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My husband and I decided to take up the challenge of the Kokoda track after seeing it on TV. After many months of training in 2006 we headed off, unfortunately with my husband ill from a flu. He still felt he was well enough to do the track and there was no way he was missing this opportunity.
Well the track beat him and after 3 arduous days, he was flown off the track to a hospital in Port Moresby. We flew home to Perth bitterly disappointed that our long held dream had not been fulfilled.
After a few months of contemplating we decided to give it another go so early 2007 we contacted Kokoda Trekking again to book our second trip. Then the hard work started, many months of training, and trying to find challenging climbs in Perth is difficult. Stairs, stairs and more stairs all at Jacobs ladder – for those not in Perth, its 242 stairs that are used mainly by people training for a trek or fitness training. We also drove south to the Stirling Ranges to get some hill climbing in, so it was very full-on for at least 4 months prior to leaving.
End of July 2007 and we're off again – flew to Kokoda station with 5 other trekkers in our group and we were off. Its difficult to put into words the experience other than you have to do it to really understand what Kokoda is all about. I could talk on about it for hours but I'm sure people look at me sideways when I say 'I loved it there'. It really was a wonderful experience from forming friendships with the other trekkers, living with the porters, learning about village life and understanding what the Aussie diggers went through.
All 7 of us in our group managed the trek with no problems but we saw many others that had not trained sufficiently, really struggling. Its not a walk in the park but if you get reasonably fit, you can make it comfortably. We feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity and would go back to Kokoda at the drop of a hat.
As for Gail and Kokoda Trekking, everything was organised and very well planned and we wouldn't even consider trekking with anyone else – we've done it twice with them so they must have been good! The porters are the most wonderful people, so genuinely wanting for you to succeed and doing whatever it takes so you make it. As for me, being the only female, not a problem. When you trek, your sex doesn't come into it, everyone is the same and thats just the way I wanted it.
So for all you empty nesters/mid-life crisis people out there – put on the boots and start walking and give Kokoda a go!
Life changing, absolutely. Better people for having done it, no doubt at all.
Our sincere thanks always to Gail and everyone involved in our trek, particularly our leader David Clark Embo.
Donna & Neil Corker
Trek 340 July/August 2007
Donna_Corker.jpgHi
My husband and I completed the trek Aug 07, he is 49 I'm 47 and like you had very little trekking experience. I was also very daunted at the prospect of Kokoda as it is considered one of the hardest treks in the world. The biggest challenge was definitely the mental challenge of attempting something as difficult as Kokoda. We trained regularly to make sure we were physically fit and as a female, its very important you have strong legs and thigh muscles. We did a large amount of stairs every week which gave me the leg strength I needed.
I was the only female in our group but honestly that didn't make the slightest bit of difference. We had a terrific group of people who had a very positive frame of mind that we were all going to finish. Whenever any of us became negative at all about the more difficult climbs, we would quickly point out that we were all fit enough to do this. Basicly the saying that you can do anything you set your mind to really applies in Kokoda. It was sometimes just one foot after the other, slow and steady but we all made it home with no injuries and no illness.
It truly was the most amazing experience so don't let any negative thoughts you may have stop you from attempting this. Get yourself fit and strong, train with a backpack and just keep saying to yourself that you can do this – age is not a problem. We saw people in their 20's on medivac flights off the track due to perhaps believing they could do it with little training…trust me you can't. Our group consisted of 7 people aged 45 – 53 and 1 22yo backpacker. At times, us 'oldies' were urging on the young 22yo!
If you would like any more info or photos, more than happy to help. My email is dc25660@hotmail.com
DonnaCouldn't agree more!!! Get a porter, carrying a day pack up and down those mountains is not easy. You will enjoy the trek much more and surely the end result is that you've done it and enjoyed it. No one cares who did or didn't carry their own pack. Having a porter just takes the load off, not just with your pack, but also having someone to get you clean & drinkable water, to help with your tent or your gear when you're exhausted at the end of the day and just having the companionship. The porters don't intrude on your experience, they just stay within sight and let you do your own thing. If you need help at a difficult spot they're there, if not then they just continue on themselves.
Good luck with the trek, I'm sure you'll love it.
DonnaHi Flash
We are from Perth and completed the trek in August 07. Most of our clothes we bought from Ranger camping. The clothes were good quality, quick drying and lightweight so perfect for trekking. We just used shorts and tops and took a pair of trackies for night time after our wash. I kept the one pair of night clothes in a separate plastic bag just so I had something dry and clean to put on. Dry socks are a must and its better to take extra socks than extra clothes. Wet clothes won't cause you any problems during your trek but wet socks will. I took 5 pairs of explorers and 3 pairs of liner socks I bought from Mountain Designs. Never had one blister or any other problems with my feet even though the first 3 days of our trek we had rain.
