Kokoda Trail - Kokoda

Located north of Australia’s mainland is the third largest island country in the world, Papua New Guinea. Its capital, Port Moresby, is on the island’s south-eastern coast. With a population of eight million people, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has 851 known languages making it the most linguistically diverse country in the world. The majority of its people live in remote villages with only 13% of its population located in urban areas. Administered by Australia from the early 1900s, Papua New Guinea gained its independence in 1975.

During World War 2 a series of land battles were fought from July to November 1942 between Australia and Japan. The objective for the Japanese was to capture Port Moresby to take control of Papua and have a base from which to attack the Australian mainland and isolate them from the United States. Their strategy was to advance from the north coast through the Kokoda Trail and over the Owen Stanley Mountain range. The battle for the Australians was extremely difficult. Australian troops consisting of 2,000 soldiers were up against 10,000 elite Japanese troops who were determined to capture the capital.

The battle conditions for both sides were appalling. The Kokoda Trail was a narrow, single dirt track with steep climbs up mountains, followed by steep descents into deep valleys. Surrounded by dense jungle, movement was slow, exhausting and all on foot. Heavy equipment, ammunition and supplies had to be carried and when it rained – daily rainfall of 10in (25cm) was not uncommon - the track turned into calf-deep mud. If this wasn’t hard enough, add mosquitoes, leeches, heat and humidity to the already rain-drenched soldiers. Food supply was limited, a cup of tea or coffee was often just a dream.

Along with hundreds of hikers who walk the trail every year, I embarked on a journey to test my mettle and to honour the soldiers who battled in this campaign. My trek began in the town of Kokoda on the north side of the track where on the edge of a grassy oval were four white memorial stones, dedicated to those who fought here. At the edge of the village, I crossed beneath a set of arches that marked the official start of the Kokoda Trail.

From here I will be heading up the mountain for nearly 50% of the trip and descending for the remainder of the trek to Owers’ Corner. Steep elevation changes, numerous river crossings, deep vegetation and plenty of bogginess awaits.

Without further ado, I headed into the jungle.



Photo © Jonty Crane



PS. Experience our virtual challenges in real life - The Conqueror Adventures



The team at The Conqueror Challenges
https://www.theconqueror.events

Mt. Fuji - Lake Motosu

When I decided to hike Japan's tallest mountain, Mount Fuji, I pondered the best route that would capture its culture and spirit whilst travelling through its lush green landscape. The result was a 46mi (74km) journey starting at the base of the mountain, leading past lakes, caves, temples, shrines, dense forestry and ending with the final climb to the summit.

Mount Fuji is one of three holy mountains in Japan. At 12,388ft (3,776m) tall, Fuji sits atop a triple junction trench where three tectonic plates meet. Although geologists classify it as active, Fuji is a dormant volcano that last erupted in 1707. At the base it is surrounded by the Fuji Five Lakes which were formed by previous eruptions damming up the rivers with the lava flows.

Mount Fuji is a composite of four successive volcanoes meaning it's made up of layers. The first two layers were the result of an eruption more than 700,000 years ago known as Sen-Komitake and Komitake Fuji. The next eruption, about 100,000 years ago, engulfed Komitake Fuji and added the second layer creating Old Fuji. The third eruption about 10,000 years ago formed New Fuji and the summit zone producing the near perfect conical shape we know today.

Recognised as a sacred place and considered a symbol of Japan, Mount Fuji is a pilgrimage destination for practisers of Shinto. Each year between July and August, up to 400,000 tourists and pilgrims make the long trek to the summit. In 2013, Mount Fuji was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.

Dotted throughout Japan are Shinto shrines and Torii gates. Shinto is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and the shrines are places of worship and homes of the Kami (Gods). Practitioners come to pay their respects to the Kami or pray for good fortune. The entrance to a shrine is marked by a gate known as Torii and they symbolise the "transition from mundane to sacred". To enter through a Torii, one enters the world of the Kami (Shinto Gods).

I began my hike at the Yama Shrine near Lake Motosu, one of the Five Lakes. The third largest and deepest of the five lakes, it is subteranneously connected to Lake Shoji and Lake Saiko. Originally one lake, these three lakes were divided by one of Mount Fuji's enormous lava flows. The water temperature on Lake Motosu never drops below 39 °F (4°C) and as such it is the only lake of the five that never freezes over winter.

Northward bound, I passed by Lake Shoji, the second and smallest of the Five Lakes. On the left side of the lake you can still see large remnants of the lava flow jutting out of the water. With a greenish hue due to algae and rich in nutrients including plankton, locals can be seen standing on the lava rocks fishing.

My final stop for today was Lake Saiko, the third of the Five Lakes. With no natural outflow an artificial channel was made to connect it to Lake Kawaguchi. Lake Saiko's banks borders the Aokigahara Forest which I will write about in my next letter.

PS. Experience our virtual challenges in real life - The Conqueror Adventures



The team at The Conqueror Challenges
https://www.theconqueror.events

A Letter to Logan Paul

2^nd January 2018

Dear Mr. Logan Paul,

I’ve just seen your apology on the news and this topic hits close to me given that two members of my immediate family have attempted to take their own lives. I have suffered with depression for a lifetime and have a good deal of experience with mental illness.

Let me say firstly that I understand. There is a certain spectacle to what you saw in Aokigahara forest of Japan and even Aristotle wrote of the seeing of dead bodies in his poetics. It may have seemed right to you to share so unique an experience with the world and not all of us understand the solemnity involved.  

With that, may I point out that the common person is not good with forgiveness and apologies rarely hit as close to home as offences. People lash out, they lash out because of the pain of their memories, and because they need someone to focus that pain on. The depressed often feel helpless and sometimes even the act of destroying one’s own self is an act of taking control.

Where does this leave you? Well, sir, you can turn this negative moment into awareness. More appropriately, you should find a way to help people with depression. Look at the story of YouTuber Boogie2988 who became profitable after being discovered by Ray William Johnson. Boogie was depressed and disabled until Ray gave him economic freedom.

You can do that, Logan, you can help people.  I know you tried by including a help line in your video, but I mean make it personal. What I think you should do is find ten people who suffer from depression and make their lives better. Include them in a blog or find a way to better their situation.

As a YouTuber and a Blogger I know a person like yourself can change the life of a man like me with a few clicks of a mouse. You may have made a mistake but you can still do the right thing and people will love you for it.

Go find someone to help,

Richard Leland Neal

Who Travels for Love - Japanese Proverb