“We think of them with sorrow and with pride but there should be a third feeling stronger than grief, greater than pride. A sense of fullness and of achievement. To us, their lives may seem to have been severely shortened, yet in truth they were full lives. It is not how many years a man lives that matters but what he does with the years-many or few-that are granted to him. And those who sleep here did much with theirs”. Lt Col Phil Roden, OC 2/14th Battalion AIF.
Mud……red mud, brown mud, black mud, yellow mud……and lots of it! Good for the complexion, apparently, but not so good for the boots, transforming legs into cement blocks. MUD!
Nine intrepid trekkers stepped off the aeroplane in Moresby on 14 April; a mix of fire fighters (Chris “bat wings”, Scott “time for bed”, Gerard “Bear”, Nick “Hally”, Mark “Aquanard duel league best and fairest unlike my brother Daniel”, Chris “Nanna”), a teacher (Rob “Trewwy”), a retired legend (Paul “Dad”) and a top-secret Government employee (Daniel “Sir”). Most of these lads had brought along bulk medical and school supplies, some of which were taken out on a tour of The Compound straight after the flight. A visit to the fishing village on stilts was a real eye-opener….the sights and smells will remain with the entire group long after our Moresby tour concluded! April 16 saw us on the short flight to Popondetta, before the long mind-numbing and body-shattering PMV ride to Kokoda. We were away, at last, on a trip that had been two years in the planning.
These nine legends were here to embody the Kokoda ethos of ‘courage, endurance, mateship, sacrifice’ and were keen to soak up the military history of the Kokoda campaign of 1942, starting with a moving service on the Kokoda plateau. A feature of this particular trek was the use of audio clips of Australian and Japanese soldiers describing the battles along the track, painting a vivid picture of the fighting that we were here to commemorate. After meeting our porter team in Kokoda, soon enough the call of “packs on” was called and we were away……
Mud……red mud, brown mud, black mud, yellow mud……and lots of it! Good for the complexion, apparently, but not so good for the boots, transforming legs into cement blocks. MUD!
Nine intrepid trekkers stepped off the aeroplane in Moresby on 14 April; a mix of fire fighters (Chris “bat wings”, Scott “time for bed”, Gerard “Bear”, Nick “Hally”, Mark “Aquanard duel league best and fairest unlike my brother Daniel”, Chris “Nanna”), a teacher (Rob “Trewwy”), a retired legend (Paul “Dad”) and a top-secret Government employee (Daniel “Sir”). Most of these lads had brought along bulk medical and school supplies, some of which were taken out on a tour of The Compound straight after the flight. A visit to the fishing village on stilts was a real eye-opener….the sights and smells will remain with the entire group long after our Moresby tour concluded! April 16 saw us on the short flight to Popondetta, before the long mind-numbing and body-shattering PMV ride to Kokoda. We were away, at last, on a trip that had been two years in the planning.
These nine legends were here to embody the Kokoda ethos of ‘courage, endurance, mateship, sacrifice’ and were keen to soak up the military history of the Kokoda campaign of 1942, starting with a moving service on the Kokoda plateau. A feature of this particular trek was the use of audio clips of Australian and Japanese soldiers describing the battles along the track, painting a vivid picture of the fighting that we were here to commemorate. After meeting our porter team in Kokoda, soon enough the call of “packs on” was called and we were away……
Highlights of the trek include:
Andrew Flanagan
Expedition Guide
No Roads Expeditions
[email protected]
- Isurava - sacred Australian ground, where so much blood was shed under overwhelming odds to hold the Japanese intent on circling and annihilating the gallant boys of the 39th and 2/14th.
- Con’s Rock - audio of Stan Bisset describing his last moments with his brother ‘Butch’.
- Myola - amazing contrasting ground that takes your breath away…much like the endless hills climbed over previous days!
- Brigade Hill - in Moresby I had given each trekker a piece of replica ribbon from the ‘Pacific Star’ medal. Group leader Chris Bethell was given a replica medal with ribbon. In a lovely gesture each placed their ribbon/medal on one of the ‘posts’ signifying a fallen Australian soldier.
- Porters singing - at Alola I described the school children as having ‘voices of angels’ after a beautiful ‘sing-sing’. We were also treated to the boys singing in the kitchen hut, leading me to describe ‘we will all return to Australia changed by our time here…..you are truly gentle men, and yet your have such powerful voices that fill our hearts’.
- Generosity - distributing school and medical supplies to the villages along the track is a small yet significant gesture thanking the descendants of the original Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels who did so much in 1942.
- Owers Corner - what a finish! To be met by Havala, with Channel 7 news in tow, was a great conclusion to the trekking phase of our trip.
- Dawn Service at Bomana - meeting the Governor-General at Bomana was a thrill, as was grabbing the Chief of Army and taking him over to talk to Havala.
- Final dinner with the porters - with five No Roads groups on the track at the one time, the singing at the Holiday Inn surely shook the building to its foundations! Magical moment.
- Finally - at Owers I challenged the group to take the stories of the soldiers that we had learnt so much about home to our families in Australia, protecting their legacy and honouring their sacrifice. Ordinary men who did extraordinary things. Kokoda changes you, leaving an indelible imprint in your heart and soul.
Andrew Flanagan
Expedition Guide
No Roads Expeditions
[email protected]