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Giday all
Am trying to decide on tour group for Kokoda Trip july/august 2004, this has been a life long ambition of mine as it is sort of repaying a debt. My uncle is buried in Bomana (one of two who served in PNG) so I want to make sure who i trek with is the right choice.
Mainly regarding the historical aspect and of course who can provide an otherwise enjoyable experience. any advise would be appreciated.Regards
Anzac
Hi Anzac,
Welcome to our little kokoda forums.
You can read a lot about the history of the Kokoda Trail from various book, I think one would be titled "Kokoda Trail a History".
http://www.kokodatrail.com.au/track_or_trail.htmlSome of our guides can tell you what happened during the war for each point that is traversed along the trail. Some of their knowledge came from stories told by their parents and we also ask them to read the book above to enrich their knowledge.
I hope your life long goal will be fulfilled. Good luck!
Hello Anzac, what a welcome surprise to see our forum being used for the purpose it was designed – to enable people to post questions and hopefully someone besides myself will answer you.
We can only wait and hope you give our guys at Kokoda the chance to take you on a trek you will never ever forget.
Goodluck, I hope other trekkers post their comments. I too lost an Uncle to the war here in PNG who died in Aitape March' 1945 after surviving many years and is buried in the Lae War Cemetery. Did you also realise that I have typed in every person's name who is buried in both the Lae and Bomana War Cemetery.
If and when you decide to come to PNG, you can locate the exact row by logging onto the website – address as follows: http://www.pngbd.com/forum/t6423s.html
Keep scrolling to new pages until you come to your Uncle's name as all are listed in alpha order.
rgds,Gail Thomas (aussie) – http://www.kokodatrail.com.au & http://www.pngbd.com
_LWF0074.jpgThanks Muppie & Aussie for your replies
It is a fantastic web site & is sure providing me with a lot of info, Aussie you must have done a lot of research for the Bomana listings and yes my uncle is there and all details are correct, it will be a very emotional moment for me when i actually stand at his grave site as since i was a kid i have been going to do this. I will probably bore u guys to tears with a lot of questions as to who, what & how I plan this trip and hope u will help with some probably dumb questions, once again thank you for your replies will see u soon
Anzac
sure no problems – whether you choose to trek with us or another group, only too pleased to help out….and glad to hear you like my kokoda website.
Tonight I just spoke to Russell Eroro our main guide in Kokoda on one of our two way radios and he is just dying to take another group on the trail but unfortunately for him I do not have any bookings in the near future. You would think he was sick of trekking after 139 treks but seems he isnt and still keen. His brother John leaves him for dead with over 360 to his credit. So believe me when I say, these guys love the Kokoda Trail and their chance to show they care about their trekkers both here in PNG and from abroad.
Russell is the guy on the right out of uniform and his brother John is on the left with the beard or as they say here in PNG….maus gras (mouth grass)…yep, hair is grass!!!
Group_Pic_at_Airport_20th_J.jpgHi Anzac,
Can throughly recommend this company to take you on your trip on Kokoda. Went with them on the September the 24 trek. Gail is very organised and helpful and a hive of information about PNG and Kokoda. The guys from Kokoda village your guide/porters on the trek are fantastic, mostly shy to begin with, but caring and hardworking on the trail. We had a couple of people who were carying their own packs and some of the guides/porters always stayed with them and encouraged and helped them every day. The last afternoon we had a storm after a very humid and warm day, we emerged from our tents to find dinner all cooked and ready for us.
Fantastic value for money as well, the T shirts, cups and certificates at the end are also a nice touch.
We all agreed that we had fantastic experience, just stay away from low corrigated roofs at night time, as I had a run in with one, the only such roof on the whole trail, but that was really my own fault.
At the war cememtry on the outskirts of POM I found the grave of one of my uncle's brothers who is buried there.
Hope this helps!
Aussie (Gail)
Could you please send me costings and details on trip and finally i may have another 2 people coming along (hopefully) do you have set dates ? and packages as the different offerings from some groups are confusing. Any information would be appreciated (you may have the info somewhere on the site but I am somewhat inept on finding my way about on the computer)
Regards
Anzac
Hi Anzac,
If you go the website, look on the menu on the left hand site of the page, click on Trek Itinerary and Packages. When you scroll or look down this page you will see this-
Kokoda Trekking Packages
There are two types of trek packages you can choose from:Package 1: Kokoda Fast Track (6 days / 5 nights)
Package 2: Kokoda Adventure (9 days / 8 nights)The cost details of the above packages are outlined here .
