FOR Molong teacher Adam Ross, walking the Kokoda Track was an opportunity to better understand one of the most significant chapters in Australian history and to share that experience with his son, Cooper.
After years of wanting to undertake the journey, Mr Ross finally made the decision to go during the recent school holidays after he was strongly encouraged to do it by his wife.
“She kind of just said to me one day, ‘I’ve booked you in,’” Mr Ross said.
As a teacher, Mr Ross has long taught his students about Australia’s involvement in war and military history, making the Kokoda Track a journey he had always hoped to undertake.
“I’ve always been very interested in the Kokoda story,” he said.
“I thought it was important that I do it. I wanted to get an appreciation for what they went through.”
Mr Ross and Cooper spent 13 days in Papua New Guinea, walking the Kokoda Track for nine days before also travelling through the northern beaches.
For Mr Ross, bringing his teenage son a meaningful part of the trip, as Cooper is close in age to some of the young Australian soldiers who fought in the campaign.
“I wanted him to do it too because it’s not far off how old some of those other boys would have been,” he said.
The journey proved challenging, even with modern equipment, experienced guides and support from porters.
The pair were among a group of 24 others who tackled the trek, walking from around 5am until approximately 3pm most days with some of the easier days covering up to 20 kilometres and the harder sections taking several hours to cover just eight kilometres.
“If you’re not going up, you’re going straight down,” Mr Ross said.
“If you do get a bit of flat, it’s either because it’s in a creek bed or in a swamp, or it’s in the blazing sun.”
Despite the physical demands of the journey, Mr Ross said he never considered giving up, although there were certainly days when he questioned what he had signed himself up for.
He said the camaraderie of the group helped keep everyone moving, with the trekkers supporting one another and taking turns at the front so nobody was left behind.
“When somebody was struggling a bit, normally somebody else would pick you up,” Mr Ross said.
“We’d often take turns in the front and nobody wanted to fall behind. You would just pick yourself up and push yourself on to keep going a bit further.”
At the beginning of the journey, the group was reminded of four pillars that represent the spirit of Kokoda: courage, sacrifice, endurance and mateship.
Walking the same terrain that had once been faced by Australian soldiers gave Mr Ross a greater appreciation of the conditions they endured, particularly when he considered that many of those who fought along the Kokoda Track were little older than his own son.
“I was walking it in fairly good conditions with modern equipment and guides and all of that, and it was still challenging,” he said.
“So, it definitely gave me an appreciation.”
To gain a more authentic experience, Mr Ross also chose to carry his own sleeping mattress and equipment rather than rely entirely on the porters.
“I thought that was what I was going in there for,” he said.
The journey also provided opportunities for Mr Ross to connect with local communities, with villagers regularly welcoming the trekkers when they arrived at each settlement and many of the porters themselves coming from communities along the track.
One particularly memorable encounter came about through Mr Ross’s connection with local man Ralph Chrystall, who had previously completed the Kokoda Track and maintained a long-standing friendship with a local man named Rod Ori.
Before Mr Ross left Australia, Ralph asked him to deliver a gift to Rod. But when Mr Ross arrived in Kokoda, he had only a short amount of time to locate a man he had never met before.
“I just yelled out to some locals up on a veranda, ‘Has anybody seen Rod Ori?’” he said.
The locals directed Mr Ross towards Rod’s home, but he wasn’t there, so he instead met his wife and handed the gift over to her.
Just as Mr Ross’s group was preparing to leave Kokoda, however, Rod managed to track him down.
“He managed to track me down and run after me before we left Kokoda,” Mr Ross said.
Now that he has completed Kokoda, Mr Ross already has his sights set on his next adventure, with Gallipoli and the Western Front both firmly on his list.
For anyone inspired to follow in his footsteps, Mr Ross has one simple piece of advice.
“Walk as many hills as you possibly can,” he said. “And when you think you’re done, do it again.”