Adventure Kokoda

Adventure Kokoda

"In 1992, I was the first of many journalists to accompany Charlie Lynn along the Track. For me, the Kokoda Trail is a metaphor for life - sometimes you've got to sink low into the valleys to appreciate the view from the mountains. Of all the trips I've taken, no souvenir or photograph will ever equal what I took away from Kokoda - the courage to face whatever peak or valley was put in front of me, just like an Australian or Japanese soldier, or a local villager.

Helen Pitt, Qantas Magazine, January 2004

Adventure Kokoda treks retrace the footsteps of the Diggers who fought in the Kokoda campaign. Treks are organised by Charlie Lynn who has trekked Kokoda 40 times. His treks have featured on numerous television documentaries. Charlie has studied the campaign in great detail, is aware of the location of each significant battle site and knows the details of all the major battles. He has written a unique guide book and diary which is presented to each trekker at the briefing on the first night.

Your Trek Itinerary

Day 1 - Monday:
Fly to Port Moresby - check into hotel - briefing on the strategic situation in PNG in 1942 - view Kokoda documentary - safety briefings for trek - meet and greet fellow trekkers over poolside buffet dinner.

Day 2 - Tuesday:

Charter flight to Kokoda - inspect monuments, memorials, museum and the Australian defensive position on the Kokoda plateau where the gallant 39th Militia Battalion first met the Japanese army on 27 July 1942 - battlesite briefing by your Australian trek leader - trek to Kovello for traditional 'fuzzy-wuzzy angel - sing-sing' welcome - trek to campsite at Hoi Village.

Day 3 - Wednesday:

Begin the climb over the mighty Owen Stanley Range. Trek through abandoned village sites to Deniki where the first battle after the Australian withdraway from Kokoda took place - continue to Isurava village - trek to the magnificient and solemn Isurava memorial which was opened by Prime Ministers' Sir Michael Somare and The Hon John Howard on the 60th anniversay of the battle - battlesite briefing on the site.

Day 4 - Thursday:

Inspect the Isurava battlesite - examine weapon pits and discarded armaments - descend to the rear of the positon at Back Creek - trek to Alola Village - drop backpacks - lunch - afternoon trek to spectacular waterfall on eastern side of the range which was defended by the 53rd Militia Battalion during the Kokoda campaign - continue to Abuari for afternoon tea (this is a more traditional village because it is off the main track however it was a key defensive area during the Kokoda campaign) - return to Alola Village campsite via Eora Creek.

Day 5 - Friday:

Trek to Eora Creek - the final obstacle in the Templeton's Crossing campaign - the scene of one of the most dramatic situations during the withdrawal - savage fighting and bitter memories for those involved - continue on up the spur via the Australian delaying defensive positions - inspect the weapon pits as you proceed - examine one of the key Japanese defensive positions at the top of the ridge - continue trekking to the Templeton's Crossing campsite.

Day 6 - Saturday:

Depart the Templetons Crossing area where the Australians fought a bloody camaign over a 17 day period in October 1952 - the desperation was so great that the Japanese defenders turned to cannibalism for survival. Climb to the Kokoda Gap - enjoy panoramic views back down the Yodda Valley beyond the Kokoda plateau - strategic briefing at the Gap - continue climb to Mt Bellamy - the highest point of the track - enter the enchanted Moss Forest - descend to 1900 Crossing - follow original wartime track to campsite at Lake Myola.

Day 7 - Sunday:

Trek across Lake Myola - inspect downed US aircraft - trek to the second Myola lake which was the main fire support base for the protection of the logistic units at Myola - inspect an abandoned Australian mortar position which contains live mortars and grenades - battlesite briefing - continue trek through the moss forest to lookout over the Efogi valley - spectacular views of Naduri, Kagi, Efogi and Brigade Hill - this is the most populated area of the track. Continue to Naduri Village - meet Ovoru Indiki, one of the few surviving 'fuzzy-wuzzy angels' - continue down the valley to Kovovo school - climb to campsite at Kagi village.

Day 8 - Monday:

Follow wartime track to Efoge Creek then climb to Launumu village - battlesite briefing in the forming-up place for the Japanese attack on Brigade Hill - 6000 fanatical Japanes soldiers attacked 1000 Australian defenders in what was to be the biggest battle of the Kokoda campaign - the Japanese referred to it as the 'battle of the Owen Stanley Range - the Australians refer to it as 'the battle for Brigade Hill' - trek down to Efogi Village.

Climb to Mission Ridge (renamed 'Butcher's Ridge by the diggers who fought there) - inspect defensive position held by the 2/27th Battalion - continue to the crest of Brigade Hill - inspect positions held by the 2/14th and 2/16th Battalions during the battle of Brigade Hill. Inspect a former Australian gravesite - haunting - battlesite briefing - follow track down ridge to Vabuyavi River then climb to campsite at Menari village.

Day 9 - Tuesday:

Climb to the crest of Ladavi saddle - follow track to the Nauro swamp area - cross the Nauro River - climb to the campsite at the village of Nauro - 'sing-sing' with the children from Nauro Elementary School.

