Image via Wikipedia

1986
My second trip was as a tour guide. We flew into Kokoda and walked South to Port Moresby. I was fortunate to walk with Osborne Bogijiwa, the first man to run the Kokoda Track, in under 24 hours. He is a great man whose record-breaking attempt was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1987. This record was only just recently smashed. I trekked with an American nurse, her partner, Richard (my charge) and Osborne.

I do recall, on my second trek, I was ill equipped. Make sure you wear the right boots and take a decent backpack. I was a bit foolish in retrospect; my kit wasn’t up to scratch. 

That was the best trip. I remember we had lots of fun with an amiable group of visitors and supports guides. The trek then was still not as popular as it is today.

1997
I was a hired guide on the third trip. “The Track,” had grown in fame over the eleven years since my second foray. I was the head of a group of fourteen older, avid adventurers each with their own reason for trying. Papua New Guineans, numbering fourteen, evened the group to twenty eight. Our Papua New Guinean captain was the most amiable man and we instantly hit it off. It was fun being the go-between between the Papua New Guineans and the Australians.

The group was made up of an older crowd, the youngest being thirty five. I was the youngest Australian at thirty three. They were a great group, all keen, yet a touch underprepared. One mistake is not being prepared; do take the correct equipment, the right sustenance and try to be fit. The trek wends its’ way across razor-back ridges, raging rivers and snake infested jungles.

The best time to walk the Kokoda Track is in the Dry Season from May to November. You are in for relentless rain if you go any other time.

Image via Wikipedia

Kokoda Calls

Today, I find the lure of the Kokoda Trail unmistakable. Perhaps I will one day return. I imagine I will do it with a group of friends next time. It’s more friendly, fun and relaxed trekking that way. When you lead you are burdened with extra responsibility. That adds that extra-nervousness it. That’s a nervousness, that when confronted with that thick dank jungle, I would prefer not to carry.

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Thank-you for enjoying Niugini Tales. Stay tuned for more Web series from James DeVere, Sydney’s first Web author.