What makes this Kokoda Trail crossing different? Photo: World Wide Adventures.
As a veteran of 20 years experience in the Army with operational experience in Afghanistan and the Ukraine, Cam James is a pretty tough guy. Still, even he has his moments on the Kokoda Track.
Everyone does, he says; that’s part of the magic of this tough, 96 km trek along the tropical jungle trail over the historic Owen Stanley Ranges.
“Kokoda brings a lot of people to their knees. But it is achievable and those who take the challenge on and succeed join the one per cent of Australians who have completed it,” he says.
“Regardless, Kokoda has this uncanny way of teaching you the very thing you need to learn about yourself, at the very moment you need to learn it. I’ve completed the trail 36 times, and I still learn something every time.”
Cam takes the trail on yet again next month, alongside a group of intrepid adventurers, to raise funds for Hartley Lifecare, an organisation that provides supported accommodation services in Canberra to help people with disability live their best lives.
Via his travel company World Wide Adventures, Cam will guide participants across the trail to maintain their health and safe passage, providing insights into the history of the war campaign and what soldiers would have experienced in 1942 along the way.
“We detail personal stories of the war and help the participants get a clearer understanding of the terrain, the conditions and the impact the war had on the soldiers and what their sacrifices meant to the Australian population,” he says.
Like in 1942, when Australian soldiers needed the assistance of native Papua New Guineans later dubbed the “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels”, participants in the Hartley Kokoda Trek will have a team of local men to support them – all direct descendants of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.
“This means people will walk the infamous Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea alongside the men whose grandfathers were so inspirational in assisting our hardened soldiers in defeating a vicious and determined Japanese enemy,” Cam says.
While the adventure normally takes eight nights with a night either side of the trek in a hotel in Port Moresby, the Hartley Kokoda Trek will stretch the trail portion over 10 nights, giving participants shorter daily hiking distances and more time to explore the trail.
Kokoda first-timer and Hartley Lifecare CEO Eric Thauvette says while trekkers should be fit enough to walk 10 km a day for 10 days straight, they by no means need to be athletes.
The hope is this will open the experience up to those who may consider themselves physically limited.
“I have heard that in fact, trekkers that go in with zero doubts are often lifted out. Those who don’t feel ready, and who train in preparation have a better chance,” Eric says.
“A month ago I was not ready at all. I have been hiking a lot of Canberra’s beautiful trails including Mount Taylor. I’m sure you can’t ever fully prepare for your first time on Kokoda, but I am looking forward to discovering the trail, its history, the people and myself.”
World Wide Adventures assists all participants from booking to preparation and assistance along the trail itself.
“They’re never alone on this journey,” Cam says.
Participants can also opt in to quite literally lighten their load and support locals by making use of the local Personal Porter service.
Cam says the service is much more than a man carrying their heaviest bag.
“We partner with the local Koiari Men who walk with us, support us and tell stories of their forefathers’ legacy. The men assist with carrying our packs, food and safety gear. They prepare our meals, make sure we’re safe and assist us walking the trail. They sing their songs and are instrumental in the journey people have when they hike Kokoda with World Wide Adventures,” he says.
“All my favourite stories along the trail have centred on the relationships forged between the client and the porter along the journey… It can be a transformative revelation for trekkers to witness how these people living in a harsh environment are genuinely happy with next to nothing.
“We find our clients become a part of the Koiari Community and the money they pay for this service assists the men care for their families, with many of them paying for schooling, medical and other associated family costs. When you use a Personal Porter, you’re giving a man a job, who would otherwise be unemployed in a country of over 90 per cent unemployment and no welfare system.”
The Hartley Kokoda Trek takes place from Friday 16 May to Wednesday 28 May, book-ended by a hotel stay on each side of the adventure. At the end of the trek they will fly back over the trail – which has just taken them 11 days to walk – in 30 minutes.
While the $4950 cost does not include airfares, it does include the use of a Personal Porter, expert leadership by veteran Cam James, two nights accommodation in Port Moresby at a four-star hotel (breakfast included) and accommodation on the trail, tent hire, all ground transfers including airport collection and drop off, a charter flight between Kokoda and Port Moresby, all meals, permits and more.
