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I've heard about people using vaseline & as far as I know it's the petroleum jelly one. I chose to use fixamol (also called mefix) an adhesive dressing that you can buy at the chemist – lots of sports people use it for blister prevention & treatment & great for anytime you lose the top layer of skin ie burns & gravel rash too. When I walked we had dry weather & fixamol worked well. I've heard some say that the Vaseline idea helps with the moisture problem as well as the blister thing.
I'm heading back again this year trek 447 in August & if I get wet weather I'll be able to see how my foot care works under those conditiond too.
Enjoy your trip. KTL are fantastic & soo are all the people you'll meet in the villages along the way.
Cheers.Hi Heather,
Not sure when you were heading off but hope this info is useful for someone.
I've had the privelidge of nursing a number of ANZACS & had always said I'd like to do the Track before I hit 50, as I thought by thenI'd be too old. My son was planning to go & invited me along. He also surprised me with the return airfare as my 50th birthday pressie.
I continued with my underwater hockey & kayaking & added in a specific gym programme over 12mths especially lots of leg work.
The heat nearly killed me on day one – I'm not only a Victorian, but am from the southern coast & had been camping in single minus temps the month before going to PNG. Our guide was great & allowed time for us to acclimatise & were usually started early before it got too hot – the highlands noticeably better/cooler. The other thing I found really important is good blister prevetion, trekking poles & suitable knee brace – I checked with my physio & had no trouble with my didgy arthretic knees; remebering that downhill is much harder on your knees than uphill – that just kills your lungs/heart/leg muscles, but fittness should address that area!
I survived & loved it & just booked to go back on Trek 447: Owers-Kokoda-give something back to the community.
Before gaining my title of Lapun Mama (Pidgin for Grandma) I was also known by the name of Heather. So good luck to another Heather & enjoy.Hi Galen. My Log on name was given to me by our KTL boys it means Grandma. At 50yrs I was just over twice the age of my fellow trekkers; 3 of them – each one only 24yrs.
It sounds as though your fittness will be fine. The one thing my very fit 'younger' friends – including my son & his girlfriend – found was that good blister prevention is better than treatment & trekking poles are a must. Some of us already had the conventional commercial ones. My son hadn't bothered with these but was very glad that KTL do present you with very special ones at the briefing. He didn't have a porter & found the trekking pole was invaluable especially for the downhill when your knees take a pounding if you're carrying your own full-size pack. Mind you he did earn the nickname "forget his stick Andy" for his tendency to wander off without it after a break or at the start of the day – luckily our guide kept a good eye on us & our gear.
As you may have guessed each one of us ended up with a nickname & we managed to learn a bit of Pidgin along the way too. I was planning to go back in a year or two, but then the trek 447 Owers-Kokoda-give something back to the community caught my eye so it looks as though I'll be going back Aug 2008.
Trust me once you've exprienced the Track & the genuine warmth & caring nature of the Nationals you can't help but want to return to PNG & in some small way repay them for what they did during WWII & what they continue to do for us Aussies – Keep us safe & make the trek fun at the same time!Hi Donna & Co. Glad you guys made it all the way this time. We met you at the Gateway on the day you were about to start the trek you have now completed; we were about to fly out of PNG the same day.
I was in KTL trek 303 with my son, his girlfirend & another friend of their's. As the only trekker in my group over 50yrs I felt I earned my title "Lapun Mama" (Pidgin for Grandma). I trained for 12mths prior to the trip, but still the heat is a killer for Victorian's, but you do get used to it. Trekking poles are a must as is good blister prevention.
After the Trek we spent another 3wks in PNG & would encourage others to do the same.
I have family friends visiting in a couple of weeks as they're planning to walk the Kokoda Track next year & are doing their research – will definately direct then to KTL & this forum.
I plan to do it again probably 2009 & plan to walk in the opposite direction from last time & then continue up to Popondetta & check out some other site up there – run out of time to do it all last time.
Footnote: Lapun Mama has just booked again for August 2008 on a trek to put something back to Kokoda by way of a donation of $500 to the Kokoda Primary School.
http://www.kokodatrail.com.au/schedule.html#40
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