Hi. I hiked the track in 1960 as a member of a group of senior scouts from Australian States and Port Moresby back in the days when it was not the done thing to hike the Kokoda Track. I kept a very detailed diary of the whole hike and our time in Port Moresby before and after.

This was done by keeping a small notebook always at the ready and jotting down anything that was significant at the time including all rest periods. Many other scouts made fun of me during the day but come evening they were always asking questions about the day—-when did we stop for lunch etc. Now nearly 50 years later I still have the diary and I have posted one day from it elsewhere on this site.

For those interested here is a short section from the diary from Saturday 9 January 1960.

5.30am woke up and cooked breakfast–cream of celery soup with sweet potatoes.
6.15am went to the creek for a wash.
6.30am dressed and packed for another hard day with a 2,000 ft climb to start with. We had no
carriers on this day as it was their day of rest. A heavy fog was covering the village.
7.00am Farewelled by the second group as we moved off up the Maguli Range.
7.40am Stopped to take a photo of Mt Victoria.
8.25am Stopped to have a ten minute rest. We were still climbing sometimes up steep clay ridges
covered with moss.
9.00am Reached the top after a hard climb of two hours.
9.05am Rested for five minutes. Going steadily down hill now.
9.50am Rested for five minutes after an easy hike up and down the ridge.
10.35am Rested for five minutes after a steady descent.
11.12am Reached the Goldie River. Had a drink—our first since Nauro. I took a photo and ate a
banana. We were all sweating.
11.30am Moved off again.
12.10pm Reached the top of Iorabaiwa Hill after a hard climb.
12.30pm Rested at a hut after coming down a steep ridge. Very hot.
1.00pm Arrived at Iorabaiwa after a very tiring descent through kunia grass. We found it very
hot in the sun. We had been on the trail for six hours of which 45 mins had been spent
resting After taking our packs off we had a feed of pineapples and bananas supplied by
the natives of the village. We then lay down and rested.
2.50pm Ate lunch—tin of fish, cucumber, hard tack biscuit and a mug of water.
3.15pm The second group arrived. The sky was fast becoming overcast.
4.00pm Went down to the creek for a wash.
5.00pm Prepared tea—bully beef, sweet potatoes, cheese and hard tack stew with stewed
apricots.
5.20pm Ate tea
6.00pm It began to rain very heavy but stopped shortly afterwards. Went into the rest house to
lie down and talk.
7.20pm Prepared for bed
8.15pm Went to sleep

And there is more—let me know if you wish to hear more of our 1960 trek
Bruce