Have you walked the Kokoda Track? Do you have family members who served along the Kokoda Track during World War II?
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Australian History PhD candidate at Monash University, Alexandra McCosker, is exploring the idea of pilgrimage to Kokoda and how we, as Australians, remember and commemorate the Kokoda campaign.
Alexandra, a former Inverell local who was educated at Holy Trinity School and McIntyre High School, wants to make contact with people who have journeyed to Papua New Guinea (PNG) to walk the Kokoda Track or to visit sites of World War II significance, such as Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby.
Last year, Alexandra walked the Kokoda Track to gain a first-hand ‘feel’ about the Kokoda campaign. She said it was “a magnificent and heart-rending experience, but it was a hard slog”.
The gruelling level of physical fitness required to walk the Kokoda Track was demanding and the terrain was a narrow, jungle like pathway, up and down one steep slope after another.
The rainforest was beautiful, but the long treks through mud, afternoon tropical thunder storms and the constant struggle to avoid tropical ‘creepy crawlies’ often had her wondering if she could ‘stand up to it for a bit longer’.
Despite this, Alexandra said “it was a truly unique experience which has enormously increased her respect for our Australian soldiers”.
If you have walked Kokoda, know someone who has walked Kokoda or if you have a family connection or otherwise to Kokoda, you can share your thoughts and memories with Alexandra McCosker. Her contact details are: Email: acmcc8@student.monash.edu ; Phone: 0421 061 097; Postal address: PO Box 790, INVERELL, NSW 2060.