I do not know where these ‘plans’ are coming from but I do know they are being done without any consultation at all with the paying customer i.e. the trekker.

The research we have conducted with a significant number of people who have trekked with Adventure Kokoda over the past 18 years indicates that they want the track left alone. They want to trek in the footsteps of our diggers as they did it. They do not want boardwalks and bridges.

The construction of bridges at Eora Creek will desecrate one of the most significant battlesites along the Kokoda Trail. It must not be allowed to proceed in the vicinity of the battlesite. If a bridge has to be constructed because of the wish of some bureaucratic zealot it should be located at least 500 metres to the east of the current wartime crossing. It would be a relatively easy task to cut a track to a suitable crossing downstream from the battlesite to allow locals to use it if they wish.

The same principle should apply to the Goldie River, Ofi Creek and Dump 1 Crossing (I have not heard this name before but I assume they are talking about Templeton’s Crossing No 1), i.e. any permanent swing bridges should not be constructed any closer that 500 metres to the wartime track.

It beggars belief that we would want to replace the substantial log bridge that the local people have built between Efogi 2 and Naduri with a permanent swing bridge paid for by the Australian taxpayer. The crossing is not on the wartime track so it is not an issue as far as the protection of our military heritage is concerned – but it is an absolute waste of time, money and effort.

The same applies to the proposed bridge across Elome Creek between Efogi 1 and 2.

The plan for the proposed permanent swing bridges is ill-conceived and should be halted until a proper interpretative memorial plan aimed at protecting the military heritage of the Kokoda Trail is commissioned.

Any business, industry or service provider who dared treat their customers with as much contempt as the Kokoda trekker receives would be placed in the hands of a commercial undertaker in a very short period of time.

Over the past five years Australian trekkers have invested more than $100 million to trek across the Kokoda Trail. The Australian and PNG governments have creamed more than $12 million in GST and a veritable bonanza in taxes from the airline, hotel, transport and camping gear industries.

Trekking Kokoda provides part-time employment to more than 12,000 PNG guides and carriers who would otherwise be working in remote village gardens at a subsistence level.

Local villagers earn more than $1.5 million a year from campsite fees.

In return for this the Kokoda trekkers receive nothing. Neither government provides any support to help facilitate or enhance their experience. Villagers along the way, the second most important building block in the Kokoda trekking industry, are also totally neglected.

Kokoda trekkers are unable to book campsites in advance because there is no booking system. They are not able to have a comfortable crap because there is not a single environmental toilet along the entire track. They have no protection from unscrupulous trek operators because there is no system of accreditation. They have to negotiate a gravel ‘road’ between Depo and Owers Corner which is more dangerous than anything on the track. They are left to their own resources to arrange any emergency evacuation.

Most Kokoda trekkers are motivated by a desire to trek in the footsteps of our diggers and learn about the battles that took place along the track. They reflect the egalitarian nature of our diggers and come from all walks of life: male, female, young, old, professionals, farmers, tradies, teachers, students, veterans, Christians, Muslims, agnostics, etc. etc. etc. It is a unique Australian journey, a pilgrimage for many, a rite-of-passage for others, a powerful emotional experience for all.

Trekkers who commit to the journey make a substantial financial investment towards their venture. They also have to plan time off from their jobs and commit to a long-term rigorous physical preparation program. In return for this investment they want an assurance they can complete the journey safely and that they will gain a greater insight into the Kokoda campaign.

Neither the Australian nor the Papua New Guinea Governments provide this assurance. Trek operators have to fill the void to the best of their ability.

The road leading to the start of the track, between Depo and Owers Corner, is the most dangerous section of the journey between Port Moresby and Kokoda. It is only a matter of time before Australians are killed on this road. Once on the track Kokoda trekkers are on there own. There is no opportunity for them to book campsites; there are no environmental toilets on the track; there is no co-ordinated emergency evacuation system in place; there are no commemorative/interpretive memorials at significant battlesites along the track (apart from the splendid memorial at Isurava); there are no programs in place to ensure villagers and landowners benefit from trekkers; etc. etc.

The Australian and PNG Governments are currently reaping a bonanza from trekkers.

The recent deaths on the Kokoda Trail and the ongoing threats to close the track by disgruntled landowners are wake-up call for both governments to ensure the needs of trekkers are addressed before it is perceived to be too ‘dangerous’ or too ‘negative’ to make such a significant commitment to.

