Kokoda trek brings history to life for local students

by Nick Rowe
Three local year 11 students recently completed the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea as recipients of the 2026 George Collins Kokoda Award.
St Paul's student Ella Clarke and Marist-Sion students Samantha Richards and Cohen Cogo completed the trek with Member for Narracan Wayne Farnham and veteran Ben Vahland.
They travelled from Owers Corner to Kokoda as part of a group of about 50 trekkers, including 25 students from across Victoria.
While the Kokoda Trail spans about 96 kilometres in a straight line, the winding and climbing wartime route covers roughly 138 kilometres through PNG's Owen Stanley Range. Trekkers generally take eight to 11 days to complete it.
The George Collins Kokoda Award gives year 11 students from the Baw Baw region an opportunity to learn about the Kokoda campaign while undertaking the physically demanding trek.
Mr Farnham said the award was an important local leadership program and a terrific opportunity for young people in the region.

"It is amazing to think that while Ella, Samantha and Cohen completed the trek as students, people their age were actually fighting on the trail during the Second World War," he said.

For Mr Farnham, completing Kokoda also was an opportunity to continue the legacy of former Member for Narracan Gary Blackwood, who helped establish the award.
He said hearing the personal stories of Australian soldiers while walking the same steep and difficult terrain was one of the most powerful parts of the experience.
One story was about a wounded soldier whose leg had been amputated as Japanese forces approached. Rather than wait to be carried, he reportedly placed the amputated leg in his backpack and made his way out on one leg.
"When you actually go up the hills and look at it, you think, 'How in the hell did they do this on one leg?'" Mr Farnham said. "I'm slipping on two legs."
The group also visited Surgeon's Rock, where wounded soldiers were treated and operated on during the campaign.
"Surgeon's Rock is a rock in the middle of nowhere where they were performing operations," Mr Farnham said.
"Those individual stories, for me, really hit home."
The trek also tested the modern-day walkers.
Mr Farnham became ill late in the journey and began the eighth day having eaten little for about 24 hours.
He said Mr Vahland encouraged him through the final major climb when he wanted to stop.
"I wanted to just sort of sit there for a bit, and Ben was going, 'Come on, get going, keep going'," he said.
Mr Vahland is the immediate past president of the Warragul RSL, manager of the Baw Baw Veterans and Families Wellness Centre and a former Victoria Police senior sergeant. He also served six years in the Royal Australian Navy.
He decided to join the trek after helping interview about 15 applicants for the local award.
"Hearing the stories from the scholarship applicants and what they had put into it, and then in their interviews how well they did, I couldn't not go," he said.
Despite his military experience, Mr Vahland said walking Kokoda gave him a new appreciation of the hardships endured by Australian soldiers.
The modern trekkers had quality boots, suitable clothing and porters who carried their main packs. The soldiers of 1942 faced illness, inadequate supplies and equipment which quickly deteriorated.
"We're wearing excellent boots. I had two pairs of socks on to stop blisters," Mr Vahland said.
"These guys probably had thin socks and, after a matter of weeks, their boots were rotting off them."
He said many of the Australians who fought during the campaign were similar in age to the three students.
"A lot of them were the age of these guys," he said.
For Ella, the trek also had a personal connection, with her great-great-uncle having fought in the Kokoda campaign.
"I've been the only person in my family to go over there to actually see it," she said.
The unfamiliar terrain was among her greatest challenges.
"There were lots of tree roots and lots of different little steps," Ella said. "I spent so much time just looking at the ground and watching the person's feet in front of me."
Samantha learnt about the award when previous recipients spoke at her school while she was in year seven or eight.
She remembered the opportunity when applications opened and was attracted by the outdoor challenge, the group experience and the chance to learn more about the campaign.
"It's not something that we learn at school," she said. "You hear about it, but you don't know anything about it."
Samantha said the trek was difficult but remained enjoyable.
"It was fun," she said. "It was hard, but it was really enjoyable."
She said the first hour of each day was often the toughest.
"When you get sick at home, you can take the next day off school, you sleep in and your mum makes you breakfast," she said.
"But there was none of that. If you felt bad, you had to get up at five anyway and then you had to walk anyway."
Cohen was encouraged to apply by an older Marist-Sion student who had previously completed the trek.
He also had relatives who served during World War II, including one who fought in Papua New Guinea.
Cohen said the freezing nights at Isurava and Templeton's Crossing were particularly difficult because his sleeping bag was not warm enough for the conditions.
He also became unwell on the track, which made it difficult to eat enough and left him low on energy.
The students said walking the trail brought home the fact that many of those who fought there were little older than themselves.
"The fact that they were actually our age, it was a bit shocking," Samantha said.
"They were actually fighting and they had way worse conditions."
The journey also introduced the group to communities living along the trail. They walked with local porters, camped near villages and learnt about daily life in the area.
Mr Vahland said one of the most uplifting moments was watching the students play with village children using balls and skipping ropes they had brought with them.
"It was an hour or longer of them just mucking around with these kids and having a great time," he said.
"These kids don't have a lot. They live a pretty simple life and they are very happy people."
Mr Vahland said mentoring the students had been an unexpected highlight.
"I have such confidence in the group of kids that we had that they're going to be amazing humans in the future," he said.
Mr Vahland will return to Papua New Guinea in September after being invited to help lead a group of scholarship recipients from New South Wales.
Ella, Samantha and Cohen will now spend 12 months as patrons of the George Collins Kokoda Award, sharing their experiences with fellow students and the wider community.
Having walked the trail, they will be able to tell the next generation of applicants not only how physically demanding Kokoda is, but why the stories of the young Australians who fought there remain important.