Archive for the ‘Kokoda Trail Tours’ Category
Trek Kokoda -when is the best time ?
February 4th, 2011 | Author: Jim the Backpacker
If I had one dollar for everytime I have been asked this question, I would be a wealthy man.
The best time is anytime during the Kokoda trekking season. The Kokoda trekking Season commences in April and is usually heralded with treks we have designed to be on the Track for Anzac Day the 25th April. The season officially finishes after the completition of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Commemorative trek which we have coordinated to be at Kokoda Village on November 3 each year for the big celebration which is held there on that date.
The numbers who trek during December through to the end of March can be counted on your hands and toes. ( Stats available from the KTA) The reason being is that the Kokoda Track ‘region’ experiences the most rain fall during this period (monsoonal) and high summer heats and humidity. Though you can trek during that time, it is not at all reliably pleasant and therefore we do not recommend it as an option.
For some reason there is a perception with many Aussies that the best time (climatically) and therefore the only time to trek has to be in the middle of the official winter and near winter months, these being May, June and July. These are the treks that usually book out first each season.
After personally completing 25 treks over the Track in all months and having organised nearly 100 Teams over the Track, from all those reports I can honestly state that weather wise, temperature wise etc, etc, you have as much chance of having a fine weather, low rainfall, low humidity and all round great trek in August, September, October or November as you do in June or Jul . You could ’toss a coin’ as to what month you booked during the trek season and make a decision that way if you wished, it would be just as ‘scientific’.
I have trekked in June and it has rained just about every day and next year at the same time it has been fine. During your trek you will spend 90% of your time in the Owen Stanley mountains. Mountains alone have a significant influence on weather changes. There are so many variables that can change the trekking environment from one month to another, one trek to another, that they are 2 numerious to mention.
I trekked in July one year and had good weather and little to no rain. The following year I did the same trek and had high humidity and after a very brief and heavy downfall, we found our Team stranded for a couple of hours on the south side of Ua Ule Creelk late in the afternoon with our campsite tantalizingly close about 100 metres away on the other side. The water rose too high for us to cross while we stood there watching. It dropped eventually and we could then safely cross.
In summary, my advice to all potential trekkers is to select your trekking team by the Team departure time which is most suitable for you. If you stay within the trekking season , April to November and trek with Back Track Adventutres you will have a wonderful , safe and memorable trekking holiday that you will cherish forever.
See you on the Track anytime that is suitable for you during the trekking season.
Happy trekking
Anzac Day treks -Fully Booked
January 5th, 2011 | Author: Jim the Backpacker
With Anzac Day 2011 still 4 months away, all four Anzac Teams are now fully booked. This is indicitive of the increased interest by Australians in general in regard to their history. Anzac Day ceremonies around Australia have also born witness to this renewed interest in our war time history with record numbers of older and young Australians turning out for Anzac Day Dawn Services at war memorials in every Australian City.
Due to the popularity, Back Track added 2 additional Anzac Dday departures for 2011 which filled within weeks of their announcement.
For 2012 Anzac Day treks we advise all trekkers considering Kokoda for Anzac Day to get in early. If you think you may be interested, contact us now and we will email you when the 2012 dates are available.
One unique feature of Back Track’s Anzac Day treks is that we coordinate all our Teams to meet at the remote Brigade Hill battlesite for our Anzac day ceremony. This is a recognised sacred site by the Australian Defence Forces.
By meeting up on the summit of Brigade Hill, half way along the Kokoda Track, we avoid the crowds which head for the more easily accessible Isurava battlefield for the Dawn ceremony. “It’s beautiful watching the sunrise on Brigade Hill at dawn on Anzac Day”. Brigade Hill is the site of one of the Australian armys most important battles on the Kokoda Track. The ceremony is held on the exact site where so many young soldiers lost their lives in defence of our way of life and freedom.
If you didn’t make it to Kokoda for 2011, you’re invited to join us in 2012.
PNG, a forgotten Neighbour
October 15th, 2010 | Author: Jim the Backpacker
The following article is a reprint of a story by Richard Marles in The Punch. The Punch is available online for every Australian who likes debate. Go to www.thepunch.com.au. I endorse the comments and statements made by Richard Marles. All Australians should be paying more attention to our nearest neighbour, friend and ally.
PNG has a population of 6.3 million. It is one of Australia’s two really large recipients of aid.
PNG, just up the road
We are its largest trading partner. It is our 19th. It’s about 400 times closer to us than New Zealand.
Yet for some reason our media and public discourse doesn’t seem to rate the importance of Papua New Guinea. On this website a search on Papua New Guinea yields 23 hits compared to 35 for Spain, 76 for South Africa and 94 for Iran.
For much of the twentieth century Australia had responsibility for the administration of some or all of PNG. Aside from the historical connection that establishes, at a human level it now means that almost everyone knows someone who has spent time in PNG.
Battles have been fought on PNG’s soil which go to the core of the Australian identity.