We hope that the social mapping study and track analysis planned by new Kokoda Track Authority Rod Hilman will signal the start of a new approach to work upwards from the basic building blocks of the trekking industry to stakeholder organisations and government departments. The objective must be to build a model for a sustainable eco-trekking industry in the land of a thousand cultures.

Port Moresby Grammar School grade 12 students, Alfreda Nakue and Margaret Aitsi, have a different view of the Kokoda Trail from what history teaches them. Having walked the track recently, both girls say their real life experience of the track has given history a different dimension where they can relate more meaningfully.

Alfreda and Margaret have been back from the track a few weeks but it is obvious talking to them that surviving the Kokoda Track has done them a lot of good and when they tell their story, it is a fresh as if it was just yesterday. The power of that reality is that many more young people will be motivated and inspired. The crowning act of Alfreda and Margaret’s experience is the harnessing of youth power to direct change; the importance of it being that the future belongs to the youth. This is Alfreda and Margaret’s story of how they survived the Kokoda Track and become known as Charlie’s angels, completed with certificates to prove their conquest.

Their adventure lasted six days between April 02nd and 03rd May when 15 other young Australians calling themselves ‘Mateship Kokoda’ came up from Sydney. The Australian team was led by New South Wales MP and Adventure Kokoda legend Charlie Lynn. It included two other MPs; Scott Morrison and Jason Clare. The idea behind it was to heal the wounds of the Cronulla beach race riots.

Charlie Lynn sponsors Alfreda’s education so he included her in the tour and grabbing the opportunity the school picked Margaret to accompany her. Both girls are very personable, charming and charismatic which is not surprising especially when your dad works in a media organisation. Margaret’s late father John Aitsi worked for the Post Courier as a Company Secretary for many years and retired very recently. She is a bright spark so the school made an excellent choice by selecting her for the interaction with the Australian youths on the track. Pressed by the Australians to sing the national anthem, the two girls granted the wish, adding much nationalistic flavour to the walk. Feeling encouraged, Alfreda and Margaret also cited the pledge which amazed their Australian companions. To hear young voices singing the anthem and saying the pledge in the bush with a deep historic background seemed to turn nostalgia into fanfare and the girls felt it. “The feeling that overcome us was really special, quite unique and we felt really proud that moment to be Papua New Guineans and that this was our land where the history linked us to our future.”

They said they expected Kokoda Track to be remote and rugged but they did not expect the mountains to be so steep. “It was very challenging. Just learning history does not tell you about the physical side so you do not feel the hardship. So experiencing the physical side brought appreciation and we now fell very grateful to the fuzzy-wuzzy angels for what they did”.

We saw how very remote the villages are; they lack transportation, health and education. It was sad to see villages walking across those mountains in search of transport to come to the city.

We had very good porters who were willing to take all risks for us and they were the descendants of the fuzzy-wuzzy angels of World War 11 fame. Australians witnessed this at first hand and this is what defines Papua new Guineans. The popular view is that the world judges by the bad things that happen. But when you meet the people, you get a totally different picture and it happened on the track.

After 67 years, we walked the path the 39th battalion of the Australian Army took in 1942 and we were welcome with open arms by the villages. The way they sang songs and how they looked solemn and stood still touched everyone. We feel our school has made an important contribution to the future of the track because the Australians want to make more use of our school in their ‘Mateship Kokoda’ initiative.
We were asked by the visiting Australians about our feelings of the track and we said that the track should not be modernised; it should be the saved in its pristine state. We also said that the porters and guides should be insured and that they should carry two-way radios. The Australians said they would look into our recommendations.

It was the singing of the national anthem that earned them the tag: Charlie’s angels. But everyone agreed at the end of the journey that they had survived Kokoda.

The group was airlifted from Kokoda and had an audience with the Australian High Commissioner Chris Moraitis in Port Moresby during which Alfreda and Margaret’s recommendations were raised. A solemn visit to the Bomana War Cemetery and a camp at Sogeri sealed their conquest of the track and they split with a memorable meal at the Aviat Club.

Apart from the steep mountains, were there any other shocks? Margaret: when we got to Owers corner, the toilets were quite interesting. There was just a hole and you had to stand to do your business (giggle). The Aussies expected the road to be sealed. Here in the city we take things for granted; there are people out there who need it most, they are the people who need help. The climate was very pleasant. At Myola, I asked if the children were in the gardens. The villages were beautiful but the place seemed deserted; there was an aid post, though”.

