DAY SEVEN ? MENARI TO NAUROSaturday 4th October 2003 ? THE TOUGH GETS GOINGWe tough it out today – mountains and all. Yes the tough gets going as its gets tougher. Yes another day and another morning hill climb to start with! I wish we start by going down. We reached the small stream and head for a steep climb to the ridge top. We are rewarded…[Read more]

We went down for about 20 minutes and then we came upon a ridge ? another clearing with a clear view of Menari directly below us. Here we come Menari! From here another steep descend ? a bit slippery and then straight down a creek. We could hear the wild roar of the water below us. This is dangerously steep ? I think the guys will do just fine.As…[Read more]

The Australians tried to hold the line on Brigade Hill or Butcher?s Hill as it became known later when they withdrew from Efogi and Myola. They dug in on the hill?s steep slopes and waited as the Japanese trailed down from Myola ? A twinkling of candle lights shining across the valley in the darkness. On the following day the Japanese stormed the…[Read more]

DAY SIX ? EFOGI TO MENARIFriday 3rd October 2003 ? GOING GETS TOUGHWe are up on the first light of day. The guys are relating stories about their encounter with the cockroaches and rats last night. JT is telling me this morning a rat crawled past Ross?s legs last night. ?Yeah I felt a rat crawling past my leg last night,? Ross puts in, ?And did…[Read more]

7.30 pm ? A hot meal of rice, local potatoes, corn and greens (choko leaves obviously) and tinned meat and tuna??.after the meal we have a cup of hot tea.8.00 ? The guys are getting ready for bed. We are sleeping in this house ? a guest house in Efogi with two bedrooms. Steve is petrified about cockroaches ? couldn?t stop taking about it and…[Read more]

From here on we proceed and again a steep descent ??.Going down, down, down towards the creek at last. I actually said it and Ross replied. ?Yes we are going down and what does that tell you? For every down there?s and up!? We seemed to get used to that now by the way. We took out time cooling off at the creek below and after that a long steep and…[Read more]

After a well deserved rest we start descending, going down, down, down, we walked for a long time we have filled out water bottles on one of the next two creeks as there is an unreliable supply of water till we reach the village. The downhill to Naduri is fairly steep but we proceed for another hour we come across another ridge ? and before us a…[Read more]

Another up down and up through the dense rainforests and we reached the crest with clearing and an old abandoned Kunai thatched house on top. Up here provides us with a fantastic panoramic view down the valley almost to Imita Ridge – we can see clearly Kagi, Launumu, Naduri and Efogi villages scattered on the mountain sides. We rest for a while…[Read more]

After that we then leave for the main junction where we took a route to Naduri our next stop for lunch before heading on to Efogi where we camp for the night. Along the way we passed giant pandanus trees. I have never seen it as big and tall as it appears now. Like me, the guys too are fascinated by this. The trees were so big we felt completely…[Read more]

DAY FIVE ? NADURI TO EFOGIThursday 2nd October 2003 ? A GAME OF THE MINDToday it all becomes a game of the mind ? ?We left the campsite at Naduri very early for Efogi ? our next campsite. We went on for about 20 minutes before we came across an old war place propeller. After this another 20 minutes walk and were at the Myola and Naduri junction…[Read more]

(A big sigh) Relieve overcame me when I heard shouts from the boys ahead. With my fears gone this time a straight lone descent down and where we would camp for the night ? somewhere between Myola and Naduri where the steel shelter is and a smooth flowing creek. And luck was on our side ? five minutes after we arrived and set up our tents it…[Read more]

The guys with the video camera start taking pictures for you. Geoff?s the camera man this time as Ross becomes the movie star. I am starring too ? Geoff?s telling me I should say something to you?..I tried to think of something nice to say when the guys are jokingly telling me I should call you a bastard for letting me in on this ? I don?t know…[Read more]

After lunch and when everyone?s done we start walking. We move fast today since it was going to be a long walk for us. From here it?s all up again. A steady climb at first for about 30 minutes and a sudden steep ascend up to about 2000 m. As soon as we reached the top we stopped for a while all the time looking back to where we left. From here a -…[Read more]

DAY FOUR ? EORA CREEK TO NADURIWednesday 1st October 2003 ? THE CLIMB BEGINS?Today is an uphill battle ? the real climb begins!?As usual we leave the campsite early today at most 7.00. It is going to be another long walk- could prove at least 5 or 6 hours depending on our speed. This time we are going up ? a steady and lengthy ascent to the top…[Read more]

6.00 ? After a hot meal and nice hot cup of tea ?.we went and had an early rest ? today, to me was like the longest walk!During the war this was the site of Eora village, but today it is not inhabited and overgrown. They say, the deep valley sets dark and here you will find another place where we can feel soldiers? ghosts of 1942.ANZAC Day – Lest…[Read more]

5.00 ? Geoff went dug some more live shells came and left them on the monument. Ross identified them as the ones used by Japanese. After this the guys head down for the creek to have their wash and head up back to camp.Eora_Creek_Crossing_No.2.jpg

3.00 – The guys are studying the writing on the monument ? each site significant during the war had a monument retelling events happened along the area during the war. Live shells, both Australian and Japanese, pieces of bayonets and boot belonging probably to an Australian soldier are kept at the monument site.Eora Creek Crossing: EoraCreekcrossing2.jpg

We reach Eora Creek at 2.00 ? of course couldn?t wait to jump into the water after all the struggling. We went carefully over the bridge of logs tied together with canes on the side as a support. Here big smooth rocks which lay on the sides on the creek ? offered a good opportunity to dry off after a cool bath. Of course we found out that it…[Read more]

1.30 ? We come upon a creek, after crossing, the track starts to climb again and it is lengthy but steady towards Eora. It is now 2.00 pm and at this stage we hear the might roar of the Eora Creek ? directly below us. A steep descend on a track which is dangerously cut-off on one side. The edge falls sharply below (last thing you want fall off the…[Read more]

12: 15 ? We leave Alola : After a steep short hill we come across a clearing knoll ? this is the original Isurava village of 1942. We took some time to enjoy the breathtaking view down to Kokoda and the Yodda valley. Photograph – View back to Alola: View_back_to_Alolo.jpg