Adventure Kokoda Blog
Protecting our heritage
Kokoda is much more than a trek. It is almost a spiritual journey for those who wish to connect to the historical significance of the Kokoda campaign. It is also an empathetic bridge for Australians and Papua New Guineans to better understand each other.
Our Charity
Our charitable work includes the provision of health support, school supplies, scholarships, and emergency medical assistance to villagers across the Kokoda Trail.
Our Media
National features stories of our treks on all major television networks, newspapers, and magazines.
Our Reviews
Trekker feedback, Trip Advisor reviews, and personal reflections.
Our Treks
Everything you need to know about our treks, our trekkers, training tips, gear selection, and some handy hints.
Our Viewpoint
Charlie has been the leading advocate for the protection of our Kokoda heritage, and the welfare of villagers across the Trail, for 30 years.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Interesting articles relating to our close association with PNG, and our shared wartime heritage.
Latest News
Kokoda-A sorry tale of Coalition apathy towards our military heritage
On the 75th anniversary of Gallipoli, Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke sponsored and accompanied 59 veterans to attend the historic Dawn Service at Anzac Cove at a cost of $10 million. On the 75th anniversary of Kokoda, the Coalition Government did not sponsor a single...
Legislation for new entity to manage Kokoda underway
The National - 27 February 2019 Papua New Guinea's pristine, rugged, and remote environment is managed by their Conservation Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) and the recently proclaimed Climate Change Authority. Eight (8) Acts of Parliament have been proclaimed...
Call for PNG to ‘take back’ their Kokoda Trail
A DFAT plan to introduce a new ‘Kokoda Track Management Authority’ (KTMA) has been revealed as a clandestine attempt by Australian officials to seize control of the Kokoda Trail to enhance their own aid-funded careers at the expense of local village communities and...
Database Evaluation of the Kokoda Tourism Industry: 2003-2019
Official data, based on the number of Trek Permits issued by the Kokoda Track (Special Purpose) Authority (KTA), reveals that villagers across the Kokoda Trail have suffered a cumulative loss of K49.7 million in foregone income opportunities since the DFAT-Kokoda Initiative assumed responsibility for its management in 2009. A Kokoda Livelihoods Study by Pacific Islands Projects revealed the DFAT-Kokoda Initiative allocates just 1% of their budget to ‘income generating projects’ for villagers across the Trail.
Environment bill for Kokoda – a suicide note for pilgrimage tourism!
This is not a PNG bill – it’s an Australian environment bill being imposed on PNG in a clandestine manner.
There is no record of any consultation with key stakeholders in Kokoda pilgrimage tourism in the drafting process of the bill as required by PNG law.
The bill seeks to extend the influence of foreign aid-funded officials by expanding the gazetted boundaries of the Kokoda Trail to include a large part of the Owen Stanley Ranges and protecting their aid-funded careers with another layer of unnecessary environmental legislation.
The bill fails to acknowledge that the Kokoda Trail is PNGs most popular pilgrimage tourism destination and should therefore be managed on a commercial basis as a tourism enterprise owned by Traditional Resource Custodians (TRCs) for the benefit of their village communities.
Following are comments on each section of the proposed bill along with serious questions that need to be answered by the proponents of the bill before it is considered any further.
The fallacy of a ‘Lost Battlefield’ on Kokoda
The story of Kokoda is second only to Gallipoli in the annals of Australia’s military history – but it’s been a slow awakening!
Since Prime Minister John Howard and PNGs Grand Chief, Sir Michael Somare, opened a solemn memorial at Isurava on the 60th anniversary of the Kokoda campaign in 2002, scores of books have been published, television documentaries produced, and more than 54,000 Australians from all walks of life have trekked across it.
It was inevitable that the pilgrimage, which is a serious physical and emotional challenge, would eventually attract its share of entrepreneurial urgers, and rent-seekers from the government aid-sector.