Trekkers should know what to expect on Kokoda. They will move with a group of trekkers who may want to take off on day one like race horses in the Melbourne Cup. If you are not up to keeping up with them do not worry. You will not be left behind.
The trek will move at a steady pace with rest stops on the tops of ridge lines. This can be demoralizing if the race horses rest / move on before the slow movers get there. Or worse still, they move out as they see the slow trekkers arrive.
I remind trekkers that soldiers on Kokoda got a medal regardless of arriving first or last.
If the trek starts at the Ower’s Corner end, going can be difficult up to Imita Ridge for the new group. All trekkers have to realize that they should move steadily.
If a trekker is forced to move at a faster rate than comfortable, it can be heart attack territory. A number of people who have died have suffered in the first two days south-north. Dehydration can be a problem.
As the trek starts on day one, we are not to know who the race horses will be. So if we feel there is a small group behind us and wanting to overtake, step aside and let them disappear into the distance. They will not run away.
We should have done exercise before arriving in country. It is all useful. Some will have carried packs in the local parks, taken the steps to work each day up and down and walked up and down flights of steps in the town.
Others have trekked up and down sand hills. The conscientious trekkers may have done the Gold Coast race through the hinter land. It is all good preparation.
But for most of us, the key training experience is to trek Kokoda. The most important training is the trek itself. I find that my chest stops throbbing and my throat no longer burns after day 2. Or day 1 if I have trekked in the months before.
So go steady for the first 2 days and let the track itself free your chest, heart and muscles. Do not take too much salt. There will be salt in your tinned food, biscuits and salted peanuts.
Do not constantly take sports mixtures of drinks that fill you up with glucose and salts. You are over-indulging. It is important to drink as much water as you need. There are plenty of creeks.
After the first 2 days, treks tend to settle down to a steady pace. Friendships develop. Trekkers enjoy sitting at rest stops to talk and wait for their friends. All have got into a rhythm of walking uphill. Danger of heart attacks and dehydration drop accordingly.
I trekked Kokoda in 1977 while serving in the Australian Army in Lae. My main fear was that I would not make it. My blood pressure rose accordingly. My heart was beating partly out of fear.
Now the track seems to get shorter trek by trek. Ho hum, big day today. Up the Maguley Range
I will never forget the panic in the eyes of the middle aged woman coming up the track to Iorabaiwa Ridge from Ower’s Corner.
She was stricken by fear and almost dragged up the slope by her porter. Sitting in camp at Wa Ule Creek, I heard the soundof a helicopter going over. I hoped it was for her. She was in the death zone.
GUIDELINES FOR TREKKING
prepared by Kokoda Track Authority
Trekkers must have a valid trek permit obtained from the Kokoda Track Authority or through your travel agent of trekking operator.
Permits may be obtained through the office in the Brian Bell Plaza Boroko and carried by trekkers or group leader and may be inspected by a ranger. Trekkers without a permit may be required to pay a K100 fine in addition to the required fee,
Individual trekkers or groups should be accompanied by a recognized guide from the Kokoda Track area and if required, porters from villages. This is a measure to protect people from becoming lost and assisting in injury, ill health and advising on war history, eco-tourism and general information.
Your trek may be monitored by radio transceivers in each village along the track. Some guides may carry a hand held radio for communication with their base in Port Moresby
It is also recommended to carry a satellite phone for emergency. KTA is contactable by radio at “KTA Base” or by phone at (+675) 323 6155 or Kokoda 329 7411.
Please use the latrines on the track. If you need to go elsewhere ensure you are at least 50m from any water course and bury the waste.
Overnight in village guest houses is welcomed. Ensure Guest fees are paid in cash and obtain a receipt. Up to K20.0 a night is recommended for trekkers and sometimes K5 for guides and porters. No credit facilities. Meals are separate.
Bush campsites are available in numerous locations. Trekkers may be asked to pay the landowners an overnight fee up to K20. Guest house, bush campsite accommodation and food for meals are normally paid for by the tour group leader or guide.
Please pay villagers for any fresh vegetables and fruits they are happy to supply. Other food items are limited.
Please respect the culture and religion of the communities. Seventh Day Adventists are predominant. People observe prayer daily between 5pm and 6pm and their Sabbath from 5pm Friday to 6pm Saturday. Do not put requests at these times.
Trekkers should be medically fit and have medical insurance coverage and also carry basic first aid supplies. Your guide should have a first aid kit for medication of trekkers and porters.
