Two Ky women brave Kokoda Trail for Anzac Day tribute

Though they returned from their 10-day adventure on Monday, April 28, when speaking to the Free Press a few days later, they still couldn’t fathom they had been knee-deep in mud just days earlier.

“It’s very hard to put into words, but I think it does take a bit to sink in for lots of reasons,” Cathy said.

The adventure began just after the flight touched down in Papua New Guinea when a bus driver with one hand on the wheel and the other holding his phone to his ear had the women thinking they definitely were not in Australia any more.

Before their journey on the trail began, they stopped by the Bomana War Cemetery, a resting place for about 4500 Commonwealth soldiers.

Passing through the cemetery, they walked past hundreds of gravestones of young men who lost their lives in war, and hundreds more unmarked.

“It sort of set the scene for what was to come,” Cathy said.

It was Cathy’s second time taking on the challenge, so she knew what to expect, and how much of a physical and mental challenge it was to walk 96km through some of the most treacherous jungle in the world.

She prepared Sonia as such, but Cathy reminded her there was no way to prepare for some terrain on the trail.

Sonia said walking through the jungle, many times she was reminded of her grandfather, James McCormick, who served in New Guinea during World War II.

“When you’re struggling up a hill, you’re not carrying anything, you’re not sludging through the mud like they were and waiting for who knows what to jump out of the jungle at you,” Sonia said.

“Sometimes when I was on my own walking through a beautiful area, I had a few little teary moments thinking about my grandfather and what it would have been like for him.”

The pair said their saving grace were their porters — locals who walk the trail alongside tourists, helping to carry gear up the toughest parts of the mountains, drying wet shoes and socks while trekkers slept, and keeping spirits high even in the lowest and most mentally challenging moments.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting the impact that the porters and the local people would have on me,” Sonia said.

“They help you through everything.”

“They were just amazing — I could just cry thinking of them,” Cathy said.

They journeyed with eight other people, all walking for their own reasons, with their own connections to Kokoda, and many of them Australian.

When they arrived at the Isurava Memorial for the Anzac Day dawn service, those reasons became apparent.

It was Cathy’s first dawn service, and after seven days of walking and trailing the same path the Anzacs advanced, it was an emotional service.

“It was really special — the tears, they just flowed for me that day,” Cathy said.

“You’re just so tired by then too, so the emotions are really something... it was such a personal experience,” Sonia said.

“To have The Last Post in such a beautiful place, just like all those soldiers did... it was hard to put into words.”

Overlooking the valley they had just trekked through, there was a small memorial with four pillars each with a word that exemplified the Anzac spirit: courage, endurance, sacrifice and mateship.

Cathy said while there were bad days and good days across the 10-day trek, but the word ‘mateship’ stuck with her throughout.

“The mateship wasn’t just between us two, but the rest of the group, our trek leader, our porters — it was mateship and courage,” Cathy said.

“The last time I walked, it was a dry track. This was disgustingly sloppy and wet, and I think we could’ve gotten nowhere without mateship — mateship is forever.”

For Sonia, the word that resonated the most was ‘sacrifice’.

“The history and what Kokoda was and what it means for all Australians, that was sacrifice,” she said.

“The most special part for me was the porters because they were sacrificing themselves for us the entire trip. They have this sort of commitment, and it’s built into them to help.

“The actual walking of the track was a low point — but all the other stuff, all the joy and meeting people in the villages you stay in, that’s the high point — that’s the rush.”

Sonia said during days three and four, she was thinking she would never do the Kokoda Trail again, but her perspective has since changed.

Her 13-year-old son is already interested in doing the trek, and she seems open to the possibility.

After returning for a second time on Kokoda, Cathy said she doesn’t think she’d do it again, but said it’s something everyone should do at least once.