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Trek Itinerary
Adventure Kokoda Treks
Adventure Kokoda is the only trekking company to include the entire Kokoda Trail in its itinerary.
Our treks focus on the military history of the Kokoda campaign. We therefore follow the direction of the Australian fighting withdrawal from Kokoda and retrace the footsteps of our diggers as they fought courageous defensive battles at Kokoda, Deniki, Isurava, Eora 
Creek, Brigade Hill and Imita Ridge.
We trek across to the Eastern side of the Yodda Valley which was defended by the 53rd Militia Battalion. We also trek to the major Australian logistic base at Lake Myola No 1 and onto the fire support base at Lake Myola No 2. This is a spectacular section of the track and takes a full day to traverse.
Our trek leaders have a detailed knowledge of the Kokoda campaign and provide comprehensive briefings at each battlesite along the track. They also provide briefings on the battles conducted during the Australian advance at Ioribaiwa Ridge, Templeton's Crossing, Eora Creek and Kokoda.
Adventure Kokoda Trek Itinerary
Day 1 - Monday:
Check-in at departure airport for flight to Port Moresby. Met at Jacksons airport by your Chief Guide. Transfer to hotel for check-in. Assemble in conference room for briefing on the strategic situation in PNG in 1942 and an overview of the Kokoda campaign.
Your trek leader will provide a safety briefing and provide an insight into the 
Koiari/Orokaiva people along the track.
You will then be issued with your camping gear - backpack, sleeping bag and mat, etc.
You will get to meet your fellow trekkers over dinner at the hotel.
Day 2 - Tuesday:
Charter flight to Kokoda - inspect monuments, memorials, the Kokoda War 
Museum and the Australian defensive position on the Kokoda plateau where the gallant 39th Militia Battalion first met the Japanese army on 27 July 1942 - battlesite briefing by your trek leader - trek to Kovello for traditional 'fuzzy-wuzzy angel - sing-sing' welcome - trek to campsite at Hoi Village.
Day 3 - Wednesday:
Begin the climb over the awesome Owen Stanley Range. Trek through abandoned village sites to Deniki where the first battle after the Australian withdraway from Kokoda took place - continue to Isurava village - trek to the magnificient and solemn Isurava memorial which was opened by Prime Ministers' Sir Michael Somare and The Hon John Howard on the 60th anniversay of the battle - 
battlesite briefing on the site.
Day 4 - Thursday:
We conduct a Dawn Service for our groups at Isurava. The trek leader then provides a detailed account of the battle. Inspect the area where Private Bruce Kingsbury was killed - he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross - the first to ever be awarded on Australian territory. Climb to the rear of the position and inspect the battlesite in detail. Descend to Rear Creek then to the rock where Regimental Doctors operated on wounded soldiers as they tried to make their escape from the area.
Trek across to the eastern side of the range which was defended by the 53rd Militia Battalion and 2/16th AIF Battalion during the Kokoda campaign - trek to the spectacular waterfall below Abuari then onto the campsite in the village - this is a more traditional village because it is off the main track however it was a key defensive area during the Kokoda campaign.
The Orokaiva in Abuari are shy but most hospitable in their welcome to our groups.
Day 5 - Friday:
Trek via 'Japs Track' down the range to Eora Creek. This is 'off the beaten track' 
and gives trekkers a good feel about how it would have been for our diggers. It is quite an awesome trek with rugged views down the Yodda Valley.
Eora Creek was a pivotal battlesite during both the withdrawal in August/September 1942 and later during the advance in October. The 2/14th and 2/16th Battalions fought heroically to give time for our wounded diggers to make their way back up the track. Some could not be moved and were given morphine and a rifle!
We climb up a narrow spur that was fiercely defended by the Australians - the weapon pits they fought from remain as a haunting reminder of their sacrifice. The track descends down to a rugged campsite at Templeton's Crossing No 2.
Day 6 - Saturday:
Trek to the base of Mt Bellamy at Templeton's Crossing No 1. The area that takes us about a day to trek through took the Australians 17 days to fight through in October 1942. It was a bloody campaign often involving hand-to-hand combat and courageous bayonet charges. The desperation was so great that many Japanese defendersreverted to cannibalism for their survival. 
