Long-time Opportunity International Australia supporter and ambassador Jeff Robson recently took on the harrowing challenge of trekking the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea to raise money for women and families living in poverty.

Jeff has been an Opportunity supporter for more than 20 years, and as an ambassador has helped raise the profile of the organisation, as well as funds.

“As a business owner, I loved the idea of a hand-up, rather than a hand-out and also love the fact that the funds are constantly recycled,” said Jeff.

Jeff was always interested in trekking the Kokoda Track, and when the opportunity presented itself, he jumped on board. Jeff’s grandfather and great uncle both fought in World War II and he wanted to honour them on this adventure.

“My grandfather fought in Italy in World War II and was one of the fortunate ones who returned home to New Zealand,” said Jeff.

“He never spoke about what happened during the war and my grandmother always says that he came back a much ‘harder’ man than he was before he went.

“In those days, no one ever spoke about mental health, and I can only imagine how hard it would’ve been for him. His coping mechanism was to go on long bike rides around the North Island of New Zealand, sometimes disappearing for days at a time.

“He’d also take my dad out climbing sometimes. This later inspired my dad to climb many of the mountains in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and seeing pictures of him standing on the tops of snow-covered mountains or deep in an ice-blue cave inspired me to take up climbing.”

The beginning of Jeff’s adventure was slightly delayed due to aeroplane problems in Port Moresby, so to make up the time, the group trekked about 50 per cent longer on the first two days than had been planned.

“Those first two days were also really steep so at the very end of the second day, my left knee had developed a sharp pain,” said Jeff.

“Fortunately, I was able to rest it, take some painkillers and put a brace on it for the next day and this was enough to see me through without any pain.”

The trek took the group of 30 people nine days to complete. There were 10 trekkers from Australia, with one porter assigned to each, plus another 10 general porters to carry all the gear, food and other equipment.

The Kokoda Track is infamous for being one of the most treacherous and difficult passages to navigate. Most of the trek was done in quite hot and humid conditions, especially the start and end due to lower altitudes.

“As we got higher, things started to cool off and at the highest point (2,243m), it was actually quite cold if we stopped for any length of time,” said Jeff.

“We were quite fortunate with the weather as it was dry during the day and only rained at night… every night! This cooled things down but also meant that the track was constantly covered in sticky, brown mud. Combined with the tangle of tree roots and moss-covered rocks, this made for a very treacherous track! You had to concentrate the whole time to make sure you didn’t fall over and didn’t twist your ankle.”

“There’s very little of the 96km of the track that’s actually flat. Most of it is very steep, going either up or down and both are very physically taxing so each night, everyone was absolutely exhausted after trekking for 8-10 hours. We’d all go to sleep super early, then wake up each morning at 5am, ready to pack up and start hiking again by 6.00-6.30am.”

Jeff and the rest of the team did a lot of training to get fit and be prepared for the brutal reality of the conditions.

“It’s not one to be taken lightly and we actually passed several memorials to previous hikers who had died along the track because they were out of shape,” said Jeff.

When asked what got him through each day, Jeff answered:

“Aside from the training, the comradery amongst the group was a big factor. Just chatting to each other seemed to make the kilometres pass more easily as it took your mind off how hard the track actually was! Having good food and nutrition was also really important to help us make it through each day. One day, I ran out of food and really noticed the difference in energy levels!”

When the team made it to the finish line, it was a special moment.

“The porters went on ahead of us to prepare an arrival party for us where they were singing the song they always played for us when we reached the top of a big hill,” said Jeff.

“This time, they’d taken our hiking poles to form a little archway we all walked through. It was a beautiful and fitting end. So many emotions in those last few moments: relief that it’s finally over, a massive sense of joy and happiness, and accomplishment for what we’ve just done.

“There was also sadness that our little group that had gone through so much together would soon disband, admiration for the soldiers who did this before us in far worse conditions, and thankfulness that we’d all made it through safely.”

In total, Jeff managed to fundraise more than $7,000 in support of Opportunity International Australia. This helps reach more than 40 women with small loans and other support to help them and their families leave poverty behind.

Thank you so much Jeff for your ongoing support of Opportunity. We can’t wait to see where your adventures take you next!