A lot of trekkers believe in walking the Kokoda Track the way our diggers did during 1942 with heavy loads on their backs.

However, common sense has to prevail. Do you really want to waste your hard earned cash to fly to PNG only to find you cannot complete your trek and spend time in a hotel instead at added costs waiting for the 25th Anzac Day service. A trekker last year had to fly back home as the hotel accommodation was expensive to hang around for 7 extra days.

This happend to a young guy who left last Saturday at Ower's Corner carrying his own pack. On top of that he had to pay for the helicopter as travel insurance only kicks in if you are sick or hurt. It does not cover you simply due to fatigue. If you can still put one foot after the other, unless you have excess money, you have to keep on walking no matter what.

Sadly for him, he had to request a helicopter to pick him up at Ioribaiwa as he just simply could not cope.

His name is Adam, and he said its the first thing he has never completed in his life and he is pretty depressed that he could not cope. He now has to sit it out and wait for his friend and other trekkers to arrive in Kokoda this coming Saturday.

Therefore, please THINK SERIOUSLY……BEFORE COMING….do you want to be in the same situation as Adam, or do you want to complete your trek.

There is no shame in hiring a personal porter. This is their job and they love doing it. They also get so much joy in helping you to complete your dream and learn a bit about their culture in the process.

LAST CHANCE NOW TO HIRE A PORTER as we get closer and closer to our Anzac Day Treks heading out on the 16th April.

According to Russell my sub contractor and a veteran of some 270 + treks, he was obviously doing it tough climbing the hills with weight on his back that he pushed too hard on himself outside what he had ever done before. Then he would have lost it mentally. After that the body shuts down and you feel you just cant keep going. Russell always maintains, out on the track, its 60/40.

60% physical and 40% mental. If you have to have the right mix – you will make it. Get too stressed due to fitness, and you mind starts to think too much. On my own trek with Russell, I asked on the first day, do you think I will make it. He looked at me rather sternly and remarked…Gail, you never think that way. You have to stay focused and know you are going to make it otherwise you mind will start playing tricks with you. Think positive at all times.

An example was a group of 17 that headed out on one trek. In this group was a competing triathlete who was super fit. The first day he was out in front…the second day the same and carrying his pack. On the third he was vomiting and doing it tough dropping back to the middle to end of the group.

By the 5th day he was a total mess. According to a PE High School teacher on the same trek, he lost it mentally worrying if he was eating enough…drinking enough and so on. This guy dug deep and finished the trek but lost 10kg in the process and was forced to hire someone on the track to carry his pack for a couple of days.

During the Anzac Treks due to all the companies hiring staff at this time, its hard to find an unempoyed porter who can help out.

Hence the message has to be LOUD AND CLEAR….if in doubt and you do not want to waste your money, please consider HIRING A PERSONAL PORTER and enjoying your trek and more importantly getting to the finish line.

One American walked in 2004. He hired a porter yet carried himself. He did this just in case he got sick and said he didnt want to be a burden on anyone. In the end he had a companion to talk with and share stories along the way. He gave back to the descendants of the fuzzy wuzzy angels by hiring a porter, and he finished his trek.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT….its not too late to book a porter, when out on the track itself, per above its going to be hard to find someone if you are in need and it will put more pressure on our porters who will be forced to double up on packs just to get you all home.

Photograph: this Japanese trekker came to pay his respects to his relatives who also lost their lives on the Kokoda Track during World War II. He started off really struggling and carrying his pack. When he arrived at Isurava he was absolutely stuffed so decided to hire a porter. Our guide called on the radio for a porter and one walked up during the night to Isurava from Kokoda.

One of the first things he did was to feel the weight of his boots. They were too heavy it seems and were given away in the village and he wore his sneakers the rest of the way. By the time they reached Ower's Corner, you can see the happiness on this guys face and that of our porter. He was just so grateful. As for the porter, he was just so proud, as his trekker toughed it out but made it to Ower's Corner fit and well. The porters who walk the track are small in frame but tough and fit. They want to do for you what their grandfathers did for our diggers!
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