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Oops, the guys are not quite ready to trek…we turned around and saw our guides (now food porters climbing out of the water to get dressed….I quickly reached for my camera).
Take a look at these guys, not an ounce of fat on them just muscle! You should see how they walk up and down the mountains on the trail, they make it look easy and yet they carry big loads and never complain.
Chris Suma, Eric Uwea, Syprian Haera & Kingsley Boropi:
Picture_004__Small_.jpgOne of our food porters Aiwa from Veselugo takes time out for a rest on a log at Uberi Creek.
Picture_006__Small_.jpgOn one of the hills leading up to Uberi Creek Russell who had not been out on the trail since July, started vomiting. Eric Uwea ran ahead and it was decided instead of Ua'ule Creek we would set up camp at Uberi instead to give Russell time to get his strength back…..yes, I guess my pack must have been heavy. I weighed it at one time during the packing process and it weighed 18 kg but then Russ added the tent and a couple of other items so it could have gone over 20kg.
Our first campsite Uberi Creek:
DSC01211__Small_.JPGEric Uwea takes a break before heading off on the trail. Check out his medical bag….its his baby and he insisted on carrying it all the way along the trail. Eric is another really fit guide and he is our tip to win the Kokoda 24 hour race in August. He is tall, long legged and is really very fast so definitely stands a good chance of winning the race.
DSC01213__Small_.JPGDay 2 – Uberi Creek to Va'Ule Creek:
Bev and Chris take the lead and head off up the hill. Bev always felt she did better first thing in the morning and was always up and away first before any of us could keep up with her. Chris as her personal porter was only seconds behind her and made sure she was safe throughout her 9 day trek.
DSC01214__Small_.JPGYou thought I carried everything but the kitchen sink but check out Bev's pack that Chris is carrying. Our boys have remarked in the past that they prefer to carry for men than women as we tend to pack more than men…..after seeing the amount of clothes the guides took, I can see why…haha
DSC01215__Small_.JPGAs you will see in this photograph, personal porters are always there to help. Chris reaches out and holds onto the back of Bev's backpack to help break her fall as she climbs down a steep embankment. If you look carefully you will also see tree roots which are pretty much the norm on the trail. If you put your foot incorrectly on a slippery tree root, be prepared to slip and fall. For me this was one of the hardest things always looking for correct placement to make sure I did not fall over. As for our Kokoda guys, they seem to be able to walk on anything and still keep their balance:
DSC01216__Small_.JPGDay 2 – we can do this we say as we pause at yet another river crossing on the Kokoda Trail. Of course we can, we have the determination to finish walking the trail no matter what. As Bev remarked, she never thought for one moment that we would not complete the Kokoda Trail…but still this was only Day 2:
DSC01219__Small_.JPGI forgot how many logs I climbed over along the trail. I noticed the boys used to just step over them……but for my short legs, it was sit, throw one leg over and follow suit with the other….now guys, this is hardly the time to take my photograph!
Hey take a look…..this time I am ahead of BEV, she must have been having a bad day!
DSC01220__Small_.JPGAt this point of time Russell Eroro asked me if Iwanted to go up and walk along the trail or take the short cut. I looked up and at the time the river seemed like a better choice……that is until you walk over rock after rock after rock! Sorry about the pic, its not so clear but it will give you the general idea of what it is like…..who said they could walk in joggers…..geez my feet definitely needed BOOTS!
A tip from me, on the strap near my chest I attached my camera as I have had trekkers say they couldnt be bothered getting their pack off their back just to take a photo. I decided my camera was going to be at the front within reach and it worked out really well.
DSC01221__Small_.JPGWe plodded along and finally we came to a beautiful guesthouse out of nowhere which is known as Ua'Ule Creek. I heard about this guesthouse on a couple of occasions but obviously this was my first experience of sighting it.
There is one large guesthouse with one large bedroom and one slightly smaller one. There is also a separate guesthouse/cookhouse for the boys. When we arrived here we seemed to be covered in flies and the boys informed us they were drawn to our sweat and that of our backpacks.
Everything was taken out and dried out of our packs. Our tents were erected for the very same reason. We were supposed to press on but the guesthouses looked so inviting that we decided to set up camp there.
The creek is not so far away and is not so steep to have to climb down to so we enjoyed a swim in the creek. Our clothes were washed in the creek and we felt like new again!