Do not litter the track, villages, guest houses or camp sites. Burn waste and bury or carry non-combustible waste to trek end for disposal.
Do not deface or damage memorials, trees or buildings. Do not remove war relics. It is an offence to carry live or spent ammunition on an aircraft.
The Trek Permit Fee paid by all trekkers is for funding community infrastructure projects and their maintenance, together with maintenance of Track facilities such as walking track and creek/river crossings, radio communications, signage and airstrips. It is not for paying trekkers’ personal expenses of guest house, campsite, food, cultural performance, village museums or scenic attractions.
The Kokoda Track Authority accepts no liability for any injury or loss sustained by trekkers, guides and porters on the Kokoda Track.
TOUR OPERATORS AGREE TO:
adhere to Kokoda Track Authority rules, guidelines and procedures;
promote sustainable tourism on the track;
promote heritage in military history, environmental and cultural values;
promote responsible tourist behaviour;
minimize impact on natural environment;
support local communities;
promote excellence; and
exercise care to staff.
SOUTH-NORTH VS NORTH SOUTH
There have been more fatalities south-north, particularly in the first two days. Is this a coincidence? Or is south-north tougher?
The South-North route starts at Ower’s Corner. We drop to the Goldie River Maguley Range
This is a tough approach for newcomer trekkers. There are more climbs straight up.
The North-South approach has tough climbs. The upward stretch to Deniki is toughish. We trek foothills through the villages and hit the ridge line up to Deniki. A trekker who has trouble here is going to have trouble further down.
Then we trek through the 13 choko plots and hit the upward climb to Isurava village. That last climb is tough for the weaker trekkers. It is also long and tedious. I am always pleased to reach the twin creeks at the foothill under Isurava village.
I recall one trekker who had severe problems on this approach and was airlifted out at Eora Creek crossing. We were slowed down to the point of having to overnight at Isurava village. That is slow.
I prefer to trek north-south. The ridgelines north-south are short on the upward slope and long on the downward slope. Even the slopes from Eora Creek to Templetons and crest of the range are toughish and tedious.
The south-north approach has the Imita Ridge climb on the first day and Iorabaiwa Ridge and Maguley Range
Steep upward slopes are not difficult once the trekker learns to go forward by putting one boot after the other. Plant the foot, lift the body, plant the foot, lift the body… tedious but not demanding.
Shuffle each boot forward and up to the next step without lifting the leg and putting pressure on leg muscles. Put your head down and do not look up too much. Stop when you need to.
When I am absolutely stuffed, I put my head down and count 10 steps, then another 10 steps, and another and another until I have reached the top.
Do not be fooled by clear sky above the ridge line. It is not the top. The track is turning right or left. Plant the boot, lift the body, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, one…….
I find that there are many upward slopes where I am not puffing and my heart does not seem to be pounding. It is all partly in the mind. Perhaps panic is a common feeling among those who are having trouble. That lifts the blood pressure and heart rate.
TREKKING ORGANIZATION
We have to understand the formation of the trek. The leader up the front is the head porter. Do not get in front of him. Some of the head porters are quite strict. I once got ahead of the head porter and he blew a whistle at me. And I was the trek leader.
The leader may be a PNG man. It will be his job to be at the very back of the trek as the sweeper. He will not allow any person to get behind him. He is the sweeper. He treats his job seriously.
There was once a trek up Mt Wilhelm in the 1970s. There was one trekker who was having difficulty so he said he would stay on the track and wait till they came back. The sweeper went on ahead. The lone trekker was never seen again. Was he lost in trying to walk back? Was he killed? Who knows?
The leader has walked a million times but may know very little about the war. He will not argue but tends to smile. It makes up for not speaking good English.
I trekked with a leader with the habit of hugging troublemakers. It slowed them down no end. But do not get him angry when he is drunk. You’ve been told. Another PNG leader who works for Charlie has a manner of the bald eagle in the Muppets. But he is a top operator. I saw him smile once. No. It was a smirk.
The military history advisor has the responsibility to move in the trek wherever he wishes. If he is a racehorse, he is at the front. I prefer to trek where I am needed. Trekking up front is stretching things a bit.
Military history talks can be a trial. There is always a trekker who complains the talks are too detailed. There is no need to talk about the 2/14th and 53rd battalions. Just say Australian soldiers.
Then we find that there are trekkers who complain the talks are too general. What about the 2/14th and 53rd battalions? It is necessary to play it by ear. I try to simplify the message as much as possible.
There may be trekkers having trouble. They will be helped by their personal porter with the military history person somewhere around.
