DAY 2 - KOKODA TO ALOLA

Wednesday 20 May

After spending their first night in Kokoda due to a delayed plane yesterday, the trekkers were up early in dark at 4am for breakfast & the first battle cry of the trek before they had to tackle two days of trekking in one. Then they gathered under the Kokoda arches for a group photo before starting the epic trek across Kokoda, trekking pass the village of Hoi, enjoying the spectacular sweeping views over the Kokoda valley and trekking via the original war time village to Deniki. As always, the Deniki hill tested a few and more than a couple trekkers were wondering what they had got themselves in for. Deniki is the site of the 39th Militia Battalion’s first defensive position after withdrawing from Kokoda. The rested here for a few minutes and then 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 & 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 some time here and 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 for the trekkers, as they held a moving service at the monument and paid their respects to our returned and fallen soldiers. 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. Everything is going to schedule, and they are now looking forward to dinner. They made it into camp tired but in high spirits and are now enjoying some popcorn and pondering on what tomorrow has install.