Blog No. 354 – Rogues Gallery, Adelaide 2021 – Blog Written 22 April 2026

 

Blog 363 —The Miracle Begins

Surviving the Kokoda Trail

Commenced 24 October 2026

Written by Chontell Sharp and John Hankin

Dedication

This blog is inspired by you Chonny.  To use your own words, this is “For the friendship I never saw coming, and will always be grateful I found”.

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John Hankin’s Story

Photo Margaret and me in 1998 soon after we met.

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I was age 76 on 2 August 2025 when I flew to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea to walk the Kokoda Trail.

I had open heart surgery 7 years before I got on that plane.  The doctors gave me three bypasses and repaired my heart.

The heart operation was extremely hard.

When I died during the surgery, I begged to be allowed to return to this world so I could be here when Margaret really needed me.

My prayer was granted.

Soon, Margaret got untreatable cancer but I was able to be with her during every moment of her pain.

I was with Margaret as she died.

I honoured my promise and I held Margaret while she died.

I gave the instructions to turn off the machinery so she could die.

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Margaret and me on Thursday 30^th March 2023.  It was Margaret’s 73^rd birthday and we went out for dinner.  It was our final date.

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I had nothing left in me when Margaret died.

How could I find a reason to continue after this?  I had returned from the dead to care for my wife and now she was in the very place I had left so I could care for her.

After being half of a single unit for 25 years, I was brutally, truly alone.

I had to do something big – something just for me.  But I could not do anything we might have done together.  Sorrow would have overwhelmed me.

 

Margaret never went bush walking, so I decided to walk the Kokoda Trail.  It was safe for me to do that.

 

I didn’t do a google search on how hard it was.  Once I decided I could do it, I knew I would do it. 

I knew I would be safe walking the Kokoda Trail because Margaret would have never have done that.

It was such a crazy idea.

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I googled the Kokoda Trail and got this result.  Merely reading this summary - long after I got home after completing the Kokoda - scares me.

The Kokoda Trail is one of the most physically and mentally demanding treks in the world, requiring endurance, strength, and careful preparation. Physical Challenges The Kokoda Trail spans approximately 96 to 140 kilometres through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea, with the highest point at Mount Bellamy (2,190 meters). Trekkers face steep ascents and descents, uneven terrain, muddy slopes, river crossings, and countless stairs carved into the hillsides. The trail’s hot, humid climate and frequent rainfall make footing slippery and energy management difficult. Each day can involve hundreds of meters of elevation gain and loss, demanding consistent endurance and leg strength. Mental and Emotional Demands Beyond the physical strain, the trail is psychologically challenging. Its remote, isolated setting and historical significance as a World War II battlefield can weigh heavily on trekkers. Many find the journey emotionally and spiritually draining, requiring mental resilience, patience, and careful pacing rather than speed or bravado. Fitness and Preparation Successful completion requires good physical conditioning and prior experience with multi-day hikes in challenging environments. Training should focus on: •           Endurance: Long-distance walking, hiking, stair climbing, and multi-day sessions. •           Strength: Leg and core exercises such as squats, lunges, step-ups, and core stability work. •           Terrain-specific practice: Hiking on hills, uneven surfaces, and carrying a loaded backpack to simulate trail conditions. Duration and Timing Most trekkers take 7 to 10 days to complete the trail, depending on fitness, weather, and itinerary. The best trekking season is from late April to October, with June to August offering the driest and most stable conditions. Even during the dry season, the trail can remain muddy and challenging underfoot. Key Considerations •           Isolation: Evacuation options are limited, so preparation and caution are essential. •           Pacing: The trail rewards patience and respect for conditions, not speed. •          Emotional reward: Completing the trail offers a profound sense of achievement, stunning jungle vistas, and a deep appreciation for the soldiers who fought there. In summary, the Kokoda Trail is extremely challenging both physically and mentally. Proper preparation, fitness, and respect for the environment are crucial for a safe and rewarding trek.

 

The Kokoda Trail is vastly harder than the google search says it is.  Tom Cruise does his own stunts, but he would have never made Mission Impossible if it had involved the Kokoda Trail.

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Although I was 76, I was extraordinarily fit.

Was I really fit enough to walk the Kokoda Trail? 

Definitely not, but I was grief stricken.  No one could have persuaded me to not do it.  Margaret was dead and I needed to do something impossibly hard. I needed to lose myself in a Mission Impossible so I could try and forget the pain.