To conclude their “Mateship Kokoda” connectedness the trek group were invited to Port Moresby Grammar School where a school assembly was not only designed to welcome back Margaret & Alfredah but to include their fellow trekkers from Australia in the Papua New Guinea way of education. Everyone had a fabulous time, especially when this involved the visitors dancing with the Pom Grammar Preps in doing the Margarema.

Why would a mother of two and physically unfit choose to walk The Kokoda Trail? Well, it all began on 31st August 2005 when my daughter was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia at the age of 17 months old. I was devastated, I blamed myself as I suffered with depression throughout my pregnancy and after she was born my depression didn’t improve.

I honestly feel now that there is always a positive in a negative situation and my daughter and I now have a bond that we never had before. This feeling of always looking on the bright side and finding a positive was reinforced in me when I was walking The Kokoda Trail.

I decided to fundraise for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, as they are helping save my daughter’s life, but I didn’t know how or where or when. Shortly after being discharged from hospital I was watching Getaway, they were doing a story on The Kokoda Trail by the end of it I knew how I was going to fundraise!

On the 7th August 2006 I flew out to Port Moresby and the next day I was on a bus to Ower’s Corner and my adventure was about to begin. I was very nervous because I suddenly thought I wasn’t fit enough, what if my children needed me, what if Hannah relapses, there were a lot of what if’s running around my head. I wasn’t going quit before I even started and the children world wide needed me to finish, as all the money I was raising was going to the Medical and Research Centre at Westmead.

I proudly can say that I finished the track but it wasn’t without many a tear shed and with the support of my trekking group, my fabulous trek leader John Nalder and my personal carrier, Joseph, who all had kind words of encouragement or just walking with me.

The Kokoda Trail has a magic of it’s own to share with you. The history of it is amazing, sad, and happy all the emotions rolled in together. The track is also very beautiful in many ways, the people who live along it so full of love, the incredible wildlife (especially the butterflies), and the fauna. We take so much for granted and we don’t appreciate what and who are in our lives.

The Kokoda Trail means so much to me, it pushed my comfort zone boundaries further each day and I know that I am strong enough physically and mentally to survive what life throws at me.

I could write so much but yet it is so hard to find the words to express how the track has had such an impact on my life, it is an experience that I will cherish dearly. But if I didn’t have the support from family, friends, Charlie Lynn, John Nalder and my fellow trekkers it would not have happened and I am very grateful to all.

I hope my story reinforces to everybody what Kokoda means to them and we tell all our friends about our brave soldiers and fuzzy wuzzy angels who gave up their lives so we can enjoy what we have now.
Thank you for reading.
Renee

Osmar White Wartime
journalist, writing from the track in 1942

Article by Charlie Lynn

When I first trekked Kokoda with a local guide in March 1991 I was struck by the fact that there was no information on the location of places such as Brigade Hill, Butcher’s Ridge, Templeton’s Crossing, Eora Creek, Imita Ridge, Kokoda Gap. Isurava, Deniki, Kokoda, etc. Ever since I was a small boy I could remember thousands of veterans marching behind battle honours emblazoned with these names. I therefore expected to find these places and be able to navigate around the positions with some sort of information booklet or guide.

I expected to see the remnants of the steps up the infamous ‘golden staircase’; to feel the pain of climbing ‘Jap’s Ladder’; to wonder how our diggers felt in their weapon pits on the forward slopes of Butcher’s Ridge as they waited to meet thousands of fanatical Japanese soldiers; to follow the footsteps of Private Bruce Kingsbury as he led a counter attack against the Japs at Isurava; to stand on the ground defended by Charlie McCallum as he stood bravely between the Japs and his men to protect their escape.

I wanted to see where Captain Butch Bissett was machine gunned; where Ben Buckler led his fateful patrol; where Captain Claude Nye and Captain Brett (Lefty) Langridge led their fateful charge at Brigade Hill; where Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Honner held his famous parade at Menari with ‘Those Ragged Bloody Heroes’ of the 39th Battalion; where Corporal John Metson and Sergeant Lindsay Bear crawled on all fours along the track refusing all offers for help because they had mates ‘a lot worse off than us’!

