Ower's to Imita.

What a walk! After a dodgy altercation with an alarm clock that has failed us on more than one occasion previously, we finally arrived at the meeting point and were met with a larger than expected crew of hardcore serious trekkers.

We then travelled to Ower's Corner via all points of Moresby picking up fellow wantoks from Madang to Rigo to Hagen; all keen to see what lay beyond Sogeri. At the Village of Sogeri we discovered that our guide had started without us and was well on the way to Kokoda, so we picked up Mr Entertainment and made our way to the start point. Due to the corrugated, rutted nature of the road to Ower's, all of our convoy were reluctant to carpool and tackle the 4WD course themselves.

At Ower's we were greeted with a swag of Trekkers whom had just completed the entire Kokoda Track and were in search of their PMV to take them down to Moresby to a Hot Shower and a Cold Beer. Come to think about it, the whole journey to Imita and back was full of trekkers starting or finishing the track.

Well our Sunday stroll started off with a steep descent down to Goldie River. Along the way there was murmurs that perhaps we had all taken off at a fair clip but it was dismissed as decent trekking; despite the odd fall upon one's derriere.

After removing boots and socks, we crossed the chilly Goldie River but what a gorgeous Gorge of rocks and rapid water. It was then time to head upwards towards Imita Ridge, and time for the track to get muddy. The best part of the track was that it was amongst the shade of some fantastic rainforest and not exposed to the PNG sun.

As the steps got steeper, the tree roots formed a natural ladder; there was more roots than a Heidi Fleiss' Closing Down Sale...

But I digress, the serenity was amazing. It would have been more peaceful if the birds would have shut up!

So there we were, on top of Imita Ridge, none of us saw any bloody golden staircase, only muddy steps... On top of the ridge we met a group of trekkers whom were heading south to the Goldie River. We all stopped for kai where Mr Entertainment recited the famous WW2 poem about the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels which was written at Dump 66 and he also danced a dance that the Koiaris would.

After a rest we wandered back down towards Goldie. The walk was going so well, there was Pandanus of all sorts, huge strangling Ficus and massive Pterocarpus. We all thought it was a Sunday stroll.

And then it hit, the last stretch of trekking from Goldie up to Ower's was disgustingly rude. It was brutal. Many of us walked for 10 steps only to lean over our staves/poles and suck in huge breaths of Oxygen. But eventually, we made it, we also passed out on the grass of Ower's Corner. Exhilaration, and relief filled us as we had a taste of what it was like to walk the Owen Stanley Track.