Brothers-in-Law and good friends, Tim Davis and Bob Head, are in training mode ahead of their trek along the Kokoda Track. The boys will be tackling the mountainous and steep terrain of the New Guinea Highlands in July to raise money for a new X-ray machine at the Murrumburrah Harden District Hospital.
“Both of us have always wanted to do it,” said Tim, “So at Christmas time we decided to go ahead with it.”
The pair have always had an interest in military history, with Tim’s own uncle having fought in New Guinea. It was on the Kokoda Track that the Australian Army engaged in fierce and often close quarters fighting against the Japanese Army in the Second World War. Eventually halting the advance of Japanese forces, the Australian Army, with the help of native stretcher-bearers known affectionately as the “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels”, pushed the Japanese out of New Guinea after the Japanese supply lines and reinforcements were dealt a severe blow with their defeat at Guadalcanal.
The pair will begin at Ower’s Corner on the 1st of July, and reach Kokoda by July 12th, taking in battlefield scenes and attending a Dawn Service.
Tim and Bob have been training hard for their trek, wearing weighted packs and even walking up and over Mount Bobarra in preparation. There are even plans for walk to Jugiong.
But the pair are not just walking the Kokoda Track for their own enjoyment. “We will be raising money for the Murrumburrah Harden Hospital Auxiliary, to help them purchase a new X-ray machine for the hospital,” said Tim. The new X-ray machine is expected to cost $80,000.
Donations can be made by going Tim and Bob’s Facebook page, Harden to Kokoda, or on their website at www.hardentokokoda.com.
