slope was Efogi North from where Lieutenant Kienzle had cut a second track to the right towards Myola.

The Australian's tried to hold the enemy – now reinforced to six battalions – 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. As Brigadier Potts withdrew to Menari, the 2/27th found themselves cut off. It took them four weeks to make their way, without rations, in constant driving rain to safety in Sogeri.

During the counter offensive the 3rd Battalion reached Efogi on the 4th October wihtout meeting resistance. They were followed by the 2/33rd Battalion who buried the bodies of the Australian's who were killed during the withdrawal.
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[Boss Meri]

Received a phone call from Pat to say they reached 1900/Myola Junction this afternoon around 3pm. They are sharing the campsite area with a couple of other trekking companies. It was a slippery walk up to Kagi today but everyone handled it ok and made good progress.

Tonight they had a singalong and trekkers are enjoying their music as they sit around the camp.

Tomorrow they head down to Eora Creek for the night.
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[Boss Meri]

Last night was spent at Eora Creek. Sorry no update as living here in Boroko, PNG at the moment, the power goes off for up to 6 hours at a time, so frustrating!

Trek 955: Its been a wet few days for this trek as they battled the elements and head to the finish line in Kokoda. Mud, mud, mud according to Pat when he phoned this afternoon. He said the track is very busy and last night they had to share with a few others at Eora Creek. A big thank you to Shane from another trekking company who was only too happy to share with our group. Its so nice when we all show respect to each other. Pat said despite the weather, trekkers are in good spirits and looking forward to walking out in Kokoda tomorrow around midday.

Earlie today they had a climb up to the village of Alola before heading to Isurava and then on to Isurava Village where they are spending the night.
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[Boss Meri]

Congratulations to everyone on this trek. Trekkers walked off the track yesterday into Kokoda around 1pm and made their way down to our base at Orohaven.

All photographs have been posted on the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153119692770971.1073741912.374403025970&type=3&uploaded=199

Congratulations are in order for this group as they walked off the track today at Owers' Corner. Apparently it was cold; windy and miserable so they asked to be picked up this afternoon instead of tomorrow morning. Trekkers are now relaxing at their accommodation and as I type, our staff are still making their way to our base. Well done everyone!

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