Dawn Service Isurava Memorial

Kokoda Historical offers extra special ANZAC Day pilgrimages. These include an extra day otherwise normally not offered, which gives a total of 11 nights sleeping on the Kokoda Track. We spend 10 days trekking of which 2 of these days are half-days. This trip is a special one taking in some extra places of interest that other tours groups very rarely see.

We will make our way from Owers’ Corner in time to reach Isurava on ANZAC eve, where we will be met by the ladies from Kokoda Village who will treat us to a banquet at our campsite. Waking up on the Isurava Battlefield we will attend the official ANZAC Day Dawn Service overlooking the beautiful Yodda Valley. Where we will pay tribute to the soldiers who served and to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in order to defend Australia.
Trekkers also have the option to continue on to the Northern Beachheads of Gona, Buna and Sanananda, an important part of the Kokoda story seldom seen by most trekkers.

Places are limited to a maximum of 12 trekkers.

The dates for our ANZAC 2012 Tours are as follows:

15 - 27 April 2012
(Owers’ – Kokoda, ANZAC Day at Isurava)

15 - 30 April 2012 (Owers’ – Kokoda - Beachheads, ANZAC Day at Isurava)

Click here to express your interest in our ANZAC Day tours.

The Kuttabul Commemoration Project is an undertaking by a group of volunteers whose primary objective is to trace a descendant of each and every sailor that lost his life aboard the depot ship KUTTABUL during the early hours of 1st June, 1942.

Naval history, in particular the attack by Japanese midget submarines upon Sydney Harbour is often overshadowed by other conflicts and aspects of our past. It is the intent of the Kuttabul Commemoration Project to bring this part of Australia’s history into the public eye.

In accordance with the 70th Anniversary of the attack, a lunchtime harbor cruise will be conducted upon Sydney Harbour; encompassing the route taken by Japanese midget submarines. An informative dialogue will be provided by Australia’s leading Kuttabul historian as the cruise unfolds; detailing the events which shook our nation on that fateful night. It is intended that a re-creation of the reconnaissance flight by a Japanese seaplane over Sydney Harbour will take place. The highlight of the event and major focus on commemoration will be a formal wreath laying on the water, near where the Kuttabul was lost.

Click here to read the first edition of the Kuttabul Commemoration Project Newsletter

Click here to read more about the 1942 Attack on Sydney Harbour

Lark Force 70th Anniversary Trek Dates

Join us on this amazing PNG Adventure retracing the steps of Lark Force. We will pay homage to the men of Lark Force, mostly men from the 2/22nd Battalion, 1400 Australian soldiers who went to Rabaul in 1941 to fight the Japanese.

Be there for ANZAC Day 2012 for the 70th Anniversary of this significant event in Australian military history.

The dates for our Lark Force 2012 Tours are as follows:

12 - 26 April 2012

(North Coast Rainforest Trek to Tol Plantation, ANZAC Day at Bita Paka War Cemetery, Rabaul)

18 June - 2 July 2012

(North Coast Rainforest Trek to Tol Plantation, 70th Anniversary Montevideo Maru Commemoration service at Bita Paka War Cemetery, Rabaul on 1st July)

Click here to register your interest in our 70th Anniversary Lark Force Tours

Click the following link to read more about Lark Force: Rabaul 1942

Click here to read about our recent Lark Force trek in August 2011

This year's winners of the Harry Bould Memorial Trek! Indiana Byrne from KooWeeRup Secondary College and Harry Brown from Beaconhills College.

The 39^th Battalion’s Harry Bould Memorial Trek for 2012 was recently launched at the office of Edward O’Donohue MP. Each year the 39^th Battalion Association in conjunction with the Cardinia Shire run an essay competition for local school students.

This year’s winners are will be off to trek Kokoda in June 2012. On the way they will pass through the village of Oivi. This is near to the place that Harold Bould of “B” Company 39^th Battalion was killed in action on July 29^th 1942, only 3 days after Captain Sam Templeton went missing and only 8 days after the Japanese invasion of Papua New Guinea commenced.

Harry Bould

Harold Bould was a resident of Cardinia and one of 5 brothers, who served Australia in WW2. Harold’s remains were never found and neither were those of the other brother who didn’t come home. Brother Keith serving with the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion was taken prisoner by the Japanese. Keith was being transported from Singapore aboard the Kakuyo Maru, carrying 1317 prisoners back to work in factories in Japan. On the way it was sunk by a US submarine the USS Sea Lion on September 15th 1944.

Local MP Edward O’Donohue has been the driving force behind the success of the 2011/2012 Awards, his fundraising efforts and the generosity of Cardinia people have ensured that another two students from Cardinia can make the pilgrimage to Kokoda.Both students will follow in the footsteps of last year’s winners, Adele and Mary-Ann who both successfully completed the trek in June/July 2010.

You too can be a part of this pilgrimage; we have spaces available and are looking for people with an interest in history and a sense of adventure. It will not only be a great opportunity to trek the famous Kokoda Track but you will also be able to participate in the delivery of much needed school supplies to local villages that live along the Kokoda Track.

The dates of departure are as follows:

23 June - 4 July 2012 (Owers’ - Kokoda)
Kokoda Track Tour

23 June - 7 July 2012 (Owers’ – Kokoda - Beachheads)
Kokoda Track & Beachheads Tours

To become a part of this official 39th Battalion supported trek, call or email David Howell direct on 0405 007 700 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

2012 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Kokoda Campaign and Kokoda Historical is determined to continue to offer the best and safest Kokoda trek packages on the market. To date we have a 100% safety record, with every one of our trekkers crossing the Kokoda Track safely and our attention to detail is second to none.
By limiting our treks to no more than 12 people per group, we are able to give each and every trekker personal attention both in the lead up to, during and post trek!
We have many dates on our calendar for next year and will soon be announcing our 2012 training sessions.

To see our new dates click here

To view our new pricing structure please click on the package that suits you. Or call David direct on 0405 007 700

Package 1- If you want to trek the Kokoda Track
Package 2- If you want to trek the Track and visit the Northern Beachheads
Package 3 –If you want to experience Kokoda and the Northern Beachheads without the trekking!
PNG Led Tours-For those on a budget that want to do a safe and informative tour.

Pay your deposit within 7 days of receiving your quote and get a further $100 off the price. We also offer further discounts to past and present members of Defence!
Also in 2012 each of our trekkers that book before June 20 will be given a ticket to the 70th Kokoda Anniversary Luncheon to be held at the RACV Club Melbourne on Thursday 26 July 2012. Many veterans will be in attendance and entertainment will be provided by the Army Band!

Meet Captain Bert Kienzle – the Australian man who made the Kokoda Trail. In fact, he is the architect of the Kokoda Trail and as Peter FitzSimons says -

“(the man who) did more than any other single man to make Australian victory possible”

A quietly dignified and modest man, Bert Kienzle’s mammoth contribution to Kokoda and Papua New Guinea , before, during and after the war, has gone largely unnoticed. While Bert was alive, several historians approached him offering to help him tell his remarkable story but he refused and after he passed away in 1988 his children rued that his remarkable story had not been written down.

Time passed with great intentions but no action until in 2006 when Robyn Kienzle’s husband took their two daughters to walk the Kokoda Trail and was dismayed at the state of Bert’s old home and of the Kokoda Track tourism industry. The trail being walked was not the original war Trail, places were incorrectly named and Bert was barely acknowledged at all. The time had come to set the record straight.