As we wanted to finish a day earlier than planned it meant we needed to start even earlier, with rude awakening at 05:30hrs and best foot forward by 06:15hrs. Crossing the swamp took 1.5hrs, after which we began the long and tortuous ascent to the summit of the Maguli Range, via tea stop at Nauro village and 9 false peaks! And, what a surprise, we then spent half a day descending the range, again with ubiquitous tree roots converting the route into an obstacle course, culminating in the usual step drop-off to the creek at bottom - Ofi-Creek. This was originally meant to be our stop for the night, but in order to finish a day early we had to ‘push onwards and upwards’; this time to Ioribaiwa Ridge.
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This was the site of the next major defence against Japanese forces, though long and bitter fighting had reduced 21st Brigade from initial compliment of 1750 to just 304 men. For five days 21st Brigade with support from other units fought off determined attacks before deciding to retreat across the valley behind to Imita Ridge for fear of being out-flanked.
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This was the site of the next major defence against Japanese forces, though long and bitter fighting had reduced 21st Brigade from initial compliment of 1750 to just 304 men. For five days 21st Brigade with support from other units fought off determined attacks before deciding to retreat across the valley behind to Imita Ridge for fear of being out-flanked.
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We entered the new village of Ioribaiwa on the far side of the ridge just before dusk, where we were greeted with a tremendous sunset over Imita Ridge to the south. Being a weekend the locals were in party mood, with some clearly reveling in illicit liquor. However, we were too pooped to joint the fun, with the sound of their merriment drowned out by loud snoring emanating from my fellow trekkers.
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