DAY 2 - DENIKI TO ALOLA

Thursday 03 July

After spending their first night on the track, the trekkers were up early again at 5am for breakfast & the first battle cry of the trek as they stated trekking at first light 6am. They made their way out of the campsite trekking past the choko vines with incredible views & amazing scenery down the valley on their way to Isurava village. Here they had morning tea & visited the school, played with the kids and also made a donation of clothing to the village from GYE sponsor “Edge” They discussed some more of the campaign and then it was back onto the track for an hour. The track levelled out for a bit which, was welcomed as they made their way to Isurava Battlefield memorial. The Isurava War Memorial is located at a significant point on the Isurava battle site, which the Kokoda Track bisects. The trekkers spent quite a few hours here where, they inspected Kingsbury’s Rock, the site of the action which earned Private Bruce Steel Kingsbury his Victoria Cross on the 29th of August 1942. It was an emotional time as some of the students gave a talk about the battle and soldiers here, as they held a moving service at the monument and paid their respects to our returned and fallen soldiers. After lunch here they then trekked a tough 30 minutes onto Cons Rock to listen to a podcast from Stan Bisset, before another 90 minutes into the campsite of Alola for night 2 on the track. Alola was the major logistics support base and first aid post during the Isurava battle. After arriving in camp at 3:30pm the rain came down heavily however, everyone is well and everything is going to schedule. They are now enjoying an earlier finish to the day & looking forward to dinner.