Draft Plan for the development of the Kokoda Track as a National Memorial Park

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There is a need to co-ordinate the development of the Kokoda Track as a National Memorial Park to ensure future trekkers can traverse it safely and that it is an educative and a commemorate experience for them.

A master plan allows for the efforts of the Australian High Commission, the National Cultural Commission, Rotary, the RSL, Australian Volunteers International, The Kokoda Foundation and so on to be co-ordinated in the most effective manner.

The aim of the master plan is :

'To establish a self-sustaining eco-adventure trekking industry for the Kioari and Orokaivean people who live along the Kokoda Track'

The agency for approval and co-ordination of projects should be the Kokoda Track Authority.

In considering the developent of a master plan the following ideas are suggested as a guide. The first phase of the plan should be directed towards identifying the works that are necessary to develop the Kokoda Track and National Memorial Park between Ower's Corner and Kokoda. The second phase is to provide and indicative cost for each work and the final phase is to prioritise the work.

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Information Huts :

Information huts should be established at each end of the Kokoda Track ie Ower's Corner and Kokoda Village :

Tourists who wish to trek across the Track should be charged an entry fee designed to coveer the cost of staffing, operating and maintaining these huts.

In return for the fee each trekker would receive a briefing, a booklet with information on the traditional culture of the Kioari and Orokaivean people and the protocols to be observed in each village.

They would also be briefed on the history of the Kokoda campaign, safety precautions to be observed and communciations procedures.

They would receive a 'Kokoda Track Passport' to record details of their particular trek.

Entry fees would be paid into a trust fund established and controlled by the landowners along the Kokoda Track.

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Training of Guides :

Kioari and Orokaivean guides would be trained in the expeditionskills necesary to lead tourists across the Track. They would receive instruction inEnglish, the Kioari/Orokaivean culture, the history of the Kokoda campaign, the environment, first aid, communications, etc.

It would be mandatory for individuals and groups to hire guides at a standard rate. This will ensure the safety of the trekkers and provide the Kioari and Orokaivean people with an opportunity for regular employment.

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Radio Communications :

Ausaid have recently installed a VHF repeater station on Mt Victoria and radio base stations in villages along the Track.

These are most effective in ensuring trekkers can make contact with Port Moresby in the even of an emergency.

It should be compulsory for all groups who trek across the Track to have a radio which could be hired from the appropriate information hut.

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Traditional Huts :

Some of the huts along the Kokoda Track have been adorned with roofing iron, sheet metal, glass and plastic.

Whilst these 'modern' items are no doubt attrctive to the occupants it detracts somewhat from the perception a modern-day eco trekker would have of a remote jungle village.

Local villagers should be encouraged to construdct their huts from traditional materials so they blend in with the natural environment.

They could use modern insulation/decorative materials inside their huts but the 'natural' village environment created by constructing huts from traditional materials will be an attraction for future trekkers.

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Guesthouses :

Traditional guesthouses and hygienic toilet facilities should be cnstructed at teach of the major campsites along the Track.

There should be separate guesthouses for male and female trekkers.

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Bronze Statues :

Bronze statues depicting individual Diggers, PNG Carriers, planning sessions and actions would provide a haunting theme, along the Kokoda Track.

Private Bruce Kingsbury VC at Isurave.

Brigadier Arnold Potts on Brigade Hill, PNG carriers iwth a wounded Australian on a stretcher at Templeton's Crossing, General 'Tubby' Allen in a planning session ona Maguli Range, a medicaloperating theatre at Lake Myola, a fighting patrol at Eora Creek, a digger nursing his wounded mate on the Kokoda Gap are some of the possibilities.

One has to trek across the Kokoda Trck to fully appreciate the powerful signifance of such an initiative.

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Educational Memorials :

The Kokoda Track is a living shrine to the indomitable spirit of the Australian Digger and the PNG Carrier.

Unfortunately the Kokoda Track is a neglected shrine. Apart from the new memorial at Isurave there is nothing to identify major battlesites, supply depots and medical aid stations along the Kokoda Track. These sites remain unmarked and overgrown.

Modern technology now allows us to construct memorials which will tell the story of each action along the Kokoda Track. There would be no better way to educate trekkers on the significance of the Kokoda Track than by constructing educational memorials at each significant site.

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These would include :

Memorial Arches :

A memorial arch should be constructed at each end of the Kokoda Track (Ower's Corneers and Kokoda). These arches would symbolise the entry to an area deemed to be sacred in terms of our military history. A memorial wall should be established with 'storyboards' cast in bronze mounted on each wall to explain the significance of the site.

A 'memorial arch' was recently constructed at Ower's Corner as a private initiative by well meaning individuals.

Regrettably it is an inappropriate structure for the site and demonstrates the need for a well researched, co-ordinated plan.

Daniel Trott - trekker from Melbourne seen here at 'Ower's Corner' :

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The Golden Staircase :

The Kokoda Track no longer proceeds over the area of Imita Ridge known as The Golden Staircase'.

A trck needs to be cut along the original route with a 'staircase' constructed and maintained. A memorial with photographs should be located at the top of the ridge and a rest area established. This would provide an opportunity for tourists visiting Ower's Corner to do a 'a day-walk' and get a feel for the conditions along the Kokoda Track.

The reconstruction of the Golden Staircase could be scheduled as an ongoing adventure training exercise for Army troops.