After a fitful night – legs aching, very hot in tent and not used to sleep on the ground, we were woken up around dawn (0600). Breakfast was cereal with powdered milk (yum yum!). Then we packed up and were ready to face the day ahead. The first part of the day was steep climb up to Imita Ridge, approx 200m climb in less than a kilometre in distance. The track we were walking on has been named the Golden Stairs. I supposed the tree roots that cover the whole track could be likened to a staircase!

It was tough on the legs, and our guide, Gideon told me 'just take one step at a time. Every step takes you closer, oh and don't look up!' Which of course I did immediately and wished I hadn't. It's a female thing!

As with the every 'big up', a 'big down' followed, and with the mention of a tea break at the bottom I was anxious to reach the next rest point. As the path started to descend, the full extent of the 'big down' became apparent. It wasn't quite vertical, but you did need to take big deep steps. If I thought the first days descent was difficult – it had nothing on this one! Only the thought of a cup of tea kept me going, and finally when I got to the rest point, there was not even a teabag in sight. Talk about disappointed, I mean, I am British and a morning tea break actually means a cup of tea, and afternoon tea means you get scones with it as well. Sadly this is not the case in PNG. It's just a stop, but Gideon didn't refer to our rest stops as tea breaks again for the rest of the trip.

Having topped up with water and quenching my cravings with boiled sweets instead, we set off again in search of our lunch stop. This part of the journey was the wet part. We changed our boots for sandals and crossed over creek after creek and even just walked up it instead of crossing at one point. Trail, what trail?

Lunch time was the chance to get that longed for cup of tea, and boy was it worth waiting for – even with powdered milk. On the menu was noodles and baked beans. Never had the two together before so that was an experience!

After lunch we carried on wading through creeks and negotiating some tree trunks that were obstructing the path. Just before the last crossing, a group of Aussie trekkers were heading towards us and I had just stepped over a big log and looked up to see Andy disppear over the edge of the path towards the river. He dropped about 5 feet down the bank and kind of rolled. Within seconds, the porters who were accompanying the Aussies ran across the river and went to pick him up. I was horrified – I mean, I didn't even have my camera ready to take a photo.

After this it as time to put our boots back on and take on the next 'up' to Ioribaiwa Village, across a ridge with a drop of a couple of hundred feet each side and maybe only a metre in width, to be faced with the most awesome sunset ever. This was where we set up camp for the night.