I didn't come here to do 200, 467, 500..steps. I came here to do approximately 900 and something steps! AND I MADE IT.
I woke up at around...I don't even recall. My mind was a bit fuzzy as I scrambled out the door and into the car at 9am on Sunday morning. My parents, sister, grandparents, uncle and little cousin traveled up to Upper Ferntree Gully to complete the 1000 Steps Kokoda Track. I was so eager to meet up with my colleagues at the mountain too, I was holding onto my phone during the whole car trip!
After a 40 minute drive from home, from shops, from traffic lights and any other urban features; we arrived at the picnic area where many families began preparing for exercise. People, young and old started doing stretches and quick warm ups before disappearing up into the hill that lead to the steps.
This hill was definitely not for the faint heart. My family had already begun walking while I waited at the bottom for my workmates. This 1.8km steep hill was only a warm up before reaching the bottom of the 1000 Steps. My body was already becoming sore and I could hear my heartbeat leaping out of my chest. Everyone went at their own level. No surprises there, me being the last one behind the group. I walked home and around the city a lot - but this is was another level of crazy!
S and J (J being the water, jacket, bag & phone boy) were so patient pulling me up the hill! So many times in my head did I think of coming back down, but I didn't want to let them down. Each step was burning! My butt really hurt.
Good description of the hill right? Now we're at the steps. Before we took the first step, we had a chance to catch our breath and do a bit of light stretching. Is everyone ready now?
Here we go.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four...
The rain forest scenery was such a calming sight along the mountain side. Little waterfalls trickled over the rocks and the air was so refreshing to inhale. My body was already feeling the pain and I grabbed onto the hand rails for extra support. S and J were really kind and gave me little nudges, just to help me go through each step. M and the others were already pounding their way up to the top.
The trail seem to be endless! Steps were getting steeper, rails seemed to be disappearing! no where to look but up. D came jogging down because he wasn't feeling too well. When we crossed paths, I encouraged him to go back up the mountain with me...at an extremely slow pace. I didn't want him to go down alone! I was pleased that he enjoyed the snail pace that I was walking at. Hooray! I have someone who is just as slow as me!
Seeing how satisfied I was, S and J decided to pick up the pace and went ahead of us two. We went really slowly and I managed to get to know D more. We do see each other every week at work, but we're in different rooms and when it's lunch time, it's lunch time - we're both too busy eating to have a conversation with each other.
My family had already reached the top, even my little 7 year old cousin! They were all stepping down and my mum was very happy to see me still managing myself to reach the end.
D seemed to be doing okay, and went ahead of me by a couple of steps. He'd stop for a bit on the side of mountain and wait for me to reach up so we could both stand and rest. The steps were getting even steeper now!
"One step up is another step down!" D breathed out. Naw! How cute!!
M came running down, he already reached the top and saw how "weak" we both were. He explained how the steps would get even more slippery at the top before he charged back up! He's a very serious gym kid...
I made it to the top. I was so happy seeing everyone together! L looked like she didn't even give off a bead of sweat and was still pretty as ever! There wasn't much to see at the end of 1000 steps. Honestly, it looked liked any bush land from the bottom. When you're at the top of trail, you must also decend! Walking down the mountain was a breeze, but you still have to be careful where you walked. We didn't go down the 1000 steps, instead we decided to take another path where there were no steps at all. A few sharp rocks sticking out of the ground made us trip over once or twice.
The 5km journey to the top seemed just as endless as the 5km down to the start. J looked like a shepherd carrying all our items on his back, complete with a stick/staff. He didn't look very tired at all! We even encountered a cute little echidna! It was crawling its way down into the forest land. We didn't see any snakes that day either.
Finally, we all reached the bottom. I stayed with my family for lunch before heading off to Sky High. We explored around and took a few photos.
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| Image courtesy of the Internet - This is what it looks like at sunset. |
The after burn - My lower body is so tired and cramped up right now. My calves, thighs and butt hurt the most, but know that 1000 Steps is so worth it! I've made many good memories with my family and colleagues. I will surely go do this again!
