No Roads Expeditions - Kokoda Trekking Portal

The temperature along the Kokoda Track will vary with the more elevated campsites slightly colder overnight. No Roads recommends you bring a two season sleeping bag rated at zero degrees Celsius.

Sleeping bags come in many shapes and sizes and for this trek a sleeping bag that is lightweight and compacts down into a small package is ideal. Many manufacturers now even make "trek" style sleeping bags.

A sleeping bag liner is either made from silk or cotton into a liner bag that is put inside your sleeping bag to keep it cleaner. The liner also keeps you warmer by a few degrees. Some trekkers prefer to sleep in the liner alone in most locations whilst those people who feel the cold may use both to keep warm. The silk ones tend to be much lighter but more expensive.

If you do feel the cold consider bringing a beanie.

At dawn and dusk the mosquitos may be flying around so this is when you want some protection. Whilst you are sleeping it is wise to have a mozzie net. If you are in a tent and the fly is zipped up you don't have to use one.

In the guest houses you can either use head net or a full net. If you bring a full net you will need to bring some cord to help hang it up. The full nets can be heavy and come in one or two bed sizes.

The head nets work well but some people find them difficult to use with the net touching your face. You will also need to be inside your sleeping bag or liner to provide the full body protection so no skin is exposed. These nets are very lightweight.

A quick-dry sports towel/chamois is all that is needed as a towel. Just about everything gets wet and stays damp so they work well.

Everyone will smell but after a while you don't notice, except when you have had a rinse off in the creek or under a shower at camp. Most trekkers bring a sports deodorant of some kind but don't bother too much to use it during the trekking each day.

No soap is allowed in the creeks or rivers. In camp-sites without creeks or rivers there is usually a shower set-up by the locals for our use. These showers may not have any privacy so most people stand under them in bathers.

If you want a hot shower and to use soap you can ask the head porter to set up a shower tent at a small cost. They will need to heat up the water on the fire.

Pack two rolls of your favorite toilet paper in a resealable plastic zip-lock bag. Wet loo paper isn't fun! Place a length of string through the toilet roll and make a loop big enough to place over your head. This is one trick to avoid dropping it.

Cut your toothbrush in half to short the length and reduce weight. Ask your dentist for a small tube of toothpaste as they usually have samples.

The small alcohol‐based hand wash gels are perfect and should be kept handy so you can use it often. No Roads will place a hand wash tube on the dinner table at all times in the campsite.

Please make sure you have enough of your usual medications with you on the trek. If you have something you are particularly prone to such as ear infections or sinus problems, bring what you need with you.

Pack the medications in the original packaging so that customs can see that they are prescriptions. On the track you can take the medications out of their bulkier packaging and place them into zip-lock bags or smaller trekking medication containers.

Make sure everything is clearly labelled even on the zip-lock bags so you don't mistake medications or lose them when your pack has exploded open in your tent or guest house when searching for something else.