DAY 2 - KOKODA TO ALOLA

Tuesday 05 May

A 4am wake call for the crew today as they embarked on their Kokoda Journey. After having to spend their night in Kokoda the crew had a big day ahead of them as they had to travel all the way to Alola to make up for missing yesterday. 5am the trekkers gathered under the famous Kokoda arches for a group photo. Then they headed off into the PNG jungle for the next 7 days having to hike their first hour on the trek in the dark. They trekked for an hour passing the village of Kovelo and then another 30 minutes for a short break before another 60 minutes of relatively flat before arriving at Hoi for another break. They trekked out of Hoi as the sun was beating down and then tackled the Deniki hill and once again, this left a few wondering what they had got themselves in for. They trekked through the campsite of Deniki, through the choko vines for 45 minutes before a short break. Then they trekked another 30 minutes with a few small uphill’s before they reached another rest stop and then another muddy hour on the way up to Isurava village. Here the trekkers discussed some of the history of the campaign and then trekked on for 60 minutes to Isurava Battle site and they held a moving service at the monument. They paid their respects to our returned and fallen soldiers and listened to some podcasts of the campaign of those who made the incredible and ultimate sacrifice, such men as Corporal John Metson, Charlie McCallum and Bruce Kingsbury. The trekkers had lunch here and then packs on as they hit the track on the way to Alola stopping at Cons rock along the way. The weather remained hot all day and the track was in good condition as they got into camp in amazing time at 5pm. They are now in camp enjoying an earlier finish today and getting showered and ready for dinner.