 

In my misery, I had forgotten a simple truth.

Although people die, love never dies.

I finished the Kokoda Trail because Margaret was with me with every step I took.

Margaret was with me every time I fell.

 

Margaret’s love ensured I did not die when living was impossible.

Because Margaret helped me – and only because Margaret helped me - I walked the Kokoda Trail and lived.

Without Margaret, I would have joined the bodies of the war dead that are still scattered along Kokoda.

***

Chontell Sharp’s Story

I can't remember how old I was when I first heard of Kokoda. 

I know where I was.

We were returning to Port Moresby.  Mum was born in PNG, on a little Island way down off the tip and we'd returned for Christmas. We were in a small plane and Mum pointed at mountains below.

She said they were the Owen Stanley Ranges and somewhere there, was the Kokoda Trail.

I remember her naming the mountains; I remember the name.

Kokoda.

Papua New Guinea is part of my family, especially through my grandfather. As a young man, he was evacuated from Port Moresby during WW 2. He stole a gun from an American base in Cairns to take home to protect his family from the Japanese. He did not fight on Kokoda, but his stories connect me to PNG and the fighting there.

Kokoda stayed with me

Later, I discovered ordinary people could walk the Kokoda Trail. By 2005, walking the Kokoda was on my bucket list.  It stayed there for almost twenty years.

When I turned forty, my life was pretty wonderful.

I had four astonishingly wonderful children and I loved my career. I was happy, independent and proud of what I had achieved - I had every reason to be.

But … I had spent my adult life caring for others.

I was eighteen when I became a mother.  I was twenty when my second child was born. By age 21, I had been married for twelve months, I had a 10 weeks old baby and 2 ½ year-old child.  So many needed me, depended on me.

After two more children, by age 32, I was a single mother.

There was never a time when I was able to think only about myself. My life revolved around my husband, my children, my career and my parents.   Somewhere along the way I’d become very good at putting everyone else’s needs ahead of my own.

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A much younger Chonny from so many years ago when the children had not yet become the wonderful grownups that they are now.  Are the Children more beautiful than Chonny?  No - it is a dead heat!

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Approaching age 40, something inside me started to change.

My children were growing up and my career was thriving. For the first time in two decades, I was able to think about doing something just because I wanted to do it.

Kokoda had quietly waited for years.

Walking Kokoda wasn't a family holiday and it wasn't a work commitment.

It would belong to me, just me.

The idea was so exciting … but so terrifying.

Doing something just for me, meant I had to make it happen. Nobody else could do the training, become fit or walk those mountains for me.

I realised if I wanted to walk Kokoda, there could never be a “perfect” time.

With encouragement, I booked my Kokoda walk.

I was excited and terrified.

I wasn't an athlete and I wasn't particularly fit

Kokoda would demand more physically, than anything I had ever attempted.

I would be alone among a group of strangers.  What if I was unable to finish?

What if I had to be helicoptered out, go home without completing something I had dreamed of doing for twenty years?

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The girls are a bit older now, but it is still a dead heat as to whether Chonny or the girls are the most beautiful.

***

I started training.

There were plenty of physical demands. I had to lose weight and build fitness.  I had never been very athletic.

It was hard doing all the training alone.

No one waited for me at the gym.

No one dragged me out of bed for those early morning hikes.

No one stood beside me on the many days when I REALLY did not want to do what I had to do.

I had to motivate myself, find the time, force myself to keep showing up.

I created a TikTok account to document my training. It wasn't successful, but I had somewhere to record the hikes, my progress and my questionable decisions.

Mostly, friends thought I was mad, though my best friend was wonderfully supportive.  She thought I was crazy, but had no doubt I would do it. Colleagues were excited, but my family exuded that casual acceptance which only family can give out.

It is so funny, how little the training prepared me for reality of Kokoda.

Those Kokoda mountains taught me a new definition of difficult.

 

Eventually, departure day arrived.

It was strange to arrive in Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea had always been my grandfather's place.  I had returned after all those years and family members from childhood visits were no longer there.

I was excited - and relieved.

For months I had worried about training, having the correct equipment and whether I had forgotten something essential. None of this mattered now.

I was in Port Moresby. 

It was too late if I had forgotten something.

There could be no more fitness training, no more planning, no more preparing and no more putting things off.

After all those years, Kokoda was no longer a dream.  It was happening.

The one thing I didn't know was that the greatest gift I would take home would not be the achievement of walking.