Hike The Kokoda Track

• Orientation Meeting: 6pm
• Accommodation: Hotel

Your tour with Intrepid begins this evening in the capital of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby with an orientation meeting where you’ll be briefed on the your journey ahead. Please arrange your included airport transfer at least 14 days before your trip with your booking agent. Get to know your group leader and fellow travelers at the meeting tonight at 6pm. 

Please be sure to attend the meeting as you will need to provide insurance and emergency contact information at this time. Please let your booking agent or the hotel know if you are going to be late. Rucksack and day pack hire is included in the price of this trip. You can bring regular luggage and repack your belongings into the 55 liter, water resistant rucksack this evening. The hotel your group will be staying at has internet access for an extra fee. There are very few places you will have cell service along the Kokoda track, so Intrepid advises you leave your cell phone behind with your main luggage in Port Moresby. 

• Travel: Fly to Kokoda Station 
• Activities Included: Kokoda Memorial, Kokoda War Museum, Kokoda Track Trek with Personal Porter
• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 
• Hiking Distance: 8.5MI / 14KM
• Accommodation: Village Hut or Camping 

Today begins your trek along the Kokoda trek. This morning, take a chartered flight over the jungles canopies and rugged peaks of Owen Stanley Range before landing at Kokoda station about 35 min later. Here you will meet your personal trekking team along with your personal and food porters, all locals to the area. Kokoda is hot and humid despite lying 1115 ft above sea level, but there is a river nearby to cool off in if you wish. Explore this historic site and visit the Kokoda Memorial War Museum this morning before you set out on the trail. The Kokoda Track is no easy trail and will be a challenge for hikers of all abilities. Take in your surroundings at this remote locations where WWII battles took place, but enjoying lunch and setting out into the jungle for the village of Deniki. Your group will travel on a flat trail through plantations growing palms for oil and rubber trees, stroll by Kovelo and Hoi villages, and then make the steep ascent up the Owen Stanley Range. Your guide will narrate more war history to you on the way before reaching Deniki. At nearly 3000 ft in elevation, you’ll be greeted by friendly locals and with spectacular views of the Kokoda Valley. Please note that depending on the size of the aircraft and the group, the plane taken this morning to Kokoda Station may have to make two trips. If weather is averse, the plane will need to be diverted to Popndetta airport where the group will then take a private van to Kokoda for about a 5 to 6 hour drive. The drive begins with bitumen roads but turns to dirt and has many creek crossings with rough traveling for the remainder of the drive. If this is necessary, your group’s arrival in Kokoda will be delayed and you will begin hiking tomorrow.

• Activities Included: Kokoda Track Trek with Personal Porter
• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 
• Hiking Distance: 11MI / 18KM
• Accommodations: Village Hut or Camping

Begin your group’s first full day of hiking as you leave Deniki and set out toward Isurava village. You’ll journey through choko gardens planted by the villagers and water holes where you can replenish your water supply (your leader and porter will know where the best water is to fill up). Soon you’ll arrive at Isurava, which nows lies 4430 ft above sea level after being relocated several times during the war. Continue on through the Isurava battlefield where you’ll learn about the significance of this site. A memorial of four pillars was built here by the Australian government that reads “Courage, Sacrifice, Mateship, and Endurance.” Hear stories of wartime heroism here as you take in your majestic surroundings and the sheer remoteness and vastness of this jungle. You’ll spend the night tonight at the nearby village of Alola which gives views of the lora Valley and Auberi Village. 

• Activities Included: Kokoda Track Trek with Personal Porter
• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 
• Hiking Distance: 13.5MI / 22KM
• Accommodation: Village Hut or Camping 

The trek to Templeton’s Crossing starts on a trail surrounding by dense rainforest, boasting many rivers and streams flowing fresh from mountain springs. Continue on to tranquil and quiet land on a hilly trail to Eora Creek. Two brutal battles took place here in 1942 that both ended in huge loss of Australian life. You’ll stop here to learn about the war history and perhaps take a dip in the nearby river before continuing on. After a few hours, you’ll reach Templeton’s Crossing where a narrow wooden bridge leads over a rushing river beneath. You’ll see iron rods here where Australian soldiers were buried before being relocated at the end of the war. Tonight you will stay at a cooperative guesthouse in Lokobo at about 6200 ft in elevation. The locals here are sure to be friendly so take some time to talk with these people and to understand their culture. By taking this trip with Intrepid, you are making sure that these local peoples are benefiting from your visit of sustainable tourism. The villages over the next few nights are rather high in elevation so make sure you have some warm layers as it can become chilly at night. 