I hoped to meet ‘fuzzy wuzzy angels’ who saved hundreds of diggers by carrying them across some of the most inhospitable terrain on the planet and say ‘thank you’ to their families in the villages.

Unfortunately I was to be bitterly disappointed because there was not a single signpost, monument or memorial along the entire track apart from a few plaques placed by regimental associations and a small plinth erected by a Japanese soldier at Launumu – the forming up place for the Japanese attack against the Australians on Butcher’s Ridge and Brigade Hill on 6 September 1942.

I was further disadvantaged by the fact that my PNG guide knew nothing about the war history of the campaign and there were no maps or signs to assist in identifying important sections of the track or any of the battle-sites.

I was also struck by the fact that we had neglected those who sacrificed so much for us in Papua New Guinea – the legendary ‘fuzzy wuzzy angels’. I learned that none have been issued with a medal for their service and some claim to have never been paid. When I asked one of the elders about the war on the track he explained that they had lived in peace for generations then one day the Australians and the Japanese came, had a big fight in their backyards, caused a lot of damage in their villages, then went away! Our efforts to correct this shameful neglect has been unsuccessful to date however we have been heartned to receive the support of the RSL of Australia – and we will persevere!

The villages along the track are poor and reliant on a basic subsistence economy. They grow food to send to markets in Port Moresby and use the proceeds to support village life which includes building community schools, purchasing rudimentary school supplies and medicine.

It seemed obvious to the people I first led over the track that if we could somehow identify all the battle-sites and train local guides, then young Australian trekkers would want to come – just as they have at Gallipoli over recent years.

We therefore decided to plot the route of the original wartime track. During the process of gathering wartime maps and comparing them to our trek notes we discovered that today’s track bypasses the original ‘golden staircase’ and that the battle-site of Isurava was about an hour’s trekking south of where everybody thought it was at the time. There are a number of other areas where today’s track follows a different route from the wartime track.

The 50th anniversary of the Kokoda campaign was a timely reminder of the need to enshrine the values of Kokoda in our national subconscious. Prime Minister Paul Keating was the first Australian Prime Minister ever to visit Kokoda. Who will ever forget the image of him falling to his knees and kissing the ground on the Kokoda plateau!

During our next few treks we discussed what should be done to properly honour the Kokoda campaign and ensure its legacy is never forgotten. As a result of these discussions we prepared a list of suggestions to submit to the Federal Government in Canberra. This included recommendations that the original golden staircase be reconnoitered and rebuilt; all the battle-sites be identified with ‘educational’ memorials being placed onsite to tell the story of each battle; local ‘village museums’ to be established; life-size bronze statues to be placed along the track to depict the various actions that took place – a fighting patrol at Templeton’s Crossing – a stretcher party coming out of Eora Creek – a medical team in action at Myola – Bruce Kingsbury in action at Isurava – a salvo serving a cuppa at Nauro – and so on. These would act as haunting reminders of what the spirit of Kokoda is all about.

We submitted that the Kokoda track should be proclaimed as a National Memorial Park with the aim of establishing a self-sustaining eco-trekking industry for the Koiari and Orokaiva people who live along it.

The land that traverses the track between McDonald’s Corner and the village of Kokoda is subject to traditional ownership by PNG custom and the borders between the various landowners is often not clear. What is clear is that these people are the traditional custodians of land that is sacred to our heritage and such initiatives would provide an incentive for them to protect and maintain the sites that are now sacred to us.

Our next opportunity to put Kokoda on the national – and international – agenda appeared in the early stages of planning for the Olympic Torch Relay by the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG). With the announcement of the plan for the torch to be flown into each Pacific nation for four hours we put forward a proposal that the Olympic torch should be carried over the Kokoda Trail. SOCOG announced that the relay would be a 100 day ‘celebration’. We submitted that is should have one day set aside for ‘commemoration’ (it would have taken 100 Koiari and Orokaiva runners 10 hours to get it across the track) and the remaining 99 days could be for ‘celebration’!

We then held meetings with senior staff of the SOGOC Olympic Torch Relay organising team and the Federal Minister for Sport and Recreation. Everybody expressed the view that it was a good idea but we soon got the feeling that it was not on their agenda.

