Kokoda

Hey all.

As I posted before in the shoutbox, on the 2nd of July I'm heading over to Papua New Guinea to walk the Kokoda track (96km mud track which was a WW2 battlefield between the Aussies and the Japanese) and coming back on the 16th

After about 3 years of planning its finally going ahead haha.

Thats all that I can really post about it at the moment (sorry CC), will see if I can get some pics up of the gear I have later on, for those that are interested.

tread carefully

Well I'm off

See ya's in 2 weeks!

Cya! Have fun!

All the best. Soak it up and I know you'll enjoy it - maybe not all of it whilst you are actually doing it. lol After the event and reflecting the not so good parts are good memories too.

This has been a long time in the making this trip - finally all systems go.

Have fun

Have a good trip whos
Sounds like an awesome walk.

Look forward to the rundown after!

Hello all

Well I got back on Saturday after one hell of a trip!

Day one was spent mostly in transit (Hobart-Brisbane-Port Moresby).


(Port Moresby from the air, probably the best view of it...)

On the plane ride from Brisbane I managed to befriend a local of the city, which came in handy as when I landed in Port Moresby the pick up from the hotel that was meant to be there, wasn't. Him and his wife then rang up the hotel to see what was going on, and stayed with me till the pick up and Wayne (Australian trek leader) arrived. Which was a good thing, to paint a picture, its 11pm, there's lots of people around, a few suss looking groups around the front of the airport, 4wd utes seem to be the vehicle of choice as trays are handy to transport people. Yea, its that kind of place.

Later found out that my new friend is actually a Lieutenant Colonel in the PNG Defense Force, and his wife works for another hotel there, and said to contact them next time I'm there, so its good to have friends in high places

Bus ride from the airport to the jetty from where I had to take a boat ride to the island hotel however is when the shit hit the fan. Ever have that feeling that something isnt right? I did, before uttering the words "oh shit wheres.... oh f***! WHERES MY PASSPORT!? AND TRAVEL DOCUMENTS?! AND LOCAL CURRENCY!? F***!"

Yea, with in an hour of being in a foreign country, my passport, documents (including visa... kinda important) and $250au worth of money was pinched.

Which meant that what would have otherwise being a hell of a midnight boat trip in awesome weather (around 25c) was spent silently cursing myself with Wayne telling me not to worry about it, as they can easily sort things out.

Good news though, after getting about 2 hours sleep, the next morning word came through that everything but the money had being recovered by airport security, so that was a relief! (sorry if I'm crapping on here...)

Met the rest of the group, took the boat ride back to the mainland.


(A similar boat to the night before... except with a roof)


(Heading from the hotel)

From there we caught a bus to Bomana Cemetery, where the allied dead from the campaign are buried, that was a real shock seeing.




And then from there it was on to Owers Corner where we met "The Boys" (the carriers) and to start the trek.


From here it gets really difficult to talk about the walk itself. Not just because "we walked Kokoda in 8 days" doesnt do it any justice, but because you really cant explain it to people that haven't been there, it was a discussion that a few of us had one night, to understand and appreciate it, you cant go by descriptions, you have to actually do the walk itself.

My impressions on it however, were that it was an amazing experience, and I got so much more out of it than I ever expected to. The group itself was great with no disagreements, which surprised everyone, even the leaders.

Reading about these events and battles is one thing. But actually being at the village of Isurava and seeing Kingsburys Rock (google it), seeing the Memorial at Isurava which I've only ever seen in pictures, climbing Imita Ridge, seeing the weapons pits along the track, being given a description of a flanking maneuver at this site and the loss of life that went with it is what will stick in the years to come

All of the carriers are great, and are there to help you and you will eventually end up great friends with a few of them.

(Carrier with remains of a Bren at the village of Menari)

The walk itself, wasnt really the physical challenge that I was after, not saying it was a walk in the park, but I certainly never found myself thinking "I cant do this"

If I had to pick a favorite moment from the track, it wouldnt be easy, but I would probably have to say the service at Brigade Hill and being given the chance to do a reading there.






(one of my favorite pictures from the trip)

Not one person had dry eyes after that service.

Or the memorial at the village of Isurava.



(Daroll... My personal carrier)


That pretty much sums up the trek itself, sorry if I'm a bit vauge on the events there, but its something that really cant be put into words.

