By Mikayla van Loon
Hiking through vast jungle, trekking rocky terrain and seeing breathtaking views is what two students from Cire Community School Mount Evelyn have just experienced on the Kokoda Trail.
The adventure saw senior school students Cammy and Rhylie depart Melbourne for Papua New Guinea on 17 April to begin the gruelling eight day trek along the iconic trail.
“It was intense. There were a lot of emotions at the beginning, especially on the plane. Both of us didn’t like taking off, there was a lot of fear in that,” Cammy said.
“There was a little bit of delay in the hotel before we actually got on the track, so it was all up in the air at the start and you just dive into it. You don’t really have too much time to stress about it.”
Rhylie said because of a public holiday, it delayed the first day because some of the guides weren’t able to fly to the meeting point which meant they were making up time throughout the whole trek.
Luckily with the experience and guidance of the porters, trackmasters, trek leaders and some locals, Rhylie said they were able to get going halfway through the first day.
“We had five trackmasters. There’s normally six groups and one trackmaster for each group, but because this was the first trek that’s happened since Covid, we had all five trackmasters with us,” he said.
“One of the trackmasters ended up going to find some local boys that he had done it with before to take us for like the first two days until our boys could get over there.”
This was just one of the highlights for Rhylie, getting to learn from the locals about their culture.
“They have so much less than us but they have so much more joy in everything. As soon as you start talking to them they’ve got a smile on their face,” he said.
“Getting to learn their culture and getting to learn a bit about them, to learn a bit about the language, matches with actually just walking the track.”
For Cammy, being amongst the wilderness was the best highlight, even if only getting glimpses every now and then while walking, the view at the top was always worth it.
“It’s incredible. You feel like an ant and everything there is so much bigger than it is here, I think because it grows so wildly and organically. It’s just so cool,” she said.
From glowing moss forests to fireflies, the Papua New Guinean environment pulled out all the stops, leaving a lasting impression on both Cammy and Rhylie.
“One minute you could be walking through some dense bush going uphill or downhill and if you get to the bottom of the hill next minute you’re walking through swampland,” Rhylie said.
“You get to a point where you’re just automatically walking and then next minute you look up out of nowhere and it’s just breathtaking.”
This experience was made possible for Cammy as the inaugural recipient of the Cowey-Selman Kokoda Award, a joint initiative between the 39th Infantry Battalion (1941-43) Association, Mount Evelyn, Monbulk and Lilydale RSL sub-branches.
Having applied alongside Cammy, Rhylie always had a dream of one day walking the Kokoda Trail and because of his enthusiasm, the school community rallied behind him to fundraise for him to join Cammy.
“Being a kid, having one of those dreams, I never really thought I could go. I love learning about the war and all sorts of stuff that has happened in our history,” he said.
With the support of his teacher KP Skidmore (Skids), the dream became a reality, with a GoFundMe set up and the Yarra Junction campus pitching in donations from cafe purchases.
“Rhylie, since he’s been at our school we’ve just seen this amazing determination to grow and to change and just to take the opportunities that have been given to him,” Skids said.
“Watching how seriously he took the research and scholarship…[it was about honouring] that process, his determination and his commitment to the process and also commitment to his own life and development.”
Extremely proud of both Cammy and Rhylie for putting their hands up to take on the challenge of applying and completing the Kokoda Trail, Skids said it is also great to see them being reflective of what they have experienced.
“I love the fact that they’re both reflective and they have both taken what they’ve learned…I feel like there is going to be more beauty in this world as a result of them stepping up and being courageous,” she said.
Learning her ability to push through when things get tough is a lesson Cammy has taken away from the trek, while Rhylie learnt the mental trick of telling yourself you can achieve something.
“You break through different mental barriers and you knock down a wall. When things get really tough [on the track], you can’t just sit down and relax because every second that you have walking counts,” she said.
“So you have to keep just keep going and then you start pushing yourself a lot more than you thought you were capable.”
“Everyone might have one thing that they desire but they might not think they can do it. It’s not about that. It’s about having that desire and then believing that you can do it because the more you believe you can do it, the more chances you have of being able to do it,” Rhylie said.
Grateful to have been supported by such an “amazing, extremely patient, kind and gracious” group of locals, Cammy and Rhylie are keen to head back to Kokoda again to experience it all once more.
