Southern Sea Horizons drove us back to the Holiday Inn from Bomana Cemetery where we collected our locked-up luggage. A very moving ceremony was held at the poolside bar in which the porters gave us a bamboo carved baton proving our conquest of the Kokoda. We also reciprocated with our tips and gifted camping items in what was the final feather in the cap of a very moving trek of treks. South Sea Horizons is owned and run by a local PNG and employs local people from all the Kokoda villages. One of the senior managers is Saii who is the son of the last Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel to pass away in 2016 at age 105 !!! This was special for us – having met a direct living relative of the Angels that played such a pivotal role in helping the Ozzies get through that unforgiving jungle and catch the Japanese by surprise. The porters then drove us to the Stanley Hotel – the number one hotel in Port Moresby. This was the brainchild of James to celebrate our journey. We each walked into our room showers fully dressed in mud and smell and walked out smelling like roses and returning to a world of wine, cheese and olives – BLISS BLISS BLISS !!!
For me, The Kokoda Track is easily the hardest, the most epic, the most draining, the most painful and the most rewarding trek I have ever done in my life so far. It is not a trek but a mountain climb. This is not a 7-day bush walk but a 7-day mountain climb and back down again !!! What makes it hard is not the distance but the constant ups and downs. We did 12,597 metres of ups and downs added together – Mount Everest is 8,849 metres from the sea to its summit !!! And the mud. That is what made it 100 times tougher and harder and shitter !!! The mud defines Kokoda. That is the one word I identify with Kokoda – MUD !!!
This is not a trip for the faint hearted or social media fans. It is hard. It is tough. It is painful. It is relentless with rain. There is no reception and no electricity for 7 days !!! You WILL smell and be EXHAUSTED for 7 days. You need strong knees and back and heart. Do not attempt this if you have problems with any of these three. Being overweight is not an issue if you have OK knees, back and heart. Best way to prep for this is not just to walk long distances on flat surfaces but to go UP and DOWN – stairs or local walks that have HEAPS of ups and downs.
I trekked Kokoda to THANK those troops who gave up their lives on the track. I trekked Kokoda to PUSH myself to new heights of physical and mental toughness and endurance. I trekked Kokoda to BOND beyond blood relations with my brother Nick and nephew Sam – this experience will unite us just as it did the troops of Kokoda.
I cannot help thinking that these young troops got the rough end of a very bad stick but that is not the truth – they proved themselves beyond any measure of humanity – they were unequivocally “heroes” in every sense of the word. They suffered but pressed on. They never gave up. They were laden with doubts but replaced them with firm resolve.
I do not believe in War. I do not support War. But I honour the fallen in War for what they did. I am free. The best thing I can do to thank them is to live my life to the fullest –living the life they never got to live or enjoy.
Good Bless and Save the souls of The Kokoda – Papuan, Australian and Japanese.
No comments:
Post a Comment