Isurava was the morning of the last day, from there we finished off the walk at the village of Kokoda, where we bought.... BEER!

Now buying the beer at Kokoda was interesting. Went for a walk with a few of the boys to the local store (which by the way proves my theory... that no matter where in the world you are, there's always a dodgy Chinese run, all-in-one store, seriously, you could buy anything from beer to machetes to soccer shirts), and of course being the only white there made me stick out to the point where I'm certain that if I had of pulled out 500 kina (about 250au) without the boys standing round me as guards, someone would have jumped me, its that kind of place. Getting back to where we were staying, I dont think I've ever seen people (self included) down beer so quick, pretty sure that first one didnt touch the sides

Thats all really from Kokoda, from there half the group went home, while the rest (and me) went onto Gona, Sanananda and Buna, which was amazing. But will write about that later tonight hopefully!

If anyone is interested, these links are public, so even if you dont have facebook, you can see the full albums.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150252605728337.327202.728888336&l=09d8559755
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150252630998337.327208.728888336&l=3e0ba196b5

Wow what a trip man, thanks for sharing that.

Nice one mate! From the photos, it looks as though it was a worthwhile trip.
Bummer about the lost cash, but I guess getting the passport etc back was better than nothing.

Looks like quite a walk from the few pictures I see here. Sorry I don't have a lot to say as I dont know very much about our war history and the location.
What are those sticks(?) with the paper on them at the reading?
And thanks for sharing.

M8, that is a great write up and one can only imagine what you've encountered and actually experienced. With losing your cash and passports etc really topped off an experience, there are some really talented thieves out there? All in all that experience set you up for the roller coaster ride of emotion that you obviously experienced and all combined make up for great memories of which will be embedded into your mind for a long time to come?

You will be taken back whenever you see a doco or some other news event about that place of which extends the experience again.

You will have a greater appreciation of the events that transpired than a lot of those that have not done what you have?

Great FB pics.

A long time in the making hey? You had dramas well before it even started?

Thanks for the story.

That looks awesome Who

BTW Who, "Port Moresby from the air" photo looks at first like water reflection until you realise its a combination of parkinsons, cabin reflection and city lights, its a piece of art Who.
LOL "best photo of Port Moresby."

Never quite got round to writing about the northern beaches sorry.

Basically, after we walked the track itself, the group was split into two, those that were going onto the beaches (Gona, Sananada and Buna) and those that were going home.

A quick run down (wont bore again with to many details haha)

A lot of the carriers that were on the walk live there, so it was awesome to see them again and be shown around there villages and where they live and meet their families.

At Gona, us being there was a big enough occasion (we're the second group of white people to go through there in a long time) that the people at the village of Saroda where we were staying, hosted a big religious event for us and members of a nearby village. Which included a traditional welcome, dancing and music.

Sananada was much the same as Saroda, a quick 15 min boat ride round the point (awesome!). Except it was the greatest place I've ever seen. Seriously. It would be very easy to lose a week there (in fact I plan to sometime next year). They were very welcoming there, and said "this is your second home, always welcome to visit. Sat down with a few of the boys and group, between us we managed to make 2 cases of SP beer vanish.

Swimming at any of these places in the 28c water meant being joined by about 2 dozen local kids, who once you throw one into the water, the rest are keen to line up to be thrown as well


Onto Buna, about an hours walk away from Sananada. Very very laid back here, no traditional welcome, no music, no dancing. Just a day to ourselves, chatting to the locals, lazing round in the 35c sun, swimming and just generally enjoying the first break day in two weeks!

Yea. That about sums the trip up Cant wait to organize a trip back to the beaches! Pictures from this part are in the second FB look for those interested.

Thanks all!

Zeb, after getting my passport and documents back, I kinda couldnt care less about the money haha. As far as I'm concerned I got off pretty easy there.

Wags, each one of those sticks represents one Australian killed there, there were about 67 all up.

Thanks CC, yea it was an amazing trip thats for sure. Was a shock coming home. Sure has been in the planning for a while (3 years or so), defiantly worth the wait though!

Haha thanks V, yea my camera doesnt do shots very well in anything less than ideal lighting And for the record, Port Moresby is the 7th most dangerous city in the world So much potential, just a corrupt government.

Cool bananas. Thanx for the insight Glad you came back in one piece

Thanks Who's good read