I find that trekkers having trouble gain comfort if they think that an Australian is near them. They feel left behind if all the trekkers seem to be miles away.
I once experienced a yobbo trekker from Walgett who thought that the white man had to be up the front like a trekking General Custer. Trekkers Ho! He thought that he was not getting value for money if the military history leader was down the back. He started threatening violence.
The occasional yobbo can be a pain in the you-know-where. The trek is stuck with him. He thinks that his trek fee gives him the right to say or do what he likes. It is worse if he has come with a group of mates and spends his time showing off.
The porters are usually quietly disgusted and go along with what he wants. He will be gone in a week. Trekking Kokoda requires certain social graces. The main consideration is not to spoil the trek for others. Most trekkers are good people who do not want profanity, trouble-making, swearing and constant farting.
FIRST AID
Treks require a first aid kit and a person qualified to give treatment. Trekking companies should beware of the temptation to treat all villagers.
It is always possible they could be subject to harassment, trickery and demands for compensation if the patient died. They have to come back through the village every time they trek.
Problems may force a trekking company to stop operations. Extra supplies of malaria pills are useful. Abdomenal pains can be from enlarged spleen.
Cuts and sores are safe. Deep pain in the chest and heavy pain in the abdomen should be referred to the local medical centre if there is one open. In the army, the medic who went past his capacity was called a Dr Death.
DISABLED PEOPLE TREKKING
We read in the media that there should be physical tests for trekkers. Let us make a test such that the elderly / disabled have to show they are able to trek largely unaided.
There is no doubt that many such people will gain much in personal esteem and achievement. But we are looking at Kokoda Track that provides so much difficulty even for healthy and able bodied people.
Such people slow a trek by having to be helped by the guardian angel porter over every step in the 96 km trek. Who is doing the trekking?
They have to be helped up and down slopes, across streams and creeks, over logs, across tree roots, rocks and clay patches on the track.
There has to be a pay scale appropriate to the patient and never ending support of a guardian angel porter.
DEATH ON KOKODA
There was a report in a Papua New Guinea
The report stated the trekking company (named) did not have a satellite phone. Another trekking company owner (named) claimed that the death was "entirely preventable". He spoke of the need for formal accreditation of trekking groups.
We really have to look at the Kokoda Track for what it is. The track is 96 kms of punishing walking, enough to put very extreme stress on a body that is unhealthy or not physically fit.
I have walked the track only 14 times. At all times I tell myself that if I should have a heart attack, my chances of coming out alive are quite slim. Speed of support is the key to treatment for heart attacks.
We really have to look at the Kokoda Track for what it is. The track is 96 kms of punishing walking, enough to put very extreme stress on a body that is unhealthy or not physically fit.
I have walked the track only 14 times. At all times I tell myself that if I should have a heart attack, my chances of coming out alive are quite slim. Speed of support is the key to treatment for heart attacks.
Trek leaders know that there are stretches of the track where radio receivers and satellite phones are unable to contact Port Moresby
Then there is no guarantee that a helicopter will arrive. To walk the track is to hear the occasional sound of helicopters overhead. Someone is being airlifted out.
It might be the old lady who struggled past our group yesterday. Why did she think she could trek Kokoda? She had to walk hand in hand with her porter all the way. She must have been 65 years old.
Let us think of accreditation? Does that mean that every trek will have a medic trained in cardiac treatment and carrying equipment? Will helicopters fully equipped have to stand by for any call-out on the track with a trained medic? That will cost money.
A specially designated helicopter will wait for perhaps one call out a day with one serious cardiac problem every six months to a year. That will cost money.
Let us think of accreditation? Does that mean that every trek will have a medic trained in cardiac treatment and carrying equipment? Will helicopters fully equipped have to stand by for any call-out on the track with a trained medic? That will cost money.
A specially designated helicopter will wait for perhaps one call out a day with one serious cardiac problem every six months to a year. That will cost money.
Trekking Kokoda is an amazing experience but has to be done with the trekker's full knowledge of physical limitations. Injury or illness are emotional issues like shark attack. But people still trek Kokoda and swim in shark infested areas.
Intending trekkers have to be passed as medically fit with a doctor's certificate. The young lady who died was reported to the trekking group 6 hours away that she had asthma. But her father was on the trek with her and would have known her medical history.
We must not make Kokoda so difficult and so expensive that no-one will trek. There must be nothing so hopeless as a trek leader faced with a badly injured trekker and unable to make contact by phone and knowing there may not be another trekking group within a day in either direction.
