DAY 5: KAGI TO MENARI

Monday 13 July

The day began with a short walk past the church and out of the village to the airfield, before tackling the steepest descent of the trek: a solid 60-minute drop down to the creek crossing. Here they refilled water and pushed through a sharp 10-minute calf-burning climb to the top, followed by a gentler 30-minute hike and a well-earned rest, then another 15 minutes into Efogi on the hill.

At Efogi, the trekkers enjoyed morning tea while taking in sweeping views down to Efogi Village in the valley below. They then descended into the village, soaking up the scenery before stopping to visit the local museum and market.

From there, they began the long, demanding ascent of Brigade Hill via Mission Ridge. A pause on Mission Ridge allowed time to reflect on the Kokoda campaign, before a short 15-minute trek brought them to the summit of Brigade Hill. Here, they held an emotional ceremony in honour of the soldiers who fought and in remembrance of their courage and sacrifice.

Today, the sun shone when the trekkers wanted it and the clouds came in when the trekkers needed it.

 The group had lunch here and then back onto the track with a long descent into Menari waterfall, where they stopped for a break and then 30 minutes up into Menari village. This is the site where the brave 39th Battalion were withdrawn from the campaign before the battle at Brigade Hill. Exhausted and on the brink of total collapse the remaining ‘Ragged Bloody Heroes’ struggled back to Port Moresby. They would return to fight at Buna and Gona. The group are doing well, in ant camp ay 5:00pm. Getting ready for dinner and a few will be off to bed early tonight.