Walking the Kokoda Track
On Tuesday 13 June we had a joint presentation from David and Lindsay May and in a first, the presentation was podcast with up to 25 viewers, including Andrew May in Bangkok, Erica May in Perth, and exchange student Martina Heiniger somewhere in Europe.
From April 20 to 29 the May boys walked the famous 98 kilometre Kokoda Track in PNG. The trek was to raise funds for The Salvation Army.
Whilst the Kokoda Campaign of World War ll had no immediate connection with the May family it has always been of interest, so the opportunity to do this was snapped up.
To understand the Kokoda campaign, it is in two parts. From 21 July to 24 September 1942 the Japanese, opposed by Australian troops, advanced from the northern beaches to Iorabaiwa Ridge just 42 kilometres away from Port Moresby. From 24 September the Japanese retreated and by 23 January 1943 the Australians, now joined on the northern beaches by Americans, had pushed most of the Japanese out of PNG, although small groups of ‘lost’ soldiers fought on until the end of the Pacific war in November 1945.
Preparation for the walk started in earnest in January with a lot of walking by Lindsay and continuation of their rigorous gym training by David in Sydney and Andrew in Bangkok, including a number of jungle treks.
After a short bus ride the trek started late on Thursday 20th at the southern end of the track at Owers Corner, about 40 kms north of Port Moresby. The track simply falls off the edge of a grass plateau into a single file muddy track that falls down hundreds of meters to the Goldie River. After crossing the river in full flood, the walkers camped for the night.
Early starts just after 6am were followed by incredibly steep up and down climbs, muddy swamps and water crossings that required about 9 hours walking each day covering just on 10 kms as the crow flies, but some days up to 19 kms of actual distance covered up and down.
ANZAC Day was remembered at the historic Brigade Hill where a three day battle saw 44 Australians killed and many wounded or cut off, requiring them to head down into parallel valleys and ridges. Some took 22 days to get back to Owers Corner. The ANZAC ceremony was very moving and attended by five Australian trekking teams, three northbound and two southbound, as well as PNG porters and villagers who had come from all over the area to be there.
Walking continued through villages such as Menari and Efogi, over the 2190 metre Kokoda Gap and down to Templeton’s Crossing and Eora Creek.
Isurava is another famous battle site where the Australian memorial is now located, comprising four granite blocks. Each is inscribed with just one word, either Courage Endurance Mateship or Sacrifice. The walkers camped overnight at Isurava.
The final day was a 17 m trek to Deniki then Hoi, where a cool mountain stream beckoned everyone to soak and wash away the mud and soothe aching limbs before the final three hours walk on flat terrain into the village of Kokoda.
Andrew and David managed the conditions superbly carrying 18 kg packs but Lindsay using a porter, struggled at times on some of the very steep climbs usually late in the day, but said he’d do it again at a moment’s notice.
The thing that kept them going was a continual "presence" of the Australian soldiers of 1942 and the thought of just how appalling were the conditions they faced, with short supply of rations and ammunition, let alone some of them being seriously under-trained for their mission. As if that wasn't bad enough, they faced continual fire and bayonet attacks from the Japanese. The wounded had to walk back to Owers Corner with only the very seriously wounded carried by the famous ‘fuzzy wuzzy’ angels.
Rain and mud presented the greatest challenge to the walkers, as did the plethora of tree roots that made for hard going that required you to watch every step.
As well as completing this most arduous journey the 3 aMAYgos, with the generous support of family, Rotarians and friends, have raised just on $26,500 towards an overall total for the 25 walkers of $164,000.
You can still support their fundraising by donating at
salvos-kokoda2017.everydayhero.com/au/lindsay or /david or / Andrew
(if link doesn't work key in as above)
Lindsay said it was the toughest mental and physical undertaking he has ever completed.
[Ed: The sergeant’s collection on the night of $132 will go towards the 3 aMAYgo's fundraising.]