As it transpired the idea was rejected out of hand by the Australian ‘Lords of the Rings’ – Michael Knight, Graham Richardson, John Coates et al. Their first attemt to discredit the proposal was to assign the task to a ‘police security’ team who did a reconaissance of the track in a chartered plane and made an ‘expert’ recommendation that it would be ‘unsafe’. We challenged this decision with yet another media release (Olympic Torch bearers at greater risk of being shot in Sydney than mugged on Kokoda!) questioning their rationale over safety and security concerns.

After much ‘argy bargy’ between us they finally tried the ultimate con job by announcing that the torch would go to the Kokoda Trail. We initially celebrated the idea but were cut short when we looked at the fine print and discovered that it was going to be run from Owers Corner to Port Moresby. We issued yet another media release (SOCOGs spurious rejection of the Kokoda Torch Relay) in an attempt to expose the con but the SOCOG media machine was much more effective than our rearguard action.

As it turned out the all-powerful SOCOG ‘Lords of the Rings’ – effectively steamrolled the proposal. They should have been tarred and feathered – the subsequent Olympic ticketing fiasco exposed their colours and showed what little regard they had for the average digger – we can at least be assured that history will will not be as kind to them as it will be to our veterans!

What this exercise proved to me was the superficiality of many ‘influential’ Australians in regard to our military history. They give shallow mealy-mouthed speeches on appropriate days of national significance but when one puts the bite on them to support an ideal they are suddenly reported as ‘missing-in-action’!

There is no doubt that if the Kokoda campaign had been fought by the United States Army it would now be part of American folklore. The track itself would be a shrine dedicated to the leadership, courage, sacrifice, mateship and endurance of the soldiers who fought along it. Names like Bruce Kingsbury, Alan Avery, Lindsay Bear, Charlie McCallum, John Metson, Claude Nye, ‘Lefty’ Langridge, Stan and Butch Bissett, Charlie Butler and so on would be legends of the screen and ingrained in the subconscious of every American just as Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Colonel Travis and others were at the battle of the Alamo in 1836.

But it was an Australian campaign and they are Australian names – and for some inexplicable reason it had become a neglected shrine – and they are our forgotten heroes! Approaching the 50th anniversay of the Kokoda campaign journalist Frank Devine reflected on the greatness of our troops at the battle of Isurava in an article titled ‘Australian Thermopylae’ for the Australian newspaper. After recalling the heroic deeds of our young militia troops he asked why have we let the triumph of the 39th Battalion slip from national legend?

‘God alone knows. After 18 months in existence, the 39th was disbanded and its soldiers sent to other units. No echo remains of our glorious Spartans in Australia’s military structure.’

‘What losses Australia inflicts upon itself by its neglect of past achievement. What vigour a clear memory of our Spartans at our Thermopylae would contribute to national self esteem. The handful of 39th Battalion survivors are now, says Lex McAulay, ‘just the old blokes at the bowling club.’

‘Recently, the American journalist Patrick Buchanan argued that his country’s finest generation of the 20th century was the one born in the ‘20s, whose members bore the Great Depression as children or teenagers, fought in World War 11 and created the prosperity of the 50s.’

‘When one considers the magnificence of the boy warriors of the 39th Battalion, it is easy to believe that this is Australia’s greatest generation, too.’

The questions posed by Frank Devine in 1991 still haven’t been answered and our attempts to engage the government to rectify the situation would indicate that we have a long way to go. The political duckshoving thus far is reminiscent of our political ‘armchair generals’ of 1942!

On a positive note media interest over the past 10 years has increased public awareness of the Kokoda campaign. A number of television programs have covered various treks and some interesting books have recently been published. Television producer and director Yahoo Serious has trekked Kokoda three times as part of his research for the first feature film on the campaign – one that is long overdue. It is not surprising that he had to secure funding from overseas sources!

Notwithstanding these negatives the Kokoda Track Foundation is now well established and plans to present a strategic master plan for the development of the track as a National Memorial Park to the Australian and PNG Governments on Anzac Day 2006 are well advanced (see following article).

There is still much work to be done but the following testimonial received from the late Colonel Phil Rhoden OBE, Commanding Officer of the 2/14th Battalion at the Battle of Isurava, makes the journey worthwhile:

“The veterans and I, in particular, are aware of your work over many years in you bringing the events in 1942 to the attention of all who would listen to you and some who would not and were it not for that persistence and endeavour of yours the words ‘courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice’ would not be at Isurava for all to see.”