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Kokoda Track

Project Supported : $20 from your expedition fee will be used to purchase and install environmentally safe eco-toilets along the Kokoda Track. These toilets will ensure the Track remains pristine for generations to come and help local communities.

In 2010 we will be running several Eco-Toilet Installation Expeditions that will combine walking the Track as well as installing an environmentally friendly eco-toilet. If you would like to help protect this pristine environment and walk the Track, please consider these expeditions.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Trek one of the worlds most famous walks in breath taking surrounds
• Gain an understand what Australian soldiers endured during WWII
• Amazing terrain and river crossings (great for swimming)
• Walk through some of the most pristine rain forests in the world
• Wonderful people with beautiful singing voices
• Have an experience that will push your mind, body and spirit to the limit.

Note:

This7 night, 8 Day walk is a highly demanding walk that requires an above-average level of fitness.

OVERVIEW
The Kokoda Track was the scene of bitter fighting in 1942 as the Japanese advanced towards Port Moresby. Many Japanese and Australian soldiers died along the Track, both in battle and from malaria. As interest in Australia’s cultural identity and recent history grows, walking the Kokoda Track has become a rite of passage for a new generation of Australians.

Walking the Kokoda Track involves 50 hours of hiking over 90km of sharp, timbered ridges, steep-sided valleys and fast flowing rivers. Vantage points along the Track reveal magnificent mountain landscapes, and a wide variety of flora and fauna is encountered. Trekkers pass through local villages where descendents of the wartime “fuzzy wuzzy angels” continue to live simple traditional lifestyles while providing a warm welcome to passing trekkers.

The best time of the year to walk the Kokoda Track is the dry season, from April to October. A popular time to trek is over the ANZAC Day period where many Australians attend ANZAC Day Ceremonies either along the Kokoda Track or at Bomana War Cemetry, a very moving event indeed. Walking during the wet season is also possible but is much more challenging because the Kokoda Track is muddy and slippery, and river crossings may even be impassable after rain.

No Roads Expeditions offers guided Kokoda Track expeditions which can be booked for any week of the year. We also have scheduled departures that anyone is welcome to join. All food, equipment and guides (including an Australian guide) are provided. You only need to bring your personal gear and bedding.

We take a slightly different approach from some other trek operators who camp out every night of the trek and fly all food and drink in for the occasion, thus almost needing a camel train to carry all their supplies. We engage village guest houses along the Track to supply accommodation and some meals for our trekkers and porters, thus not only reducing the amount of food and equipment carried by the trekking party, but also injecting greater economic benefits into the micro-economies of the village communities along the Track.

Our food includes coconut milk curries, vegetarian pastas, fried rice, prawn crackers, damper etc. We do not use rehydratable vegetables and we don’t supply baked beans, just delicious and nutritious meals.

No Roads also supplies a portable shower tent so you can either wash in the rivers without soap or in our shower with soap which is kept away from water courses. We supply the soap. We can even provide a hot shower anywhere along the Kokoda Track.

Our Porters are well paid, well fed and motivated to provide you with a great experience. They set up tents, boil water, help you along the Track and at night, sing songs. On our trek you will have the choice each night of sleeping in village guest houses or in tents.

Click here to read one of our trekkers Blogs, Justin Kibell.

A BRIEF HISTORY
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, the Japanese quickly advanced through South East Asia (see our Sparrow Force Expedition of East Timor) and across the Pacific, capturing New Britain and New Guinea. The Battle of the Coral Sea drastically halted the Japanese war machine and their advance on Port Moresby had to be re-thought.

The new plan involved taking Port Moresby by land rather than by sea. The Japanese planned to land north of Popondetta, then travel to Kokoda, over the Owen Stanley Ranges to Sogeri and down to Port Moresby.

At this stage the Kokoda Track was a small footpath, full of switchbacks through some of the most rugged terrain the most rugged country on the planet could dish out. It had been used to explore New Guineas' undiscovered center, then a path to lucrative gold fields and finally, as a link between the north and south coast. The Japanese had seriously miscalculated the track, believing that it could be engineered to accommodate vehicles to supply their ever advancing front line.

The Japanese landed on the 21st July 1942 and stormed towards the track. They encountered stiff resistance at Kokoda but over came it, leaving the inexperienced, young, poorly supplied and undermanned Australian troops on the back foot for months.

Knowing the Japanese flood of troops could not be defeated immediately, the Australian strategy was to slow the advance until their own reinforcements would arrive. The Australians would rapidly retreat to a point where they could regroup, then set up ambushes and dig in. These tactics, coupled with the extreme terrain and the inability of the Japanese to re supply their frontline, wore down on the Japanese advance and moral.

After months of bitter fighting, the Japanese were stopped at Ioribaiwa on the 16th September only kilometers from their goal. Allied Howitzers pounded their front line. The Japanese, like the Australians months before, retreated along the track. They were pushed back to Buna on the north coast, where they made their final stand. The battle of Buna is regarded as one of the bloodiest of the Second World War.

Never again did the Allied forces meet the Japanese head-on during WWII. The Allied policy was to advance towards Tokyo, by-passing Japanese strong holds on the way. It is impossible to fully comprehend the courage and suffering of the people who fought along the Track. By walking it, we go some way to understanding the environment in which they fought.

ITINERARY
Day 01:
After arriving in Port Moresby we will transfer you to the Hotel. There, you will have free time to yourself. That afternoon there will be an expedition briefing with your Australian Guide and then its off to dinner.