Queensland Family of Five Complete Kokoda Short Tour on a High

The Queensland family of five that we talked about previously completed their Kokoda Short Tour on a high with us. When they first arrived in Port Moresby on 23 April 2012,they were accommodated for two days at the luxuriuos four star Airways Hotel. On 24 April, they toured areas of military significance along the Sogeri Road from Port Moresby to Owers Corner. They were shown military encampments, hospitals, supply installations, maintenance areas, provost posts, farms and routes where the Kokoda track began. This included a side trip to the Iarowari High School and Sogeri National High School which were the New Guinea Force School of Signals and the 113th Australian Convalscence Depot at the height of the Kokoda Campaign. On 25 April, they attended the ANZAC Day dawn service at the Bomana War Cemetery on the outskirts of Port Moresby before travelling to Popondetta. In Popondetta, they were accommodated in town at Oro Guesthouse and toured Buna, Sanananda and Gona by boat from Oro Bay. They were treated to a tribal chief's  welcome when they returned to Oro Bay by a village dancing group in their beautiful paraphenalia, singing (or sing-sing as commonly refered to in PNG) and a small feast with a traditional taste before returning to Popondetta. On 27 April, they returned to Port Moresby where they spent their remaining hours at the Holiday Inn before catching their connection flights back to Cairns and Brisbane. Their trip was enjoyable, emotional and educational. They got to see the spots where their grandfather and great grandfather fought and died at Buna and Sanananda and are planning on returning there one day during the school holidays.