Kokoda Track trip an experience to cherish
MORE GALLERIES
Participants in a trek along the Kokoda Track did not expect the finish line to be so emotional and hailed the experience as “amazing”.
Grant Halbert, Wayne Miller, Beau Halbert and Robin Saunders made the journey along the historic track last month, representing Ceduna Area School.
The quartet were part of a group of 31 people from schools across the state to participate in the trip which took eight days to cover the 96-kilometre track.
“It was amazing and after all the training, the fundraising and the bits and pieces to actually get it organised it was also a relief and achievement to finish the journey, Grant Halbert said.
Mr Miller said it was one of the best experiences of his life.
“To follow in the footsteps of our soldiers and to actually be on some of the battlegrounds made you truly appreciate what happened all those years ago,” he said.
The World War II Kokoda Track Campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 in what is now Papua New Guinea.
The trek was an initiative of Reconciliation SA and the Department of Education, aimed at promoting reconciliation and each team involved consisted of two students, a teacher and an Aboriginal mentor.
As part of the trip each person had to research a soldier and at certain parts of the Kokoda Track they would present the information.
Days would begin at 4:30am and after breakfast the groups would walk for hours to reach their next destination, stopping the day’s journey at about 5pm where the group would do their nightly tasks such as cleaning clothes, then have a cultural exchange with locals, talk and listen to music.
At the village of Buna, the group was able to donate a bunch of school supplies for the local children courtesy of Ceduna Area School.
Mr Halbert said the physical and mental battle was the most difficult part of the journey.
“The hardest part was the physical and mental battle in your head to keep going,” he said.
“Our longest day consisted of 10 hours of hiking and for 99 per cent of the track you were looking down at where you walked as you were walking on rocks, tree roots and mud, while it rained every day.
“Everybody came home with sore necks from looking down at the ground so much.”
Mr Miller said he calculated on his phone that he walked 189,427 steps.
Both said researching a soldier and walking in their footsteps added to the overwhelming nature of the journey.
“You don’t anticipate the appreciation for what the soldiers went through and we only saw small parts of it – imagine being there for months,” Mr Miller said.
“There were sites with un-exploded grenades and we had people digging up bullets from World War II.”
“If the history wasn’t there it would be a great walk, but with the history it takes it to another level and is like walking through a living museum,” Mr Halbert said.
They said the friendships made would last a long time.
“The friendship and coming together to experience this track as a group was a highlight, Mr Miller said.
“When we came back it left us a bit flat and missing the group of people we spent time with and it is incredible that in a period of 10 days you can create friendships like that.”
“We came from a diverse group of people across the state and they are keen to come over to Ceduna, visit and check out the region now,” Mr Halbert said.
The pair said they could not have done this without the support of organisations such as the Department of Education, Reconciliation SA, Andrew Parkyn at Ceduna Foodland, Ceduna Area School, the District Council of Ceduna, TerryWhite Chemmart, Rex Airlines, Ceduna Aboriginal Corporation, the Ceduna RSL branch, Ceduna Bulk Hauliers, The Bay Room at Port Lincoln, Ceduna Koonibba Aboriginal Health Service, Shelly Beach Caravan Park, Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation and the entire community.
“The community was so great to us in the build-up to the trek and helped us with fundraising,” Mr Halbert said.