Dreams become reality on Kokoda Trek

For nine young Aboriginal men and women, it was a heck of a trek tackling one of the world’s most recognised historical trails as the group courageously made the epic journey through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea last month.

Six of the group were first-timers, with three acting as mentors in the Y WA’s Kokoda Leadership Development Program.

Four staff from the Y WA accompanied the 19 inspirational young people on the single-foot thoroughfare. These brave and resilient youth included six young people from the Pilbara, six from the Goldfields and seven from the Perth metro region.

15-year-old Tehniesha Yorkshire from Kalgoorlie, a proud Yamatji young woman said at the beginning she was nervous.

“When we started the track, I was struggling. I’m not going to lie; I was struggling a lot. But after maybe three days, that’s when I started enjoying it more,” she said.

“And I wasn’t struggling so much because I was getting into the routine that we had daily. And it was just really fun when we were crossing the rivers and climbing or going down.

Continuing their leadership journey, four of the young people in the group participated in the program in 2023; this time mentoring, guiding and encouraging the rest of the group through training camps and fitness preparations, and along the way as they completed the legendary but challenging path, winding through the heart of Papua New Guinea’s rainforest.

Around eight challenging months of physical and mental preparation helped the group to successfully trek through the dense jungles, hiking distances ranging from 12-19km per day over steep and arduous terrain, through a diverse and beautiful rainforest. The landscape is spectacular, revealing glorious mountain rangers, pristine rivers, and a variety of traditional cultures of the people who live along the track.

And 15-year-old Jessi Indich from Newman said the hardest part was going up hills, downhills, “that really hurt my legs”.

“Downhill was worse because I kept on slipping. I think I hurt my leg, and I was like, no I can’t do this anymore. But then some of my mates came over and said oh yeah you can, just push through this. That cheered me up a little bit and I pushed through. I thought I wasn’t going to finish it, but I just had to push through.

“The Kokoda trail really helped me because what I want to do in the future is play footy. I thought I couldn’t walk all that, but I pushed through it. It hurts your legs, but I think it’s good to walk the Kokoda trail.”

16-year-old Stanis Jack from Kalgoorlie said the first day was definitely the hardest. “The mountain we had to climb was the biggest one and it was the first day too, so we were struggling, but then after the second day it was raining a lot, I almost slipped.

“After I would finish, I wouldn’t sit down and take a break. I’d always clap and cheer on the other trekkers walking down, and I would always cheer them on and congratulate them.

“I felt proud and happy for (everyone) for completing it, instead of giving up and not doing it at all, I was just glad everyone made it through, and no one else was left behind. I’m just happy I saw everyone walk through the track, instead of no-one making it through and getting carried back.”

Natalie Piuk, Centre Manager for Y Kalgoorlie Recreation Centre completed the trek and said” “It was so challenging, but honestly one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life, and I think for the young people as well. Some of them said it’s maybe the best thing that they’ve ever done so far.

“Every day came with its own challenges, but when it was the last day before we left everyone was like, no we wish we could stay longer, and it’s surprising because the first day everyone was like, we want to go back home!

“We want to create leaders in this program who can look beyond face value and see how they can best support other people.”

Since the group were selected in August last year, they received expert and pertinent advice on their mental and physical preparation from Kokoda Courage. Kokoda Courage also provided insights into what the group could expect on the trek, the culture of the Papua New Guineans or ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’ as they are affectionately known, as well as attending with the group to safely guide them along the way.

The Y WA would like to acknowledge and thank all current sponsors assisting participants including Murdock Recruitment, Solutions IT, Maali Mechanical Services Pty Ltd, Rotary Club of Boulder, BB Recruitment & Consulting Services, East Pilbara Race Club, Kevin Michel MLA – Newman, Shire of East Pilbara, Puntukurnu Aboriginal Medical Services, Pilbara regiment, Cassie Rowe MLA – Belmont and Westpac.