Boera Bushwalk - January 27, 2013.

Overcast conditions greeted a huge crowd of walkers and the cloud cover provided a bit of reprise from the normal January heat.  Recent rains had started to green up the area and Boera was a great choice to start a new year of walking.

Leaving the village, we headed straight away to the top of the nearby hill which holds the old gun emplacements from World War Two.  Anecdotal stories say that this was the only gun fired in anger during the conflict and the enemy in question was an island nearby... 

Since it has been some time between visits to Boera, I was shocked by the development of the LNG Project nearby.  This was just on the drawing board the last time I walked these hills so it was a little sad to see what progression had occurred.

The first two hills were okay, but then hill climbs 3 and 4 were pretty nasty as the sun was really starting to fire up.  Even my personal junior guide looked to me for some water....  

The beers back at Konebada Resort went down a treat.  Oh and so did the lobsters and prawns!  Yumyumyumyum!

Kokoda Track, Naoro, Central Province

I once walked the Kokoda Track with a wonderful group of people and I had such a fantastic experience. The majority of our Porters and Guides hailed from the Villages of Naoro 1 and Naoro 2; the first set atop a spectacular razorback ridge and the second in the valley below. As we left Naoro 1 and stood at the road junction to Naoro 2, a couple of the porters called out in the direction of Naoro 2 and someone responded. A conversation ensued and messages were passed. A point to think about is that Naoro 2 was a 20 minute walk from this junction!

I asked the Porter what it was he said down the valley towards Naoro 2 and he said he was passing a message onto his wife and family to say everything was okay and that he would be home soon.

One of the ladies who walked with me on the Track has now returned to Naoro 2 and has offered assistance to the local Porters in setting up a new Locally based Trekking Company. Please click on this link to visit their excellent website: Naoro Kokoda Treks

I wish them well in their attempt to enter a tough competitive market and I hope they find success.

Here is a picture of Lindy walking into Naoro 1.

the Last Bisianumu Bushwalk

Good times… good times.

Some time ago, I recalled sitting up on the Rock of Knowledge, a place where only men sat and drank warm Californian white wine, and dined out on 14 year old ration packs from a Gulf War between the US, Kuwait and the Kurds.

Good times… good times.

I can recall a dear friend of mine from the Southern Highlands who swam in the waterfall behind the Rock of Knowledge, he himself recalling days of yore in the mountains of New Guinea swimming in the cool water of the mountains.

Good times… good times.

And there was that moment where a good friend of mine ventured up from down Mexico way and we spent a warm Moresby morning with Wilson heading out the waterfall behind the Rock of Knowledge and we swam in its cool waters.

Good times… good times.

And then there was today. A fine group of new friends and old (ahem?) friends wandered past the croc inhabited swamp, under the boughs of the Rubber Trees, across the Marson Matting, and down to the waterfall behind the Rock of Knowledge. There we swam and relaxed and reflected and then we wandered back.

Good times… good times.

the Last Boera Bushwalk.

April 5^th will go down as the date of the last Boera Bushwalk that I participated on, and it was a great return to the original days when we didn’t mess around with trying to climb the ridge that behinds Boera. Instead we went straight along the beach front, past the old jetty that goes no where (a failed attempt at fish harvesting) and around over rocks and stones until we reached the old beach and the original location of the old village.

From here we marveled at the Wallaby Grass and the mighty Pandanus and then wandered further along the coast to the coconut grove and the Mangrove stand, in what started to become a lengthy rest stop. But then we continued on and back towards Boera via the World War Two gun emplacement, still looking as solid as ever. As someone was mentioning that they were training for Kokoda, we opted to take on one more small hill before inspecting the town’s rain water tank and then dropping in to see the local school yard.

A great walk, good fun, a good sized group with a nice bunch of crew. The local guides almost outnumbered us, but they were all keen to show us around.

I will miss Boera.

Don Bosco Hill (Pek Pek Mountain) 19th October 2008.

A good sized group showed up this morning to go walking around the local Dame Carol constituent. We drove down to the Badili Police Band Barracks (Taikone) and from here, wandered upwards passed the Old Lighthouse and over to Horse Camp village and the muddy beach where the locals were collecting pipis.

From Horse Camp we then followed around the stony beach to Vabukori Village and after chatting to the locals we then headed up Pek Pek Hill and then (for some reason) back down to Vabukori, for another chat to the local crew. We wandered through the Village and then headed back up passed the Football Field and back up to the old Lighthouse. Here, we then headed skyward in the hot sun with the temperature touching 40C, before sitting on top of “Old Baldy” Hill or Don Bosco Hill as it now appears.

A quick walk around Gabutu and past Konebadu Beach back to Taikone and then back home. A good hot walk in the sun, perhaps it is time to walk the death march again?

Taurama to Pyramid Point. 24.08.08

Yet another great walk by the POM Bushwalkers. A group of only 11 started, 10 only completed unfortunately, and we headed out from Taurama Barracks and bombed straight up and up and up until we reached the World War Two gun emplacements of Pari Village, a prime location for any ship trying to attack Port Moresby via the Basilisk Passage. Fortunately for the people of Moresby, no attack ever eventuated and the guns on top of Pari Village were never fired in anger.

From the dizzy heights of the gun emplacement looking over the late Sir Billy Skate’s old residence we continued towards the village of Taurama and the home of the Surf Club. It was an up and down wander in the sun but with a cool breeze, luckily. From the Surf Club, some of us ventured up to the top of Pyramid Point where we sat for a while, told some stories and just soaked up the view. It was peaceful up on top of this hill.

A flat road walk back saw us finally reach the end of our journey. A good hot, hard walk but full of good views of Moresby, Ela Beach, Bootless Bay and the whole Motuan coastline.

Varirata. 03.08.08

Considering the tough walk to Imita Ridge yesterday, and the fact that I am planning on walking the entire Kokoda Track soon, I decided that today would be a good measure to see how I fared with two decent hit-outs in two days. So, myself and one of my good Sogeri friends did a brisk lap of Varirata.

The overnight rain had made Varirata quite greasy and the odd tree root and rock caused the walking to be cautious in some sections of the track. We firstly walked out to the bottom lookout, and then headed in a anti-clockwise direction, we followed the boundary of the park. Upon reaching the front gate, we then ducked back into the forest and completed the circuit track. This was my first time along the circuit track and it was a great little loop despite the numerous trees which had fallen across its path.

We bombed along and covered the 10kms in 4 hours, reasonably good going considering the slipperiness of some sections where the pace dropped to a crawl. Literally.

My legs were feeling okay after the two big walks over the weekend, where I covered nearly 23kms in around 9 hours. Bring on Kokoda.