Climb to the Kokoda Gap - enjoy panoramic views back down the Yodda Valley beyond the Kokoda plateau - strategic battlesite briefing at the Gap - continue climb to Mt Bellamy - the highest point of the track - enter the enchanted Moss Forest then descend to 1900 Crossing and onto the campsite where an American bomber was discovered after 55 years in the jungle. 
Day 7 - Sunday:
Follow original wartime track to Lake Myola. Trek to the downed US P40 Kittyhawk aircraft then continue across the lake to connect to the track leading to Lake Myola 2 - the main fire support base for the protection of the logistic units at Myola 1 - inspect an abandoned Australian mortar position which contains
live mortars and grenades - battlesite briefing - continue trek through the moss forest to Tovovo lookout over the Efogi valley - spectacular views of Naduri, Kagi, Efogi and Brigade Hill - this is the most populated area of the track.
Continue to Naduri Village - meet Ovoru Indiki, one of the few surviving 'fuzzy-wuzzy angels'. Ovoru was in Port Moresby when the Japanese first bombed the city. He did 
not understand what was going on and he fled to the bush in fear. Over the next couple of days Ovoru made his way back to his village - only moving at night because of fear. He told his people what had happened and they began to make arrangements to 'go bush'. Lieutenant Bert Kniezle of the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit eventually came to the village and enlisted Ovoru and the other men in the village to help the Australians. Ovoru then spent the next three months carrying supplies forward to our troops and carrying our wounded back across the track. It is a great honour to meet the few remaining carriers such as Ovoru during the trek.
Day 8 - Monday:
Trek to Kagi village - the forming-up place for the Japanese attack on Brigade Hill - 6000 fanatical Japanes soldiers attacked 1000 Australian defenders in what was to be the biggest battle of the Kokoda campaign - the Japanese referred to it as the 'battle of the Owen Stanley Range' - the Australians refer to it as the 
'battle for Brigade Hill' - follow wartime track to Efoge Creek then climb to the old wartime Efogi village - all that remains is a bamboo clump and an old mango tree. Further on is the original site of the old mission hut on what was known as Mission Ridge before the war - and 'Butcher's Ridge' after it because of the carnage that occurred during the 
battle of Brigade Hill on 7 Seotember 1942.
Inspect defensive position held by the 2/27th Battalion - continue to the crest of Brigade Hill - inspect positions held by the 2/14th and 2/16th Battalions during the battle of Brigade Hill. Inspect a former Australian gravesite - a haunting reminder of the war. Battlesite 
briefing. Follow the track down ridge to Vabuyavi River then climb to campsite at Menari village.
Day 9 - Tuesday:
Climb to the crest of Ladavi saddle - follow track to the Nauro swamp area - cross the Nauro River - climb to the campsite at the village of Nauro - 'sing-sing' with the children from Nauro Elementary School. The 
village of Nauro has only recently been moved to the current location on the Maguli Range. It was previously on the Nauro River with a good airfield but some say fear of sorcery caused the villagers to move up the mountain.
Climb the Maguli Range to the top at Mogolonumu - follow track south - inspect Japanese delaying defensive position with weapon pits and communication trenches - continue down to 
the campsite at Ofi Creek
Day 10 - Wednesday:
Steep c limb up Ioribaiwa Ridge - battlesite briefing at the point where the Japanese were finally stopped - inspect weapon pits on the positoin - descend to Ioribaiwa village - continue down to Matama Creek - follow the creek to the base of Imita Ridge then climb to Imita Gap. The Australians were ordered that there was to be no withdrawal past Imita Ridge and they were die there if necessary.
Day 11 - Thursday:
Climb Imita Ridge - battlesite briefing - descend in the area of the 'golden 
staircase - trek through the abandoned village site of Uberi - cross the Goldie River - climb to Ower's Corner - battlesite briefing, cold beer and fresh sandwiches - board vehicles for visit to Bomana War Cemetery - final briefing on campaign - check in at your hotel for presentation dinner.
Day 12 - Friday:
Half day tour of Port Moresby* including Koki Markets, Ela Beach, downtown CBD, National Parliament, National Museum, and PNG Art warehouse which contains the largest collection of artifacts in the country. Check in for flight from Port Moresby to Brisbane and Sydney.
Military History
The Kokoda campaign featured some of the most desperate land battles ever fought in defence of Australia during the Pacific war. Battle honours featuring the names Kokoda, Deniki, Isurava, Brigade Hil, Myola, Menari, Ioribaiwa Ridge, Imita Ridge, Templeton's Crossing and Eora Creek are emblazoned over unit banners on our annual Anzac Day marches.