With the exceptions of New Zealand and the UK there is no other country in the world with which Australia has such a deep historical and social connection.
With that connection PNG deserves our attention. PNG deserves to be understood. And the bilateral relationship at a government level deserves all the public scrutiny that great matters of policy need.
There is much in this relationship that is worth talking about.
Australian aid in recent years has provided 539,000 primary school text books around the country. It has been part of a push which has seen an increase in the rates of primary school participation from 41.5 to 56.9%.
60% of the programme to combat the spread of HIV is funded by Ausaid with more than 6,000 people having been supported by antiretroviral therapy by the end of last year.
More than 2000km of roads are being maintained with the support of Australia, providing invaluable infrastructure. This includes the Lae-Goroka road: the busiest highway in PNG.
But, of course, the expenditure of $470million in aid must come with an obligation to ensure that Australian taxpayers are getting value for money and that Papua New Guineans are seeing real benefits. Both Governments have commissioned an independent review of our aid partnership which is an intelligent document (http://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pdf/PNGAustralianAidReview.pdf) that will ultimately see the spread of our aid narrow and a greater emphasis on grass roots service delivery. We have agreed to consider an Economic Cooperation Agreement – an important step to changing the paradigm of a relationship previously based on aid.
A sign of this change is PNG’s resources boom and in particular the Exxon-Mobil LNG project.
This is a US $15 billion project that at the height if its construction will employ 12,000 people and increase PNG’s GDP by up to 20%.
In its own right the LNG project has the potential to transform the country.
Already it’s transforming our bilateral relationship. Australia has extended a US$500million loan facility to the project: not as an act of aid but rather a commercial decision in the Australian national interest. Australian companies have won A$1.3billion worth of contracts in the construction of the project with many more opportunities still to come.
A project of this size generates its own gravity. It needs, for example, the same number of truck drivers as there are in the whole of PNG. Thankfully Exxon-Mobil appears to be approaching this with a view to training more truck drivers rather than simply poaching all the existing ones.
Yet it highlights that if the LNG project is not done right it could be as much of a curse for PNG as a blessing.
The resources boom has seen PNG’s GDP grow by 5.5% last year and an expected 7.5% in 2010. These are numbers that would be the envy of any country in the developed world.
But it is essential for PNG that the growth in this wealth is translated into real prosperity for ordinary Papua New Guineans. It is a challenge which will be difficult to meet and in this regard Australia has a role to stand by PNG as a friend and to lend a hand.
PNG has an emerging economy, an emerging population and is already a significant emerging nation in the Pacific.
Australia welcomes this. It is in our interest to have another large partner to help us and the region assert our position in the world. And as a close friend we will stand side by side with PNG to help it meet its national aspirations.
With so much going on in our northern neighbour now is the time for the Australian media to emerge with a rightful degree of attention to Papua New Guinea.
Stan Bisset Legend of Kokoda has passed away
October 6th, 2010 | Author: Jim the Backpacker
It is with great sadness that we note the passing away of Stan Bisset, aged 98 years of age.
In the weeks, months and years to come, many new stories will be written about this wonderful man, his life, his exploits. All the men who fought along the Kokoda Track were brave, heroic men, but at anytime in lifes journey where ever a group of men are gathered together, some will always stand taller than the others. Stan was such a man.
All who have had the pleasure of knowing Stan were enriched by the experience. He will be missed, but will always remain an inspiration to everyone who truly values mateship, endurance, courage and sacrifice.
For all of us at Back Track, our office staff and field guides, we will always have a special spot within are hearts for Stan. He was an inspiration and our hero. He will always remain so.
We extend our deepest sympathy to his wife Gloria, their 4 children Jim, Sally,Holly and Tom, step daughter Ros and his four grandchildren.
Lest we forget.
Kokoda Track – “even better now”
September 29th, 2010 | Author: Jim the Backpacker
As our trekking season nears the end for 2010, we implore all potential trekkers to book now with us if they wish to be on the Track for Anzac day 2011. We have 3 treks fully booked for Anzac day and have just opened a fourth and last Team and already this new departure is half full. Dont miss out, book now.
On Tuesday the 28th, I was at Brisbane Airport to welcome home Team 13. While talking with the trekkers who had just had a wonderful trek, I was delighted to hear them speaking with such high praise for the organisation along the Track. Campsites were clean, village welcomes were enthusiastic and friendly and ongoing maintenance all along the Track was clearly visible as were the newly appointed Track Rangers. It was pleasing to hear trekkers talking about the “professionalism” of the entire Track operation.
This is what we want to hear. Many years ago, it was easy for the media to pick faults with PNG infrastructure and to highlight social problems and carry all these issues over to the newly developing Kokda Track Tourism industry. The Kokoda Track was subjected to sensationalised negative stories.
But in recent times, Tour Operators, the Kokoda Track Authority and the local people living all along the Track have been working very hard improving trekkers facilities, Track maintenance, safety issues and public relations.
The kokoda Track is destined to become one of the great walks of the world.