Click on package 2, this is the package that we did, it breaks the trek into very manageable days, there are about three long and difficult days, mainly on the last couple of days, and the second day.
If you click on cost details or the word here it will take to the costs page.
Hope this helps you navigate the site, but I'm sure Gail will be more helpful.
Hi shane, nice to see you on 'our' kokoda site or I should say 'your' site as it belongs to everyone, past, present and future trekkers.
I got really excited tonight because there is movement in the camp, people such as yourself and Anzac are actually starting to turn it into a forum where anyone can ask anything they like and get answers.
tks again for your postings and replies……I think you did very well, perhaps one day there will be enough people who have trekked to make this a very interesting website for all trekkers whether they go through us, Charlie Lynn, Northern Distraction, Frank Taylor or whoever, just to name a few.
Anzac, you and your friends can either join one of the treks already listed such as what Shane did….although it was Shane's group that first kick started his trek which started out with just the three of them and ended up 11 in total by the time they took off to Kokoda.
It seems that people enjoy and make their own fun no matter if you trek with just your mates or you join others trekkers. Previous to the trek that Shane was on, was two mates from Sydney who chose to pay the higher amount and just do it themselves.
The only thing you have to keep in mind is that treks can only leave on Wednesday's and Sunday's, so providing you stick with these two dates we will work along whatever time is suitable for you and your friends to travel.
When you are ready, you go to our booking sheet which can be found at the following area and fill in the boxes provided.
rgds
Gail (aussie on http://www.pngbd.com and http://www.kokodatrail.com.au)
Giday Aussie
Well it seems that my little trek group of one must be on steriods as it is growing
it is now a possible 8 & july/august is the time, word of mouth seems to work
could you please advise (as most want to do this) is an extension to Buna & Gona available? also accomodation in Port Moresby seems to be a point of concern for some (mainly security) but I am sure a lot of what we hear in Aussie is blown up by the media.
Anyway nothing is going to stop me from going, just for interest sake recieved records from War Memorial in relation to my Uncles service detailing where he was when wounded and later died in field hospital, so it just fuels my desire to go to PNG.Regards
Anzac
Hi Anzac, great news, can take anywhere up to 18 on the flight at anyone time so keep talking and yes word of mouth helps no matter what business you are in.
Re Security: Yes we have to be careful here in Port Moresby, but geez would I still be here if I faced death on the streets every day of my life…definitely not and I am a female! Main thing is to stay somewhere safe as you have mentioned…do not walk the streets at night……and listen to what people who have lived here give you advice what to do and what not to do such as the comments above.
There are lots of accommodation availabe who will collect your from the airport and deliver you back to the flight to Kokoda. It ranges from cheap to very expensive but there is something to suit everyone depending on their individual budget.
Re Uncle: Seems like you got the same news as me. My uncle was wounded in a place called Aitape but ended up dying some three days later and was eventually buried in Lae. Actually my other uncle (his brother) went crazy over it as well as he was in the same area and heard his brother got hit. They ended up tying him to a tree as he wanted to go to his brother to keep him safe. End result, he suffered from severe nightmares until the day he died quite young really in his forties.
Re Buna/Gona. The only guy I have had that wanted to do this was a bloke by the name of Jason Kovacs a journalist from Sydney. We charged him slightly extra to cover the Air Niugini flight to Popondetta instead of Kokoda. At Kokoda he was met by two Guides, one from Kokoda (Russell) and the other from the Buna side. This is important as you are going on another persons land and whilst it sounds ridiculous to have to guides, its really a must to keep the peace.
Cost him the hire of a vehicle from Monday till Wednesday plus the food they ate including enough for himself and the guides; plus any other expenses they may have incurred. Jason was telling me the car broke down though and they ended up getting a PMV (BUS) from Popondetta to Kokoda. If you need to know more, send me an email and I will pass it onto Jason who maybe able to fill you in on more details.
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