Good luck, you'll love it!
DonnaGood luck on your trek, I'm sure you will have a wonderful time. Another gift for the kids which is light in weight is stickers. I bought a sheet of 200 for $2 and the kids will queue up for a sticker, generally they want it stuck on their forehead! The kids love having their photo taken and then being able to see themselves on the digital cameras, they are amazed.
All the best on your trek, look forward to hearing how it goes.Donna
This probably isn't the right thing to say but we didn't get a medical certificate before we left. We did see our doctor for a complete physical though, more for peace of mind for us, but never got anything in writing.
DonnaOn our trek all but one of the trekkers had a porter, one trek leader and I think we had about 3 or 4 food porters. They generally walk ahead of the group so when you get to your next stop the kettle is already boiled! So we had 8 trekkers and 12 porters all up – a good sized group.
Hi Rhonda
We didn't use a backpack liner but had all our gear in either separate dry sacks or plastic bags. Made it much easier to pack everything in the backpack if its all in separate bags. We had rain for a lot of our trek so our backpacks had their covers on all the time but even so, would still use bags for everything inside. I tried to keep most of my clean clothes as dry as possible and completely separate from all the dirty stuff. I took 3 sets of trekking clothes, some getting worn for 3 days at a time (they were pretty smelly by then). The one set of clean clothes lasting the 8 days, and I looked after them like they were gold!! Best thing was being able to have a wash at the end of the day and put something clean and dry on.
DonnaHi
Our days went like this:
Up every morning by 5:45am, pack away all the gear, have breakfast and be ready to leave camp by 7am. Stop for morning tea (usually 30mins) at about 9:00. Lunch stop about 11:30-12 (about 45mins) then trek until about 2:30-3:30 which was the end of the day. We all had the attitude that we would complete each section non stop…meant that we got to camp earlier so plenty of rest time in the arvo. Worked perfectly for us and none of us were super fit, had done a lot of endurance training though which really helped being able to trek for 2-3 hours at a time.
Finishing early in the day was great, time for a wash, some afternoon tea and even a nap if we felt like it. Dinner was always about 5:30 so by 7pm we were either sitting around the campfire or resting and reading. Having at least 10 hours sleep each night really gave us plenty of rest time and we felt recuiperated.
DonnaMy husband and I completed the trek August this year. We did not treat our clothes before going but took Rid and Bushmans repellant. I didn't use either at all but my husband did. We didn't see a lot of mosquitoes, certainly not swarms of them. My husband did get a couple of bites (even with the repellant), generally at sunset when there were more around. Not a big problem though, not sure if it depends on the time of year.
DonnaWe didn't actually hear from Gail prior to leaving, other than me emailing with general questions. Not sure what hotel you're staying at but I think Gail generally has a briefing at the Gateway (where we stayed) at 6pm the night before the trek starts. We probably left it a bit late, only phoning Gail once we were in Moresby to find out the meeting details. If she doesn't reply on this forum, send her an email just to confirm. At the briefing everything is explained in detail including pick up times for the following day.
Any other questions, I'll keep checking the forum….good luck I'm sure you'll love it. A month on for us, and Neil and I feel like different people. I think knowing that we have tackled one of the most difficult treks in the world, and survived, has an amazing effect on everything else you do. We hold so much appreciation for the soldiers who fought there and what they gave up for future generations. You will have heard it before but its definitely more than just a trek.
Look forward to hearing your story.Donna
Actually I'm happy to say we were all up bright and early each morning with a spring in our step. We had generally starting walking by at least 7am some days earlier, meant we finished the day earlier which was great for recovery. Our trek leader had us tackle some of the big climbs early in the morning when it was cooler and we were fresher, and it worked, we all made it to the end successfully.
DonnaWe recently completed the trek and we also tried to find topographical maps before leaving. We could not obtain them, even going to a specialist shop and asking. They tried to get maps for us but were unsuccessful so not sure how much luck you will have.
One of the best books around is 'Field Guide to the Kokoda Track' by Bill James. Its available in most book stores. It has a map of the track in the the book which we lived by while on the track. It gave us distances, altitude and all the villages and creeks along the way. The book also has all the relevant info about each spot on the track with significance. It was invaluable.
DonnaHi Jafa
Yes posted a new topic titled 'we're back and we made it'. Happy to answer any questions you have, didn't cover all the finer details of the trek just a general story.
Donna
We completed the trek earlier this month and it rained for the first 3 days! We put the ponchos on but found we got too hot and ended up taking them off and just enjoying the cool rain on us. As long as you have covers for both your day pack and main pack, that will be enough to keep everything dry. I left my covers on the whole trek mainly to protect the pack if we had a fall – which we did numerous times! Throw a poncho in but you may not use it as much as you think, handy to have though.
