Spotlight - 13.2019

ADVENTURE 13/2019 Spotlight 65

Fotos: Greg Newington, Fairfax Media/Getty Images; Robert Boykett

happily accept a coffee from the carrier,

kick off our boots and lie back for a few

moments’ rest before taking a refreshing

swim in one of the ice-cold waterholes.

While our group was wearing the latest

lightweight trekking clothes, our local

Papuan carriers hiked the track in their

functional uniforms. We carried clothes,

personal things and medical kits up to

eight kilos in weight, but the carriers had

our sleeping bags, mats and tents. Food

carriers brought all we would eat on our

eight-day trek, plus pots, team medical

kits, their own clothing and other things

weighing up to 20 kilos. The Papuans did

every climb freehand in a calm, easy fash-

ion — and often in flip-flops.

“Don’t you have boots?” asked Peter of

one barefoot carrier.

“Yes,” he replied. “They are in my pack.

I’ll wear them when it gets slippery.”

A few days later, as we went through

wetland, the carrier passed me, still in his

flip -flops. I asked him where his boots

were, and he said: “In my pack. I don’t

want them to get muddy.”

A deadly place

Death is everywhere on the Kokoda.

Every corner you turn reveals signs of the

fight against the Japanese: old foxholes,

forgotten ordnance dumps, memorials

to the fallen. In one small village, Jarred

tried on old Japanese helmets that a local

showed him.

On our seventh night, we reached Iori-

baiwa Ridge, the furthest point of the en-

emy’s advance. The Japanese could see the

lights of Port Moresby, but they were or-

dered to fall back. At Milne Bay, they had

just suffered their first loss on land in the

war against the Australians.

The next morning, we hiked up to Ow-

ers’ Corner. Walking through the gate

that marks the track’s southern end, we

congratulated one other with backslaps

and hugs. After the physical and mental

challenge, it seemed a well-earned cele-

bration. Then Chris drove us to Bomana,

a Commonwealth war cemetery near Port

Moresby. Nearly 4,000 soldiers are buried

there. Most seem to have been between

the ages of 18 and 24. Jarred found a head-

stone with his own name on it. At the

time of the soldier’s death, he had been

only five years older than Jarred is now. It

was a sobering moment.

I could not help remembering that

when we had stopped at a small hut along

the way, Chris said the local landown-

er had been digging and had found the

bones of Japanese soldiers. They were in

a sack, awaiting collection.

“A n d w i l l t h e y b e? ” I a s k e d.

Chris shook his head. For all their ideas

of honour and bravery, for all their suf-

fering during the campaign, there is not

even a grave along this trail to mark the

soldiers’ passing, as a nation tries to forget

this shameful part of its history.

backslap [(bÄkslÄp]

, Schulterklopfen

carrier [(kÄriE]

, Tr ä g e r ( i n)

cemetery [(semEtri]

, Friedhof

dump [dVmp]

, Abladeplatz, Müll-

deponie

foxhole [(fQkshEUl]

, Schützenloch,

Deckungsloch

headstone [(hedstEUn]

, Grabstein

helmet [(helmIt]

, Helm

hug [hVg]

, Umarmung

memorial [mE(mO:riEl]

, Denkmal, Gedenk-

stätte

ordnance [(O:dnEns]

, Militärmaterial,

Geschütze

slippery [(slIpEri]

, rutschig, glatt

sobering [(sEUbErIN]

, ernüchternd

Opposite page:

hikers walking from

the village of Efogi;

the author’s friend,

Peter Wellington;

here: Kagi, a village

on the Kokoda

Track

Australia

Port Moresby Papua New Guinea

Kokoda