Day 6 - Kokoda Trek - daily journal

Looking back towards Ioribaiwa Ridge from Ua-Ule






Day 6.
Naoro to Ua-Ule - 8.25 hours (6:45am - 3.00pm)
Pain factor 8 (1 to 10 where 10 is the worst)

All up early this morning at about 5AM, as the trekkers next site as well as being noisy in the evening are up extremely early as well.

This suited me as this was to be a long day and I wanted to tape my feet for the first time on the trek. This was only precautionary as I have not had a problem so far with my feet, but as it is a long day, and we are so close.

So we set off on a day that promises to be hot and sticky. Uphill for the first hour or more. We stopped for a time at Ioribaiwa Ridge where Kit gave us the history of the last battle before the Japanese were effectively stopped and were ordered to "advance to to the rear". This position was supposed to be the final holding point for Australia but we were forced to retreat from this ridge to Imita Ridge where the Australian troops were able to hold and force the Japanese to retreat.

As we descended from Ioribaiwa Ridge we went past a track that led to the goldmine. The local population are so pleased that this has been aborted. Further on I could see in the distance the remains of the road that was being built to service the site.

There was lots of up and down sections to our lunch spot of Ioribaiwa Village. I am now finding downhills harder on my knees, all I am thinking about is getting thru Day 6. I am finding this really physically difficult.

The last 2 hours after lunch I found more difficult, both knees are aching, more do going downhill. The pain differs between downhill and uphill, and just gets stronger.

The campsite is beside the creek, so we took advantage and had a great cooling swim, wash, and washed some clothes. This also felt great for my knees, and I stayed in the cool water for some time.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie and the trek itself. However my knees are stuffed and what keeps me going is that tomorrow we have about another 6 hours. This will be a tough finish I understand. We climb up Imita Ridge, down to Goldie River and we then finish uphill.


Well the end of the day and one more to go.