• Activities Included: Kokoda Track Trek with Personal Porter
• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 
• Hiking Distance: 11MI / 18KM
• Accommodation: Village Hut or Camping

Today is a tough day of hiking as the group will trek up the 7200 ft high point on the flank of Mt. Bellamy, known locally as the Gap. Take advantage of your porter being there to help you on this trek as the the trail takes some navigating. You’ll have wonderful views of the Owen Stanley Ranges before descending around 500 ft to your accommodations at Digger’s Camp, still sitting around 6600 ft in elevation. This village guesthouse can get cold, but is beautiful, set among lush jungle. There will be an optional walk to the WWII significant location of Myola where scraps of planes and the remains of a hospital could once be seen, but have mostly been scavenged by the locals for scrap metal. Enjoy a dip in the river before dinner at your mountain accommodation tonight.

• Activities Included: Kokoda Track Trek with Personal Porter
• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 
• Hiking Distance: 10MI / 16KM
• Accommodation: Village Hut or Camping 

Another day of trekking lies before you as your group journeys toward the Mt. Bellamy, with vistas of Naduri, Kagi, Brigade Hill, and Nauro Villages on the way. Take a brief break at Naduri after making your way up a rather steep and slippery trail through open grassland to Efogi I. Hear more stories from wartime and this area’s past as you trek through this exotic jungle. You can also buy some of the locally grown fruit here to munch on while on the trail before descending back down to Efogi II. The hike down is not particularly long, but you’ll be hiking in the middle of the day and there is little shade, so pace yourself for a hard trek. Efogi II, a Koiari village with about 500 residents, is where you’ll stay tonight in another locally owned cooperative accommodation.

• Activities Included: Kokoda Track Trek with Personal Porter
• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 
• Hiking Distance: 13.5MI / 22KM
• Accommodation: Village Hut or Camping

Get up with the sun this morning and eat hearty as you resume your trek. You’ll begin with a trek up to Mission Ridge; from this vantage point you’ll be able to see Efogi I and II. Then continue on to Brigade Hill where your leader will tell the story of this place as Australian forces were swallowed up by the quick onset of Japanese troops. After enjoying the retelling of this wartime story, descend down Mission Ridge to Menari on a steep and often slippery trail. Have lunch before climbing back up Menari Ridge and enjoy the fact that you’ve ‘broken the back’ of the Kokoda track. Your last descent of the day brings you to Nauro Valley where you’ll ford the Brown River to Nauro and refresh yourself in the stream near your cooperative guesthouse close to the original airstrip. If you’re hiking during the rainy season, this trail is often swampy in addition to muddy and mosquitos are prevalent so be prepared to get wet and to wear bug repellent. 

• Activities Included: Kokoda Track Trek with Personal Porter
• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 
• Hiking Distance: 15MI / 24KM
• Accommodation: Camping

Bring on the next day of trekking today beginning with a sharp ascent to the Nine False Peaks on the top of Maguli Range this morning which will take about 3 hours of serious uphill climbing. From the top, take in the views before starting your series of descents, first with a stop to rest at Jap’s Ladder. Another break comes once you reach Ofi Creek, then press on to historic Ioribaiwa. Trek down more elevation to Uaule Creek. From the bottom of Ioribaiwa Ridge, the group will cross a multitude of rivers and creeks before setting up camp for the night at Uaule Creek. 

• Travel: Drive to Port Moresby
• Activities Included: Kokoda Track Trek with Personal Porter, Bomana War Cemetary
• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 
• Hiking Distance: 9.5MI / 15KM
• Accommodation: Hotel 

Gear up for your final day of trekking on the Kokoda Track. Cross over more rivers and streams this morning (come with sandals or be prepared for wet boots), before continuing up the back of Imita Ridge for a few miles. Then descend back down a trail once known as the Golden Staircase, a trail built by Australian troops during WWII as an easier way to transport food and supplies from Port Moresby. Rest at the peak of Imita Ridge before descending on to Goodwater where you’ll see the Goldie river and make the final climb to Owers Corner. Congrats! You just finished the Kokoda Track. Meet up with a local driver for a drive back to Port Moresby but not before stopping at the Bomana War Cemetery to reflect once more on the loss here during the war; 3600 Australian soldiers are laid to rest here. Once in Port Moresby, perhaps grab dinner and a drink with your group to relax after the long days of trekking. 

• Meals Included: Breakfast

Your adventure with Intrepid comes to an end today after breakfast. Check out of the hotel is at 11. Please tell your group leader your flight details and ask for an airport transfer if you would like.