Training for the trail
Wed 28 February 2007
Jenny Hammer, Journalism
Two Sunshine Coast men are fulfilling their dream to walk in the footsteps of Australian war heroes.
Gavin Curtis and Daniel Ibbetson will follow the path of Australian soldiers who fought one of the bloodiest battles in wartime history on the Kokoda Trail in the Papua New Guinean jungle.
Friends for many years, the Buderim residents had discussed their desire to trek the Kokoda trail and experience first hand the place where outnumbered Aussie soldiers fought the Japanese army with strength and determination.
The soldiers’ battle in unspeakable conditions remains to this day an act of unparalleled courage.
It was that courage that inspired Gavin to make the journey.
“I’ve always had immense respect for what the soldiers who fought on the Kokoda Trail went through and I have wanted to go there since I was about 15,” Gavin said.
“We talk about the stress we have in our lives today, but it is nothing compared to what they had to cope with,” he said.
For Daniel, diaries written by his grandfather were his inspiration to make the trek.
“My grandfather was in New Guinea at the time as a member of the Australian Air Force and he kept diaries that detailed Australia’s involvement in the assault against the Japanese invasion,” Daniel said.
“I have spent a great deal of time reading his diaries and I knew one day I wanted to go there and experience the place,” he said.
All it took to put the trip into motion was a Christmas present from Daniel’s wife Justine.
“Justine knew I had always wanted to do the trek, so her and Gavin got together and organised the trip as a surprise,” Daniel said.
But unlike the soldiers of the 39th Battalion, Gavin and Daniel have had the chance to prepare physically. They are currently undergoing a strict training regime in order to be in peak physical fitness for the August trek.
Both men strap 20 kilo packs to their backs and climb the steep hills that surround Buderim for an hour each day. Then for another 90 minutes they pump weights at the gym.
“We will have had eight months of training when we arrive, and I’m concerned I won’t be up for it. But I’m determined to finish the trek as I’m so proud of those Aussies, and I will be so honoured to have walked the ground those soldiers walked,” Gavin said.
Both men agree their reasons for doing the trek is not about saying they have ‘done the Kokoda’.
“It’s about honouring a memory,” Gavin said.
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Submitted Comments
I am Daniels father and also a friend of Gavins.As an ex Royal Navy member the highest praise I can give to these two fine young Australians is "A big well done men".I am proud that my son followed in his Grandpas footsteps and saw for himself the terrible conditions that our valiant young servicemen endured.Good on you men.Daniels great uncle also sered with the Royal australian Airforce in the same theatre of war.Cheers martin ibbetson.
Martin Ibbetson.