Scotch College

An amazing, emotional trek along the Track

It was a bleary-eyed but dedicated group of 12 students and two teachers who congregated sleepily around Mr Tom Woodruff at 4am on Thursday 14 September before boarding our flight to Port Moresby. The realisation that in just over 24 hours’ time we would be walking the Kokoda Track (note: the diggers who fought there refer to it as the ‘Track’ not the ‘Trail’) hadn’t hit us yet, but it was just about to.

Our first afternoon in Papua New Guinea was spent at the Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby. It was humbling for all of us to be in a place where so many heroes – soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice – had been laid to rest. The sheer number of graves gave us an understanding of the scale of this battle.

We began walking the next day from Ower’s Corner, after a sleep-in (!) until 5am. It was very hot, our packs were heavy, and our knees shook going down the muddy, near vertical hills. As we passed Imita Ridge, we paused at the place, and on the exact anniversary (15 September), of the day that John Mosely, the only Scotch boy who fought and died on the Track, was killed. It was a tough day, but we managed to get to our first campsite with no casualties except Nick Johns’ shorts.

We woke up the next morning and started our hike across the Maguli Range. Most of the group has suppressed their memories of this day for good reason: the terrain can be likened to a seismograph reading. Unfortunately, the third and fourth days of the hike weren’t much different. For many in the group (especially Mr Jan Honnens) the thought of opportunities to buy Coke from the villagers was what kept them going.

Gradually, our packs became lighter, our bodies acclimatised to the conditions and the hills seemed much less daunting. Cam Bell, Byron Smith, Martin Lipshut and Al Meallin could be heard from miles away as they kept tally of their ‘favours’, and the number of falls they had.

The monument at the battlefield of Isurava, built to recognise the four days of intense fighting and sacrifice, was the final stop for us along the Track, and was undoubtedly the most moving part of our trip. Hearing the stories of men such as Bruce Kingsbury VC and Charlie McCallum made us realise that the hardships we faced along the Track were nothing compared with what the soldiers had to put up with. In many ways the Isurava monument was the highlight of our trip, because it allowed us to soak all the history that occurred on the Track and put our own petty struggles into perspective.

The day after we finished our trek we rode on the back of a truck (literally) before being dropped off at villages, where we stayed for three days. We each stayed in a different village and experienced the day-to-day life of the village people. This was an unforgettable experience, and it is difficult to describe the affection with which we were cared for. None of us will forget seeing Cam Bell and Mark Gronow decked out in the 30 necklaces (all but one of which were taken by customs) that they’d received from the people of their village.

We spent the last few days of our trip at Buna on the north coast of PNG, relaxing and visiting the Japanese and Australian airstrips and other relics. All the boys would like to thank Mr Beechey and Mr Honnens for their work on the trip, and especially Mr Woodruff for the countless hours he put into organising the trip and the insights he gave us into the history and culture of PNG. It was an amazing trip, and one that we would all like to see happen again in future years.

Nick Johns-wickberg and Ben Marks
Year 11