Bev & Chris setting up her sleeping quarters in the Ua'Ule Creek Guesthouse. At the time this pic was taken Bev must have been feeling hungry as she was checking out what Back Country meal would be on the agenda for the night:
Bev_Va__Ule_Creek.jpgThis photograph was taken as we walked into the area where the Ua'ule Guesthouse is situated. The trekkers guesthouse is in the background and the kitchen/boys guesthouse is in the foreground. The food porters were always well ahead of our pace and like you can see in the background the fire was well and truly crackling away and our billy was on the boil and yes a cuppa was soon organised when we walked down into the camp:
IMGP0324___Ua__Ule_Creek_Guesthouse__Small_.jpgSyprian, cooking us some food (kai kai) on the trail. For Bev and I we said despite the stress on our bodies day in, day out, there was absolutely no stress on our lifestyle.
All our guides and Paulo our porter spoilt us rotten and would not let us do a thing. They erected our tents, and on many occasions walked down slippery steep hills and filled up a shower bag full of water. They then would erect a shower area complete with a tarpaulin for privacy, boil the billy and top up the cold water to give us not a warm shower but a HOT one….oh the LUXURY.
We have now decided to use these bags on every trek where a woman is part of the trek – unless of course a male puts his hand up and wants to be spoilt as well.
DSC01223__Small_.JPGDay 3 – Ua'Ule Creek to Ofi Creek:
Today saw us climbing, climbing and more climbing as we headed to Nauro Village. Bev was once again ahead of the rest of us with Chris and was more than likely sipping tea as I kept putting one foot after another trying to get to the next campsite.
I shall never forget Russell saying that we are nearly there…..famous last words…haha
The nearly there turned out to be another downhill walk into where we would be staying on a slippery surface that still had me concentrating every time I put my foot on the ground….dont laugh, this was only day 3 and I am sure I had already slipped over a couple of times onto my butt!
When we got into the guesthouse area at Ofi Creek, it was already looking like raining so the guys went into full drive and had our tents up in no time just as the rain started to fall. This time round saw the boys set up our shower packs right outside each of our tents but once again in the pouring rain we enjoyed a nice warm to hot shower.
Photograph: Bev and myself about to head off one morning.
DSC01228__Small_.JPGDay 4 – Ofi Creek to Nauro:
The walk down into Nauro was quite slippery and Russell said not far now and we will be at the guesthouse area….famous last words before I slipped over onto my bottom and was once again helped to my feet. Each time this happened – a whole 13 in all, I could feel myself going, going gone!
On arrival at the Guesthouse, the guys asked if Bev and I would like to take a shower this time in the creek as they themselves headed off down to the creek. We said yes too quickly not aware of what awaited us.
You should see the walk down into the creek at Nauro……we still needed our personal porters! So we proceeded down the slippery slope with rain and wondered if we would end up walking or sliding all the way to the bottom. We quickly went back for our walking sticks. Fortunately we made it within 10 feet from the creek but that was as far as we were prepared to go without help from the guys.
We are women after all and as such never too proud to ask for HELP. The guys at this point of time had already finished their wash and Paulo came up to help us down to the creek one by one while the others returned to the guesthouse area to give us privacy for our wash.
ok, we were finally at the creek – now to get IN THE CREEK… that in itself can be quite daunting for chics like us but it adds to the experience of our trek and we were there after all for the adventure, were we not? – yes we can do this!
Bev braved the cold first and stripped off to take her bath. In amongst all of this, village women working in their gardens on the other side of the creek laughed and giggled away at us brave souls trying to work out how we would actually do this…
Shower done, we still had to get back up to the guesthouse….Paulo where are you when we need you! So we got to where we could possibly get to by OURSELVES, and then yelled for help. We were soon rescued and found ourselves back in our guesthouse still clean as I still figured there was a pretty good chance I would still end up on my butt trying to get back up the slippery steep slope.
After all of this and in the late afternoon, the children and women starting working their way up the same slope only for them they did it on their own with large cooking pots FULL OF WATER on their HEADS. We watched helplessly as one young girl of around 10 slipped over and went sprawling down the hill water and all. We waited anxiously to see if she was ok.
She then got herself to her feet, fetched the pot from where it ended up and back down to the creek to get fill up her water pot all over again! I mean someone reading this, PLEASE DO SOMETHING about the water situation in Nauro.
This is the only way these people can get their water for cooking! I know they are like mountain goats and can just about walk on any ground level or not, but there has to be a lot of risks associated to falling over at that height for anyone carrying the loads of water they are forced to carry just to prepare their evening meal.
I spoke to Warren Bartlett (KTA) about this on Sunday and he assured me he would think what could be done to help the people of Nauro.
Check out this pic, the girl that fell was one of these young girls about 5 seconds after the photograph was taken:
To continue reading this article, please scroll to the bottom left hand corner and click on page 3:
Children___Women_Carrying_W__Small_.jpg
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