Hello flower smellers! Ange here to tell you about my Kokoda trek. It certainly was an adventure and one that I will never forget.

I have been back a few weeks now and have processed all my thoughts and written about it at Buzzing with Ange in 4 parts. There was lots to tell and I could have written more, however, I think what I did write will give you a great insight into what it was like for me. (PS: if you do head on over to my place, please read from Part 1 through to Part 4, just to get the continuity of it. You can find the links to all the articles in the sidebar under “Recent Posts.”)

This really was a humbling experience and I have to say that we have it so easy having all the latest gadgets and modern conveniences for cooking and washing. Even hopping into our cars to go shopping is a real treat compared to how the natives of Papua New Guinea live their lives, although, I know they don’t know any different. Apart from the capital city of Port Moresby, there really aren’t any roads over there and it is quite a hike to get from village to village as I found out on the Kokoda Track.

The biggest and most frustrating thing I found was that not being in touch with family back home was a real bummer. At the end of each day, I would want to let them know I was okay and how I had gone and what we had experienced. Any other time I am away that is what I usually do, but not on this trip! No contact with anyone except the team I was with and the porters who travelled with us.

I have to tell you about my porter Armstrong. He is an angel and without his help and support throughout the trek, I would have been even more frustrated. Armstrong carried my pack with all my clothes, sleeping bag etc. I carried my day pack with water and snacks and at times, climbing up those steep mountains, he would take my day pack as well as help me up the big sometimes muddy, sometimes tangled tree root steps.

I couldn’t believe how steep these climbs were. Both up and down. The steps were all uneven and some I had to sometimes use my hands as well as feet to get up there. There are fallen trees over parts of the track and climbing over those was also a challenge. There were parts of the track that were flat and these were mainly squishy mud! There were many times I would fall over and land flat on my back in the mud. Needless to say, I got very dirty!

The river crossings were fun and we would usually give everything to our porters and they would help us across the logs and boulders to the other side.

The scariest part of the track was on the side of the mountain where at some points, there were only rocks jutting out to step on and a sheer drop into the jungle on the other side. I couldn’t believe I was there at times. What on earth was I thinking? Two small children at home and here I was being an adventurer!! These thoughts crossed my mind a few times while I should have been concentrating on my footing. I had to let them go pretty quickly though as my focus had to be there and not at home.

All in all it was an awesome trek and I did enjoy it despite the fact that we only had one hot shower for the whole week and most other times, couldn’t use soap as we washed in the river waters. I didn’t get any blisters on my feet although by day 5 and 6 they were really sore as we would walk anywhere from 4 hours to 9 hours in a day to reach our campsites.

So come on over and share the whole experience with me at my place. There are many more pics to look at too. Then let me know if it is something that you would consider doing for yourself.