The historical/battlefield aspects of the campaign are a major feature of Adventure Kokoda treks. Charlie Lynn, a Vietnam Veteran and former army major with 21 years service, has 
conducted leadership and survival training courses in remote areas of Australia and has led 40 expeditions over the Trail since 1991. He is arguably the most experienced Kokoda trek leader on the Trail today.
Culture
Papua New Guinea is one of the world's last adventures - it has been referred to as a 'Parliament of the Thousand Tribes', a' Land of a Thousand Cultures' and the 'Land of the Unexpected'. More than 750 languages have been identified on the rugged tropical island. The people who live along the Kokoda Trail are Koiari and Orokaiva - sons and grandsons of the famous 'fuzzy-wuzzy angels'. Our guides and porters come from these villages.
Charlie Lynn has established a special relationship with these people over the past 14 years. During this time he has delivered sporting equipment to all villages along the Track, donated significant quantities of school supplies to village schools, sponsored university students to conduct research on learning methods, assisted in bringing a young village child to Australia for major surgery, evacuated injured villagers to Port Moresby for urgent treatment and established The Kokoda Track Foundation.
As a result of this relationship he has been made an 'honourary chief of the Orokaiva people' - his groups are warmly welcomed into each village and presented with tropical fruits, local vegetables and' sing-sings'.
Marion Frith of the Canberra Times captures the feeling in an article she wrote in 1992:
"That afternoon we reach our nirvana - the village of Naduri. It is the home of our guides and we arrive to a hero's welcome. Les leads us triumphantly in and we are met by village elders - the original wartime "fuzzy-wuzzy angels" who carried the injured diggers out against all odds down dangerous narrow mountain tracks. A feast of food and flowers is laid out for us: mandarins, sugarcane, baked and steamed taro, pumpkin tops, potatoes, spinach.
"We fall quiet as these old men stand tall and proud. Charlie seizes the moment, the women and children are banked up around, and in a gesture that cuts across cultures and through language barriers he recites the poem that immortalised these angels. The old men beam, and our army of trekkers wipe away tears.
"It is as if we have arrived. Somewhere, anywhere. Our guides sit with us, their families join us, and the village and its people become imprinted in our hearts. Another woman and I join the evening church service and are entranced as the pastor, his face illuminated by a hurricane lamp, recites the prayers in pidgin and the children's voices rise in harmony so sweet we never want it to end.
" We are silent as we get up form the rough-hewn pew. At that moment we have experienced life at its most perfect, superb in its simplicity, and suddenly we realise that the walk was worth it, if only to find this. Peace and joy are tangible, if fleeting, qualities and we know that where we are going to, where we have come from, we will probably never find it again. We want to seal the village in barbed wire and never let the world touch it".
Environment
Osmar White, in his book 'Parliament of a Thousand Tribes' described the terrain:
"New Guinea is young country born in comparatively recent times as a result of a gigantic wrinkling of the earth's crust which buckled and smashed the bed rocks of ancient, vanished oceans and piled them on top of each other in a series of central ranges, of which the highest peaks rise more than 16,000 feet above sea level. These mountains were formed in much the same way as the Himalayas and the Andes. The ranges are not continuous. They are closely spaced, parallel cordilleras running mainly from north-west to south-east and together they form the backbone of the 'dragon' all the way from its thin neck in West Irian to its stumpy tail in Australian New Guinea."
According to the former chief botanist of the Port Moresby Botanic Gardens, 
Mr Justin Tschenko, who accompanied one of Charlie Lynn's treks, there are more varieties of orchids along the Kokoda Trail than anywhere else in the world. Add to this an endless variety of palms trees, fern colonies, moss colonies, towering trees with giant buttress roots, spectacular waterfalls, crystal clear mountain creeks and rolling mountain ranges as far as the eye 
can see and one can only begin to imagine the awesome beauty of the remote Owen Stanley Ranges.
