Ben and I had spent a while Thursday night(after few drinks in the bar) sorting out things to send back to Madang on the VSO vehicle, was a case of taking only what we needed for the trek up the mountain. Jake, one of the volunteers working in Kundiawa, had set up all the booking for us on the hike. We own him a big thank you, and a few bottles of SP will be his payment on his next trip to Madang.

On Friday morning, Ben and I said our goodbyes to all the volunteers heading back to Madang. They were all planning for an 8 hour trip back, with the exception of Charyle and Jolanda who got to fly back via helicopter from Goroka. They know some of the pilots of the company and they were in the area. I am looking forward to seeing the  video shoot from the helicopter that they took.

After the volunteers had headed away, we met up with Martin, our contact for the next few days, Jake popped in as well, to wish us all the best on your attempt at the mountain. He had completed it twice already. Gave us a few good tips , and things we could expect. Next was a little trip to the shop, to buy some food for the few days. We needed food for the day and night in base camp, and a little snack for breakfast the following morning, along with some snacks for the actual trek up. Good old two minute noodles, a stable part of many volunteers here in PNG. Quick to cook and really light to carry, ideal for going on a trek. We also got some chocolate and dry biscuits for the hike. With everything now purchased, we met up with Martin and headed off in the jeep for the 3 hour drive up to the lodge where we would be staying for two nights. Now the jeep becomes a PMV, so locals who needed to go back up the mountain road, also hopped in and paid for the trip up. It is an open top back jeep, and I would guess 20 people were all in the back, full has new meaning here in PNG. Health and safety at home would throw a fit if they saw it Myself and Ben were allowed sit in the front, which for me was ok, but as Ben is 6ft 7″ , he was very cramped. One advantage of been small !!

The road trip up, was interesting, it has many bad sections, so think of massive holes in the middle of the road, and long water drains, down the middle of the road, and that gives you a little idea. Driving up in 4WD mode is a must, without it, you would need a donkey. no car would get up without 4WD. A lot of bouncing around is done inside, as you can imagine. We stopped off once or twice along the way for a little break for food and toilet. At one stop, we got some beautiful strawberries, a full bunch for about 5 cent, can you imagine that. Think I have paid 4 euro for same about back in Dublin. As you can imagine I ate a lot of them   Finally, after a little over 3 hours to drive 40 km, we arrived at the lodge.

The lodge is called Camp JJ, and it is just in the process of been built. Some of the facilities are there, and it will look very impressive when it is all done sometime in 2010/2011. We both had a nice big room, with on suite shower and hot water, imagine that. Let me tell you that is a luxury here. After checking into the rooms and offloading the rucksacks, we headed then out for a short walk around camp JJ, some nice short walks there. Then it was time to come back for evening meal and chat with martin and some of the guides who work there. I had the best roast potatoes since leaving Ireland that night Crops grow very well in the highlands, potatoes in particular. I can vouch for that. Power is on from 6 pm until around 10 pm depending on fuel for the generator. I headed to bed around 9 pm, to be up at 7 am for breakfast and the start of our walk up the mountain to base camp.