Day 10 - Wednesday:

Climb the Maguli Range to the top at Mogolonumu - follow track Japanese defensive position - inspect trenches and weapon pits - continue down to Ofi Creek - climb Ioribaiwa Ridge - battlesite briefing at the point where the Japanese were finally stopped - continue to campsite at Va Ule Creek.

Day 11 - Thursday:

Climb Imita Ridge - battlesite briefing - descend in the area of the 'golden staircase - trek through the abandoned village site of Uberi - cross the Goldie River - climb to Ower's Corner - battlesite briefing, cold beer and fresh sandwiches - board vehicles for visit to Bomana War Cemetery - final briefing on campaign - check in at your hotel for presentation dinner.

Day 12 - Friday:

Half day tour of Port Moresby* including Koki Markets, Ela Beach, downtown CBD, National Parliament, National Museum, and PNG Art warehouse which contains the largest collection of artifacts in the country. Check in for flight from Port Moresby to Brisbane and Sydney.

*The half-day tour of Port Moresby is a best case scenario depending on the time your group comes of the track on Day 11 or the time your plane back to Australia leaves on Day 12. We will do our utmost to make it happen but your trek leader will make the call depending on the circumstances - keep in mind that PNG is 'the land of the unexpected'. This might also cause the itinerary to be altered - your trek leader will make adjustments after discussion with the PNG Chief Guide if circumstances are such that change is necessary.

Military History

The Kokoda campaign featured some of the most desperate land battles ever fought in defence of Australia during the Pacific war. Battle honours featuring the names Kokoda, Deniki, Isurava, Brigade Hil, Myola, Menari, Ioribaiwa Ridge, Imita Ridge, Templeton's Crossing and Eora Creek are emblazoned over unit banners on our annual Anzac Day marches.

The historical/battlefield aspects of the campaign are a major feature of Adventure Kokoda treks. Charlie Lynn, a Vietnam Veteran and former army major with 21 years service, has conducted leadership and survival training courses in remote areas of Australia and has led 40 expeditions over the Trail since 1991. He is arguably the most experienced Kokoda trek leader on the Trail today.

Culture

Papua New Guinea is one of the world's last adventures - it has been referred to as a 'Parliament of the Thousand Tribes', a' Land of a Thousand Cultures' and the 'Land of the Unexpected'. More than 750 languages have been identified on the rugged tropical island. The people who live along the Kokoda Trail are Koiari and Orokaiva - sons and grandsons of the famous 'fuzzy-wuzzy angels'. Our guides and porters come from these villages.

Charlie Lynn has established a special relationship with these people over the past 14 years. During this time he has delivered sporting equipment to all villages along the Track, donated significant quantities of school supplies to village schools, sponsored university students to conduct research on learning methods, assisted in bringing a young village child to Australia for major surgery, evacuated injured villagers to Port Moresby for urgent treatment and established The Kokoda Track Foundation.

As a result of this relationship his groups are warmly welcomed into each village and presented with tropical fruits, local vegetables and sing-sings.

Marion Frith of the Canberra Times captures the feeling in an article she wrote in 1992:

"That afternoon we reach our nirvana - the village of Naduri. It is the home of our guides and we arrive to a hero's welcome. Les leads us triumphantly in and we are met by village elders - the original wartime "fuzzy-wuzzy angels" who carried the injured diggers out against all odds down dangerous narrow mountain tracks. A feast of food and flowers is laid out for us: mandarins, sugarcane, baked and steamed taro, pumpkin tops, potatoes, spinach.

"We fall quiet as these old men stand tall and proud. Charlie seizes the moment, the women and children are banked up around, and in a gesture that cuts across cultures and through language barriers he recites the poem that immortalised these angels. The old men beam, and our army of trekkers wipe away tears.

"It is as if we have arrived. Somewhere, anywhere. Our guides sit with us, their families join us, and the village and its people become imprinted in our hearts. Another woman and I join the evening church service and are entranced as the pastor, his face illuminated by a hurricane lamp, recites the prayers in pidgin and the children's voices rise in harmony so sweet we never want it to end.

" We are silent as we get up form the rough-hewn pew. At that moment we have experienced life at its most perfect, superb in its simplicity, and suddenly we realise that the walk was worth it, if only to find this. Peace and joy are tangible, if fleeting, qualities and we know that where we are going to, where we have come from, we will probably never find it again. We want to seal the village in barbed wire and never let the world touch it".

Environment

Osmar White, in his book 'Parliament of a Thousand Tribes' described the terrain:

"New Guinea is young country born in comparatively recent times as a result of a gigantic wrinkling of the earth's crust which buckled and smashed the bed rocks of ancient, vanished oceans and piled them on top of each other in a series of central ranges, of which the highest peaks rise more than 16,000 feet above sea level. These mountains were formed in much the same way as the Himalayas and the Andes. The ranges are not continuous. They are closely spaced, parallel cordilleras running mainly from north-west to south-east and together they form the backbone of the 'dragon' all the way from its thin neck in West Irian to its stumpy tail in Australian New Guinea."