We must not make Kokoda so difficult and so expensive that no-one will trek. There must be nothing so hopeless as a trek leader faced with a badly injured trekker and unable to make contact by phone and knowing there may not be another trekking group within a day in either direction.
Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Honner of the famous 39th spoke years on about the numbers of lives that would have been saved in 1942 if there had been helicopters.
BUDDY SYSTEM FOR TREKKERS
Why do treks not have a buddy system? It may be that trekkers nominate the buddies with whom they came. But there was such a system on Kokoda in the war. At times, buddies were blood brothers.
But it would be good if trek leaders made sure that each new person coming on alone the trek alone had a buddy. It may be that the buddy could be chosen at the end of day one so that physical fitness could be a factor.
Racehorses will pair with racehorses. Slower trekkers will be buddies. But the loneliness of being down the back alone with the sweeper can then be avoided. Nothing personal sweeper.
One old soldier once said that the task on the track is to look after number one. And number one is your mate. On the time I damaged my cartilage, one trekker stayed with me for the whole trek. Towards the end, I felt that I would have done whatever it took to look after him if this were 1942.
YOBBO TREKKER
On the occasional trek there is a trekker who causes trouble. He will interfere at every point and spoil the trek for other people. One such yobbo had his view expressed on a trek some time ago:
Military History Advisor: so the Japanese moved in 1941 to strike British ships and bomb Pearl Harbour Middle East once the war started.
Yobbo trekker: I don’t want to hear this rubbish. If you are saying Japs bombed Pearl Harbour China
Military History Advisor: I am explaining history. What you and I think does not matter.
Yobbo trekker: Well you jes stick to killin Japs on Kokoda. Thas all I wanna hear about. And my son-in-law thinks so too, doncha son? The oney good Japz a dead Jap.
Son-in-law: Yeah, thas right dad.
Military History Advisor: What brand of car do you drive?
Yobbo trekker: A Ford smartarse.
Military History Advisor: Would you get into a Japanese car?
Yobbo trekker: Never. I would walk.
Military History Advisor: When we get to Ower’s Corner a bus made in Japan will take us to Port Moresby
Yobbo trekker: I will punch yer in the face if yer not careful.
Military History Advisor: Well that’s all for the briefing tonight.
Good night everyone.
That was one time the client was not always right.
VILLAGE TREKKING GROUPS
I would like to explain why I would never trek with a village Kokoda group, except perhaps one - either as a trekker or team leader. At least an expatriate team leader may indicate serious involvement by the village trek operator.
In Australia
I would never deal with a company with only an email address. They could take my hard earned money and never be heard of again. They could pop up again as Eora Creek Trekking to try the same stunt again.
I would not deal with a company that does not respond promptly to enquiries. I would not be in interested at all in waiting 2 months for someone to wander down from a village to check their e-mail.
They may arrive two months late when we are waiting at Port Moresby
I would be afraid that their porters would not arrive at the start point in time. Village trekking companies may not have a policy of flying their porters.
I would be afraid that their porters would not arrive at the start point in time. Village trekking companies may not have a policy of flying their porters.
I would not deal any company that does not indicate a ready supply of trekking equipment maintained and in good repair ready to start. That includes tents, back packs and communications.
We will not even talk of whether or not village trek leader knows anything about the war. It is a common furphy that grandsons of fuzzy wuzzy angels are experts on military history. Not true.
I once listened to one such leader telling the trekkers of the massive battle on Lake Myola
Those are the reasons why I would never trek with a village group. At least the Australian groups have a reputation to preserve. Some are the key group in a provincial or urban area.
I would trek with Aussie groups with a PNG trek leader but never with a PNG group. I speak from 15 years of experience in PNG. With the unknown village trekking groups too much can go wrong.
Who is going to trek to the village to get their money back? The process will be for budding trek owners to work for an Australian trekking company and learn the ropes for many years.
And learn that PNG time is not acceptable. The cargo cult mentality does not apply to trekking. Trekkers do not just fall out of the sky with money for descendants of fuzzy wuzzy angels.
They are not diverted by the Australian trekking groups stealing trekkers with their computers and emails. There are some hard facts in this report. PNG trek operators need to take note.
PERSONAL GEAR
Trekkers should travel light. They should lift their main back pack on a little finger. I travel light with 4 underpants, 4 socks, 3 t-shirts and 4 shorts, a towel and dry night clothes with a pair of thongs to use in the night camp.
