Adventure Kokoda Blog

The four words etched in granite on the Isurava Memorial – courage, mateship, sacrifice and endurance – were selected to represent the qualities of our soldiers who fought in the Kokoda campaign.

The memorial was officially opened by PNG Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare and Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, on the 60th anniversary of the battle for Isurava in 2002. The event stirred a dormant interest in our wartime history as Australians from all walks of life were inspired to trek in the footsteps of our diggers.

Until this time only a handful of trek operators specialising in the wartime history of the Kokoda campaign led groups across the Kokoda Trail.

Since then the number of trek operators on the Kokoda Trail has expanded to 63. According to their various websites and other promotional material they have a ‘passion’ for our diggers and are ‘expert’ in the wartime history of the Kokoda campaign. They are ‘adventurers’, ‘explorers’, ‘historians’ and ‘expert expedition leaders’. They are ‘trained in advanced First-Aid’, ‘equipped with satellite phones/VHF radios’, ‘have public liability insurance’ and ‘a 24 hour rear link to Port Moresby’.

Unfortunately the Government of Papua New Guinea does not have a Department of Fair Trading to vet false and misleading claims otherwise the field of legitimate trek operators on the Kokoda Trail might be reduced to a single digit figure. Neither does the PNG Kokoda Track Authority have the legislative authority to address the veracity of the various operator claims so prospective trekkers have to conduct their own research using the age old caveat of ‘let the buyer beware’. (more…)