My diary is unreadable from today on so apologies if I muck anything up.
This morning I get up, get dressed and start to pack up my gear. I head over to the hut to collect my bra and undies I left by the fire last night. My undies are there, no bra. I look on the ground, I look in the hut, I can't find it anywhere. Holy cow this is embarrassing. So I start asking around. Good grief I'll have to ask the boys, they were the last in the hut last night as far as I know and their clothes were hanging there also. This was getting worse by the minute. During breakfast I asked Joey, Blake, Brad and Appo if they had seen my bra. Small, black. Blake said last he saw it it was hanging in the hut. Joey said last he saw it Blake was wearing it on his head. I wish someone took a picture of my face. The boys were cacking themselves laughing.
I never found it, I have no idea what happened to it. Apparently bras are hard to come by in PNG but I can't imagine a local taking it, wouldn't fit any of them. Oh and there's another point for the black book by the way.
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| Alyssa, bottom right, she is training to reach the summit of Mt Everest in 2014 |
We have Alyssa trekking with us today as well. She is the daughter of Glenn the trek leader for Team 1. Alyssa is 15, she did Kokoda for the first time when she was 8 years old, Everest Base Camp when she was 10 and Mt Kilimanjaro last year. She is one inspirational young woman, so driven and determined. She is currently training to conquer the summit of Mt Everest in 2014. If she does she will be the youngest Australian and the youngest woman in the world to do so. She is looking for help with sponsorship. This is a link to her website, will be amazing to follow her journey and it's a great place to get some inspiration. http://www.alyssaazar.com.au/
This morning we trek to the highest point on the track, Mount Bellamy, at 2250 metres. A few are freaking out about it, but hey, we are already at maybe 1,200 metres, so I figure in half a day that's really not terrible to go another 1,000 metres in elevation. This walk is definitely 70% mental. Sure you have to be fit but as soon as you start thinking, this is hard, wow that's high, it really will get tough, much tougher. I can't imagine the freak out some will have in a couple of days when we get to Imata Ridge. They mustn't know about it yet.
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| One of the millions of beautiful creeks |
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| I tried to look around whenever we stopped, always finding something awesome like these little guys |
So the one thing I have noticed is that on arriving in camp at night we usually have a steep descent just prior as we are normally near some type of water source. Obviously that means when we leave the next day we have a steep ascent. These I found were the steepest parts of the track, getting out of the creeks and rivers. The first 500 metres of the day for all of us was usually pretty hard.
This mornings steep ascent out of Templeton's 2 was no different. It almost seemed vertical.
I tell you what it is sooooo good having long legs. Sometimes I felt like a mountain goat climbing a mountain. Then I'd look at someone shorter than me, they would be using their hands and poles to climb, I would just step. I managed to get up the hills fairly quickly, I was probably slower going down. I also realised that if you stayed at the front of the pack you got to rest for longer when you had to stop and wait for everyone else to catch up. It was pretty steep. It was around this section of the track that Whiteleg (Mark, not my buddy another one) was given the nickname Sharapova (she's the grunting Russian tennis player if you don't know). If you could not see him you only had to listen to find out where he was. Poor guy was really doing it pretty tough. Every step, which sounded like a heavy clydesdale hoof hitting the ground, was met with a groan. So Whiteleg became known as Sharapova. Even his wife Sue was calling him Sharapova. All we could do for Whiteleg was to encourage him.
I also started hugging trees today, not because I'm a hippy, it's an energy thing one of my old karate instructors taught me. You wrap your arms around a tree (I rest my face on it also) you can actually feel the energy of the tree, and use it. Joey tried as well and understood almost immediately, so did Kerri. Appo will never know because he wouldn't even try it. He's missing out. I did this whenever I felt a bit tired, usually before food stops.
During our first break Greg reminded us to watch our step. We have a Team 3, who we have not met, they are walking the track in the opposite direction. We are meeting them on Anzac Day. Anyway one of the girls slipped on the very first day and broke her wrist, both bones, and had to be evacuated. This is no easy thing to organise. She still had to walk to the next village because there is just nowhere else for a chopper to land.
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| At the top of Mt Bellamy |
Deb was also doing it a bit tough today, after lunch when we got our new ration packs, which are quite heavy, I offered to carry hers for her, she said it made a difference so that was good. I definitely noticed but didn't mind at all.
Anyway so we walked and walked and walked and eventually reached the top of Mount Bellamy. It was a pretty special place. Shrouded in heavy mist, everything covered in moss, creepy vines. This was another Avatar moment. It was amazing. It changed all the time, one second you could not see anything, then the mist would move and something amazing would just appear before your eyes.
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| Team Kick Ass having a breather |
Now it was time for the steep descent into Naduri Village, where we are staying tonight. Really feeling it in the knees on the down hill today. You have to be pretty careful and not put all of your weight on your downward foot. In fact I'm concentrating so hard with every step it's hard to think about anything else.
On arriving in Naduri after an 8 hour day we dropped our packs and immediately started our workout. We had to pair up I paired up with Kat. She had to do 10 pushups while I planked. So, I'm planking, slightly uphill. I was just hanging around sucking my tummy in waiting for Kat to finish when I noticed it. There was something on the top of my boot. It was white, fine, about 5 cm long and wiggly. Oh freaking hell HOOK WORM!!
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| Coolest cubby house ever |
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| Just before Naduri, I think this is where I picked up Harold the Hookworm |
I have only moved that fast once before in my life (the time i grabbed a turtle on the head when i was surfing). I jumped up, maybe said a couple of bad words, Kat jumped up. It was mayhem. Appo was saying that a hookworm is a terrible excuse to get out of a workout. He was laughing also. I struggled to find a stick to get the thing off, I wasn't touching it. Finally got it off. You know how I was talking about vermin earlier in my blog, THIS is what I was talking about. Animals including vermin are attracted to me like explosive checks are attracted to me.
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| Walking down to Naduri to meet Ovuru Ndiki. The get rid of all the grass so they don't' have to keep mowing it, with a machete |
Later in the afternoon we head down to Naduri village. We are meeting Ovuru Ndiki, who is one of the last surviving Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels. He is 108 years old, we think, he looks it. He is now wheelchair bound but otherwise looks pretty good for someone his age. During the war across the track in 1942 Ovuru and many other Papua New Guineans carried our injured soldiers to safety. They were known as the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.
Nice way to end the day. Oh and I had something meaty for dinner after two nights of vegetarian curry stuff. I was a happy camper.
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| Just casually hanging your machetes up |
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| Ovuru Ndiki and myself, he is holding a medal he received from the Australian Government only a couple of years ago |
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| Some Naduri Village kids |
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