According to the former chief botanist of the Port Moresby Botanic Gardens, Mr Justin Tschenko, who accompanied one of Charlie Lynn's treks, there are more varieties of orchids along the Kokoda Trail than anywhere else in the world. Add to this an endless variety of palms trees, fern colonies, moss colonies, towering trees with giant buttress roots, spectacular waterfalls, crystal clear mountain creeks and rolling mountain ranges as far as the eye can see and one can only begin to imagine the awesome beauty of the remote Owen Stanley Ranges.

Today it is hard to imagine this beautiful environment was the scene of one of the most desperate military campaigns fought in the South West Pacific. During these desperate days the Trail was describes thus by Sir Kingsley Norris:

"Imagine an area of approximately one hundred miles long. Crumple and fold this into a series of ridges, each rising higher and higher until seven thousand feet is reached, then declining in ridges to three thousand feet. Cover this thickly with jungle, short trees and tall trees, tangled with great, entwining savage vines. Through an oppression of this density, cut a little native track, two or three feet wide, up the ridges, over the spurs, round gorges and down across swiftly-flowing, happy mountain streams. Where the track clambers up the mountain sides, cut steps - big steps, little steps, steep steps - or clear the soil from the tree roots."

"Every few miles, bring the track through a small patch of sunlit kunai grass, or an old deserted native garden, and every seven or ten miles, build a group of dilapidated grass huts - as staging shelters - generally set in a foul, offensive clearing. Every now and then, leave beside the track dumps of discarded, putrifying food, occasional dead bodies and human foulings. In the morning, flicker the sunlight through the tall trees, flutter green and blue and purple and white butterflies lazily through the air, and hid birds of deep-throated song, or harsh cockatoos, in the foliage."

"About midday, and through the night, pour water over the forest, so that the steps become broken, and a continual yellow stream flows downwards, and the few level areas become pools and puddles of putrid black mud. In the high ridges above Myola, drip this water day and night over the track through a foetid forest grotesque with moss and glowing phosphorescent fungi. Such is the track which a prominent politician publicly described as 'being almost impassable for motor vehicles,' and such is the route for ten days to be covered from Ilolo to Deniki."

The Trail is probably centuries old - a main highway over the range - and in the usual manner of native pads, follows no established principles. It climbs the highest ridges, plunges down into the deepest ravines, and ascends the longest spurs. Between Uberi and the crest of the range, the track climbs more than 20,000 feet, although is has an altitude of 7,000 feet at its highest point. For every one thousand feet of altitude gained, the track drops six hundred feet to the foot of the next ascent.

Personal Development

Adventure Kokoda treks are as much about personal development as they are about historical, cultural and environmental awareness.

On our first night in Port Moresby trekkers have an exclusive group function where they get to meet each other over a delightful meal and a few glasses of South Pacific lager. At this function your Adventure Kokoda Trek Leader will provide a detailed briefing on the:

  • current political/economic/cultural climate in Papua New Guinea;
  • strategic situation in the South West Pacific area in 1942; and the
  • details of the trek ahead of us including administration, safety, etc.

The trek group will also view 'Kokoda - The Bloody Track' a television documentary directed and produced by Patrick Lindsay for the Australian Army on the 50th anniversary of the campaign. It was screened nationally by Channel 7 on Anzac Day, 1992.

The next morning your group boards a twin otter aircraft for a 20 minute flight across the Trail to the Kokoda airfield. The journey back takes considerably longer as you retrace the footsteps of our Diggers as they bore the brunt of the Japanese advance in 1942. Along the Trail you will get to inspect battle sites, receives briefings, enjoys village hospitality and conquer more than physical mountains.

Marion Frith describes the feeling at the end of her journey:

"As we clamber aboard the truck that has come to take us to the airport we have no doubt we are now invincible. We have plummeted to our worst lows and soared to our greatest heights. There is nothing physically or emotionally we cannot endure. We had set off as 34 individuals, half of us Australians and half of us Papuan villagers. When we part we are friends - an indivisible and strong unit for whom farewells come hard.

"If the spirit of Kokoda is strength in adversity, courage and mateship that spirit has been seeded in us all. We cross in a brief 20 minutes what has taken us eight gruelling days. And like all those who crossed it before us, who left their souls in the mud and the heat and the terrifying jungle, few will ever go back.

"Charlie, of course, is the exception. He will continue to pluck other ordinary humans from their comfortable lives and help them blossom into indefatigables, drawing on the greatness that lies largely unchallenged within us all. For the rest of us though, Kokoda will become just one humbling week in our lifetime: albeit our whole lifetimes lived in just one unforgettably humbling week".

On your return to Port Moresby the group visits Bomana War Cemetery and enjoys a half-day tour of Port Moresby that includes a visit to the PNG National Parliament, the National Museum and PNG Art which houses a large range of local artifacts, carvings and souvenirs.

On the last night the group has another private function with a sumptuous buffet, South Pacific lager, wine and some ripping yarns. They also view the 'Angry Anderson Challenge' documentary, which was led by Charlie Lynn in 1996.

Trekkers are then presented with their well-earned souvenir Kokoda shirt, commemorative certificate and a unique map of the Trail.