Expedition Log

Day 6 Monday, 16th January 2006

Andy and James rose at 6.30 breakfasted and packed while Max was away getting porters. They decided to leave excess kit/food/fuel/bolts etc. and return for it later as we would need to get a camp cook and general helper from here as Ora asked us not to take them from Ora village. They met the school headmaster and his sister, a teacher who spoke English very well. They and Max said there were porters in the next village and, they were keen to get going as it was by now 8am. They knew it was 9 – 12 hours to Ora so they carried to the first village and found “3 gutpela tru”.

Off they went but 30 minutes later the porters said they had to go to the coast the next day and turned around. They did however find three replacements so off they went again. These guys turned out to be good and stayed with them to Ora village. It was a long day. There were many villages and gardens for the first five hours. At one stop a sick old man was carried out for them to see but they could not help him. The porters never told them that they had passed the last village.

It was four hours from the last village to Ora. They ran out of water and so purified water from a pool in the stream bed which was full of tadpoles. They finally reached Ora village after a long, final tricky traverse/climb at 6pm after nine hours of walking. Here they found a Western style house surrounded by awesome views and grassy slopes and with a helipad. They met the McKays from Autralia, Garry, Faith, Clare and Kade. All their worries about the welcome they would receive were laid to rest as they were very kind indeed. They slept in their office, used their shower & toilet and ate a lovely meal of pasta bake with a pudding and tea.

Ora Camp