Today it is hard to imagine this beautiful environment was the scene of one of the most desperate military campaigns fought in the South West Pacific. During these desperate days the Trail was describes thus by Sir Kingsley Norris:
"Imagine an area of approximately one hundred miles long. Crumple and fold this into a series of ridges, each rising higher and higher until seven thousand feet is reached, then declining in ridges to three thousand feet. Cover this thickly with jungle, short trees and tall trees, tangled with great, entwining savage vines. Through an oppression of this density, cut a little native track, two or three feet wide, up the ridges, over the spurs, round gorges and down across swiftly-flowing, happy mountain streams. Where the track clambers up the mountain sides, cut steps - big steps, little steps, steep steps - or clear the soil from the tree roots."
"Every few miles, bring the track through a small patch of sunlit kunai grass, or an old deserted native garden, and every seven or ten miles, build a group of dilapidated grass huts - as staging shelters - generally set in a foul, offensive clearing. Every now and then, leave beside the track dumps of discarded, putrifying food, occasional dead bodies and human foulings. In the morning, flicker the sunlight through the tall trees, flutter green and blue and purple and white butterflies lazily through the air, and hid birds of deep-throated song, or harsh cockatoos, in the foliage."
"About midday, and through the night, pour water over the forest, so that the steps become broken, and a continual yellow stream flows downwards, and the few level areas become pools and puddles of putrid black mud. In the high ridges above Myola, drip this water day and night over the track through a foetid forest grotesque with moss and glowing phosphorescent fungi. Such is the track which a prominent politician publicly described as 'being almost impassable for motor vehicles,' and such is the route for ten days to be covered from Ilolo to Deniki."
The Trail is probably centuries old - a main highway over the range - and in the usual manner of native pads, follows no established principles. It climbs the highest ridges, plunges down into the deepest ravines, and ascends the longest spurs. Between Uberi and the crest of the range, the track climbs more than 20,000 feet, although is has an altitude of 7,000 feet at its highest point. For every one thousand feet of altitude gained, the track drops six hundred feet to the foot of the next ascent.
Personal Development
Adventure Kokoda treks are as much about personal development as they are about historical, cultural and environmental awareness.
On our first night in Port Moresby trekkers have an exclusive group function where they get to meet each other over a delightful meal and a few glasses of South Pacific lager. At this function your Adventure Kokoda Trek Leader will provide a detailed briefing on the:
- current political, economic, cultural climate in Papua New Guinea;
- strategic situation in the South West Pacific area in 1942; and the
- details of the trek ahead of us including administration, safety, etc.
The trek group will also view 'Kokoda - The Bloody Track' a television documentary directed and produced by Patrick Lindsay for the Australian Army on the 50th anniversary of the campaign. It was screened nationally by Channel 7 on Anzac Day, 1992.
The next morning your group boards a twin otter aircraft for a 20 minute flight across the Trail to the Kokoda airfield. The journey back takes considerably longer as you retrace the footsteps of our Diggers as they bore the brunt of the Japanese advance in 1942. Along the Trail you will get to inspect battle sites, receives briefings, enjoys village hospitality and conquer more than physical mountains.
Marion Frith describes the feeling at the end of her journey:
"As we clamber aboard the truck that has come to take us to the airport we have no doubt we are now invincible. We have plummeted to our worst lows and soared to our greatest heights. There is nothing physically or emotionally we cannot endure. We had set off as 34 individuals, half of us Australians and half of us Papuan villagers. When we part we are friends - an indivisible and strong unit for whom farewells come hard.
"If the spirit of Kokoda is strength in adversity, courage and mateship that spirit has been seeded in us all. We cross in a brief 20 minutes what has taken us eight gruelling days. And like all those who crossed it before us, who left their souls in the mud and the heat and the terrifying jungle, few will ever go back.
"Charlie, of course, is the exception. He will continue to pluck other ordinary humans from their comfortable lives and help them blossom into indefatigables, drawing on the greatness that lies largely unchallenged within us all. For the rest of us though, Kokoda will become just one humbling week in our lifetime: albeit our whole lifetimes lived in just one unforgettably humbling week".
On your return to Port Moresby the group visits Bomana War Cemetery and enjoys a half-day tour of Port Moresby that includes a visit to the PNG National Parliament, the National Museum and PNG Art which houses a large range of local artifacts, carvings and souvenirs.
On the last night the group has another private function with a sumptuous buffet, South Pacific lager, wine and some ripping yarns. They also view the 'Angry Anderson Challenge' documentary, which was led by Charlie Lynn in 1996.
Trekkers are then presented with their well-earned souvenir Kokoda shirt and commemorative certificate.
