Of highlands and heartlines - Kanga Village to Clearing Camp

I was keen to climb the mountain, but formalities first......

Zac had encouraged Ian and I to bring a donation of books for the Kanga Village school.
It was a privilege to present our books to Jessie who had been our village tour guide yesterday. In a corner of one of the classrooms was a dedicated library area, which had only a few books. Ian had brought a selection of Roald Dahl novels to donate. I had researched books especially for 5-6 year old children, the same age as Alexis, my granddaughter. I purchased some early readers and showed Alexis prior to my departure. She was able to read the stories to me and so I was pleased that they were age-appropriate. Jessie gratefully accepted our donations on behalf of the school.

Jessie accepting our donated books

School's out!

The trekking team assembled on the common. The porters and the trekkers stood together listening to farewell speeches by Michael Lucas and Zac. Michael was campaigning for parliament so was not available for the whole trek. Nevertheless, he was there to support us, send us off and was in radio contact with us during the first few and last days of the trek. 
Simon, who was a personal porter last year, stepped up to be the local guide. 
Blaizes, who was Zac's porter last year, was given the responsibility of second-in-charge. My personal porter was Andy who had also portered the previous year, as had Kenny, personal porter for Ian. There was a mix of old and new porters with several members from the 2016 trek alongside some new participants.

Michael Lucas addressing the group

Zac Zaharias, trek leader

The 2017 team

Andy's house

Andy's young family

The formalities over, backpacks were slung over the shoulders and we bid farewell to the villagers.
We headed northwest, climbing steadily from our starting altitude of approximately 350m above sea level.
Under the canopy of prisitine rainforest, the track rises steeply. June is meant to be the dry season, but plenty of rain had fallen in the preceeding weeks. This was good and bad. Plentiful water supply meant no shortage of drinking water. The downside was a slippery forest floor, requiring concentration with every step.
The track was still overgrown in places despite the clearing last year. Still plenty of work for the axe men. It doesn't take long for the forest to reclaim itself.

Lead the way, Andy

The only way is up!

Copeland wielding the axe

Blaizes tending the fire

My hat already adorned with rhododendron flowers, thanks to Andy

We arrived at "Surprise camp" (Camp 1, 2016) at 2pm having ascended about 1000m. This small knoll afforded fabulous views of the ridgeline we would be descending in 10 days time and glimpses of Mt Victoria itself.

Ian and I with our personal porters, Andy and Kenny

We continued on for another 3 hours and were successful in gaining some extra time and distance along the track thus creating a buffer for any future bad weather or other contingencies.

Concentration, every step of the way

Narrow verges

We arrived at our campsite around 5pm having trudged for the last hour in a tropical downpour. It was situated at the base of a steep spur leading up to Fern Gully Camp (Camp 2, 2016 trek)
Wielding their axes and bush knives, the boys got to work. 
I have never seen a team of men create a clearing, campsite and tent sites for fifteen porters and three trekkers within an hour. It was a marvel to watch! Andy even cut fern fronds to place on the ground providing a somewhat padded footprint for my tent. He also split a few tree trunks in half to create a "paved" entrance into my tent. This wooden "portico" proved invaluable in keeping my muddy wet boots and backpack out of the tent and protected in the vestibule.

Afternoon rain persisted well into the evening resulting in a very damp camp with wet firewood and a small smoky fire. Trenches were dug by the boys to prevent our tents from flooding.  
We retreated to bed by 9.30pm.

Tarps up!

Clearing Camp