Other items can be included but no kitchen sink and mini-billiard table. The porter has to carry that lot. There is now official policy on overweight packs. Remember that porters have to put their gear on the top level of your pack. Many trekkers give a bonus to their porter at the end of the trek. Fifty kina is a good round figure.
Just a word. Some porters may steal from the pack on the last day. You will be so relieved to have finished the trek that you do not notice until you have got home that your shorts, socks and camera are no longer with you. Sorry to mention that.
Carry your valuables in your personal pack. Many trekkers give their gear to their porter in appreciation of loyal service over the trek. On many treks, porters stay one step behind some trekkers to help them over slippery slopes. They never help me. I take that as a compliment.
PORTERS
On one trek, I slipped at Isurava battlefield and slid on my back for about 2 metres. I am always sure-footed on the track but fall over most in the camp. Silly white man.
Porters laughed their heads off. If I were a paying trekker, they would all fall over one another to help me. But they put me in a different category.
I abused them in Tok Pisin for laughing. That made them laugh more. Some porters see me as a trek funny man. Some porter groups sing like the Vienna
But on one trek I slipped and my porter caught me in mid fall. Some have arms of steel and support a weaker trekker over the entire trek. They deserve a bonus at the end of the trek from a grateful trekker. Some never get it.
HEALTH
Trekkers can have much trouble with blisters on their feet. They should have worn their new boots for a month or two daily. I wore my present boots daily for about 4 months. Now these are as comfortable as heavy slippers.
There is nothing more fearful than to have boots tearing the skin away from the feet with 70 more kilometers to go over 6 more days. The sufferer is a walking invalid.
Others are infected with trench foot on the track. This can come from not keeping feet dry and allowing a bacterium to incubate. Foot powder helps.
This is the infection that blighted the soldiers in 1942. Skin on the soles of the feet will peel off like batter on a fried fish from a local fish shop. There was sock resupply by a biscuit bomber on Lake Myola
During the Kokoda campaign, soldiers did not take boots off over 2 months. It is unwise to do so when pursued by enemy.
During my basic training in Australia
I changed my clothes, removed boots and put them over there in pitch dark under the jungle canopy. And I settled down to look at the stars through the black jungle covered sky while I enjoyed a brew of tea with biscuits.
At midnight, the ‘enemy’ attacked. I could not find my bootsThen we moved out. I was crawling everywhere in the pitch dark. Where are those bloody boots? What if I had not found them? I sympathize with the soldiers on Kokoda.
WASHING
On the occasional trek, the porters will sit at a rest point and have a smoke. They will stay there for 10 minutes after trekkers leave and have a wash in the creek. Then they take off to pass the trekkers and be sitting at the next rest point smoking. Showoffs.
They do wash but not near the trekkers in camps, except camps with wash rooms. Porters like all PNG men are very modest. On treks, they are used to seeing naked white men standing in creeks.
As trekking staff, I tend to wash last and line up for food last. It is part of the old officer ethics of the military. Troops first and officers last. The PNGDF has yet to pick up on that one. It cuts across the tradition of bigmen first and grassroots last.
I once had a yobbo trekker accuse me of not washing as he had not seen me doing so. But then I had an excuse. When I washed, he was sitting in a bush hut like a soldier in the movie Kokoda. I had not seen him either. Trekkers washed in late afternoon.
The villagers of PNG have strict rules about women washing in creeks. They have to wash downstream from the men so that there is no contamination of men from menstrual blood.
That is waived for women trekkers. Gender equity is difficult in this country. Women do not cook during menstruation. I have seen a boy scolding his mother. But I digress.
FOOTSLOGGING
Trekkers should carry one or two knee guards. We Australians tend to move down the track like a mob of jolly green giants. We go kathunk-kathunk-kathunk.
Porters move like lithe mountain lions with knees taking weight like a set of shock absorbers. We wear boots. They may wear thongs and sandshoes.
If not careful, the ligaments in a knee cap may give out with very excruciating pain on the downhill track. A knee pad may get you home.
On my second trek the ligament in my left knee gave out within 20 minutes down the track from Ower’s Corner. The pain was hideous.
I remember trekking into Naoro down through Klinkii pines moving on my backside and helped by my porter. A trekker gave me a knee guard and I walked out the next day on route to Menari. Scar tissue may now have toughened the ligament on my left knee.
On another trek, my porter had knee trouble. It was his first trek. For about two kilometers on the Abuari side to Eora Creek crossing I carried the back pack. Lt Col Honner may have been proud of me.
