Kokoda Track
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- For the World War II battle, see Kokoda Track campaign.
Image:New guinea kokoda.PNG The Kokoda Track or Kokoda Trail is a single-file track which starts at Ower's Corner 50 km east of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and runs 96 km overland (60 km as the crow flies) through the Owen Stanley Range to Kokoda.
The track crosses some of the most rugged and most isolated terrain in the world and it is only passable on foot. It includes a height of 2,250 metres at Mount Bellamy.
Hot humid days with intensely cold nights, torrential rainfall and endemic tropical diseases such as malaria make it a challenge to walk. Despite the challenge posed it is a popular hike that takes between 5 and 12 days (depending on fitness). Locals have been known to hike the route in 3 days.
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[edit] History
The trail was first used by Europeans in the 1890's by miners struggling northwards to the Yodda Kokoda goldfields.
During the Pacific War of World War II a series of battles were fought from July 1942 to January 1943 between Japanese and Australian troops. This action was memorialised in a newsreel documentary Kokoda Frontline by cameraman Damien Parer that won him Australia's first Academy Award in 1942. For more details on the Second World War see Kokoda Track campaign.
In recent years walking the track has become a pilgrimage for numerous Australians of all ages.
[edit] Kokoda Track or Trail?
Because of the route's historical significance, there has been much debate in Australia whether it should be called the "Kokoda Trail" or the "Kokoda Track". The monument at Ower's Corner uses both terms: "Track" on one side and "Trail" on the other. A PNG-based commercial website quotes historian Stuart Hawthorne as saying that, before World War II, the throroughfare in question was referred to officially as "the overland mail route", and that it was also widely known as "the Buna road".[1]
"Kokoda Trail" was gazetted as the official name of the route by the Australian administration of Papua New Guinea in 1972.[2] It is also used by the Australian Army as an official battle honour. Hawthorne states that "Kokoda Trail" became common because of its use in Australian newspapers during the war. The first known use of "Kokoda Trail" was in Sydney's Daily Mirror on October 271942. The Australian War Memorial states that "trail" is probably of United States origin.[3] (In U.S. usage the word track tends to imply "rail track".) The AWM goes on to state that "Kokoda Trail" has been used in many Australian history books and "...appears to be used more widely".[4]
"Track" is common usage for outback thoroughfares in Australia. Stuart Hawthorne is also quoted as saying that overland routes in Papua New Guinea have also always been known as tracks.[5] He adds that: "[t]his is not surprising in light of Australia's long association with PNG, and other routes across the country retain their "track" names to this day; for example, the Bulldog Track and the Jaure Track." The Australian Macquarie Dictionary states that while both terms are in use, Kokoda Track "appears to be the more popular of the two" (4th ed., 2005, p. 791).
[edit] Trekking
The track can be walked from either direction, although some say that from Kokoda to Ower's Corner is easier, even though in that direction you actually have to climb an extra 550 metres in height.
The track can take anywhere from 5 days to 12 days to complete depending on fitness and rest time involved. Locals are renowned for being able to regularly complete it in 3 days. The best time to trek Kokoda is from April to September during the 'dry' season.
There are a number of guesthouses located along the way, some at villages others at traditional rest spots. The main villages passed through (from Ower's Corner) are Naoro, Menari, Efogi Creek 1 & 2, Kagi or Naduli (depending if shortcut taken), Alolo, Isurava, Hoi, Kovolo. Villagers are increasingly taking part in the commercial opportunities created by the growing number of tourists; in October 2006 they were selling cans of soft drink and beer at double the price you would pay in Port Moresby.
Guides and porters can be found more easily at the Kokoda end of the track by asking the local police station for a reputable person.
[edit] 24 Hour Race
The 24 hour race was started on 27 August 2005 after renewed interest in running the track was created when Australian Brian Freeman, the CEO of a Brisbane based trekking company, broke the track record in August 2004 with a time just under 25 hours. Papuan New Guinean locals wanted the record reclaimed for themselves, and this was achieved by John Hunt Hiviki during the inaugural race who completed it in 22 hours, one minute and 14 seconds.
Hiviki, a 32-year-old Kokoda resident and trekking guide, sustained himself on biscuits, bananas, oranges, scones and creek water during the race. For the last six hours he ran bare-foot after his shoes broke apart.
The race runners are required to complete the full 96 km and pass through seven check-points at Isurava, Templeton Crossing One, Myola, Efogi One, Old Nauro, Va’ule Creek and Goldie River. There are plans to make the race an annual event.
On 27 August 2006, Brendan Buka, a 22-year-old Papua New Guinean trekking porter from Kokoda, tranversed the trail in under 18 hours. A Sydney engineer, meanwhile, has become the first Australian to walk the track in under 24 hours, coming third in this year's Kokoda Challenge Race with a time of just under 19.5 hours. Damon Goerke, 32, set the pace for most of the race but said he pushed too hard at the start and was overtaken by Buka and second-place-getter Wayne Urina.
Buka's winning time from Owen's Corner to Kokoda was 17 hours, 49 minutes and 17 seconds.
[edit] Kokoda Track Foundation
The Kokoda Track Foundation was established by Charlie Lynn in 2003. The aims of the foundation are to promoted education, health and sporting initiatives designed to enhance the well-being, future and enjoyment of the local communities living along the Kokoda Track.
