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Hi everyone, Australian's often mention the law and order problems here in PNG when they come to trek. If you live by the common sense rules we are forced to live with every day of our working lives here, you will be ok.
However, when you break the rules, you can expect problems. This happened recently to a guy who was not trekking with us but with a church group out of Popondetta. On the day in question he left his hotel and headed down to Boroko to purchase some last minute item from a chemist shop.
He did the right thing and hired the recommended taxi service but where he went wrong was to leave his backpack on the back seat of the vehicle when he went inside the chemist shop.
What happened next was that the taxi driver wandered off a short distance away from his vehicle but some petty thiefs saw an opportunity. They quickly broke a window, opened the locked door and grabbed his backpack and took off.
How do you think this guy felt when he came out of the shop with only a short time left to catch his flight to Popondetta to find no backpack and all his things gone?
At first he was in panic mode but made his way around to the Kokoda Track Authority office. A quick phone call to ourselves and quick service by the Brian Bell Camping Store, soon found him with new equipment. A second hand shop nearby provided him with clothes. We provided him with food ration packs and also a dash to the airport to ensure he caught his flight to Popondetta.
When he walked in, they had closed off the flight. He begged the staff to let him on and told them what happened. Whilst this was going on, our son Nathan spoke to the customer service department. They bent over backwards as well to ensure he just walked through to the boarding lounge complete with his luggage and caught the flight to Popondetta.
End result, he arrived in time to catch up with his friends in Popondetta and complete his dream of walking the Kokoda Trail.
Turns out this guy is a policeman in Australia and it was the first time he had been on the receiving end of crime and now knows how it feels to be robbed. Yesterday we received a nice email from him for helping in his time of need.
Email 03/05/06:
Dear Gail and Nathan,Thankyou ever so much for your assistance with transport and food ration
packs after my backpack was stolen in Boroko. As a result of your help along
with the assistance of staff at brian bell I was able to get the necessary
equipment together and successfully complete my Kokoda Trek. My pack was
stolen at about 11am and my connecting flight to Poppendetta left at
12:55pm. If you guys hadn't have helped me at my time of need I am certain I
would have thrown in the towel and gone home without doing the trek. Once
again a big THANKYOU!Kind regards,
Darrell
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