WASHING CLOTHES
South-north from Ower’s Corner, trekkers have to know that they are traveling up the range into fog, cloud and rain.
If they wash clothes on the south side of the range, clothes may never be dry. Wet and dry clothes should be carried in a garbage bag or two.
North –south is better as the sun comes out around Efogi. Clothes have a better chance to dry. We may have an early day at Menari. Clothes dry well on the grass.
Some people wear a cap. The newcomer will think it is to keep the sun off the head. Most of the track is under the canopy of trees except for stretches around Naoro, Menari and Efogi.
It is useful to wear a cap to keep the head warm particularly on the top of the range. We skirt around Mt Bellamy but have to know that the mountain is as high as Mt Koscuisko. Nights can be freezing. But less so with global warming.
MALARIA
Some trekkers are quite paranoid about malaria mosquitoes. I am unsure about advice these days with global warming. Mosquitoes are undoubtedly moving into the higher altitudes.
Most recommended anti-malarial medicine is a Chinese drug marketed as ARTEMETER or ARTEMISIN. It needs a medical prescription in Australia but can be bought over the counter in a Chinese shop at the top of the row of Chinese shops in 6 mile Port Moresby
Trekkers should realize that infection with malaria will not bring fever until they have been back in Australia
They should continue their dosages on return to Australia
Do not expect your porter to take a malaria pill. PNG people will never take pills on the expectation of stopping malaria. They wait until the sickness hits them. Then they dose up. Malaria medicine over a lifetime can do damage.
I stopped my weekly malaria pills about 15 years ago and have had three attacks of malaria since then. All were cerebral malaria from parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
ALMOST TREKKED KOKODA
I would like to tell a story mainly for PNG villagers who may plan to set up a trekking group either for Kokoda or Black Cat Tracks. And tourist promotion authority.
I already have a report on Malum Nalu blog explaining why I would never trek with a village group. It is all about their not being reliable and professional enough.
Last week, I was approached by a PNG man and asked to be the team leader for his trek starting Sunday. He asked me my rates. I told him that I am paid good money by the expatriate trekking groups. It helps funding for AIDS awareness.
But I would drop my price for a village trekking group. He had asked me once before but I could not trek. He is known to me on the Track. And he spends much time in the email shop.
He suggested K300 a day for 7 days. That sounded OK. I am doing him a favour. I said I have all the gear except a personal back pack. He had one. We agreed to meet two days later at the email shop.
We met and his first words were that he would drop the rate to K150 a day. Was it OK? Not really. He said that he would let me have a personal backpack for K50 a day.
I was losing interest in this man. He said he would give me an advance and would come to give it to me at the e-mail shop that afternoon. I came half an hour late but he had not arrived.
We met next day by accident and he introduced me to three young village men who were to come to make sure that I did the right thing. I sent him a text later to say I was no longer available. I told him that I was probably the only white man who would ever trek for him.
There are a number of issues here. In PNG, there is the attitude among many PNG businessmen that the key to being successful is to lie, cheat and keep changing the goal posts. Not with this white man.
After dropping the price from K300 to K150, I would not put it past him to refuse to pay at the end or drop the price to K50 a day. Take out the rent of the back pack and that would be K200 for the week. Take it or leave it, white man.
That is why village trekking groups will never succeed. Ther Australian trekking companies are on the spot in Australia
MEDICAL CHECK NOT REQUIRED
Post Courier 29 September 2009
The Australian man who died on the Kokoda Track was not required to undergo a medical examination before he embarked on the gruelling trek.
Father of 4 Paul Bradfield 38 suffered a suspected heart attack in his sleep early on Sunday morning after starting out on the 96 km trek.
A spokesman for Peregrine Adventures said that he was not required to undergo a medical examination. He said that trekkers were required to fill out a medical form.
He said that it was vital for trekkers to be well prepared for the hike and know their limitations. They may not be drinking enough water and not acclimatized to extreme heat and humidity.
KOKODA TRACK AUTHORITY GIVES OUT FUNDS
Post Courier 29 September 2009
Kokoda Track Authority has dished out K262,000 to track communities through its tourism development funding and village maintenance agreements.
Chairman of Kokoda Track Authority James Enage said the agreements were solely funded through the collection of trek permits for walking the Track and
represented close to one quarter of funds received.
“KTA has been able to deliver funding directly to the communities along the track”, he said.
“This is the first year people have received funding from the trekking permits. We are extremely proudof this achievement”.
“He said the final payment of K5000 to each of the 14 wards and 16 village maintenance agreements of K600 were made to villages yesterday.
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