Wayne Enright leads trekking tour to Kokoda Track Free Spirit Adventures trekking guide Wayne Enright and his wife Gabrielle with first time trekkers Raelene Aldridge, Keith Arnett and Phillip Aldridge training in the Belair National Park. SOME people walk the 96km of the Kokoda Track or Trail in Papua New Guinea as a physical and mental challenge. Others are drawn by family ties to the sites in PNG where Australian troops fought huge odds to stave off Japanese forces advancing to Port Moresby from July, 1942 to early 1943. Team and leadership development expert Wayne Enright tackled the testing terrain for the first time in 2003 for both reasons - to challenge himself and as a salute to his father, Korean War veteran, Sergeant John Enright, 3RAR (3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment). The 52-year-old managing director and trekking guide of Free Spirit Adventures, has been leading groups along the hallowed trek for the past decade. Mr Enright said he undertook his first Kokoda trek in 2003 to re-establish his self-confidence after he was diagnosed with the neurological condition Spasmodic dysphonia affecting his speech in 2002. "I had to learn how to manage it to carry on and part of my rehab was taking on the Kokoda Track for the for the first time in 2003," he said. We had lots of rain, so it was quite challenging. "But I kind of fell in love with the people and the culture," he said. And the military history I'd read or heard about, came to life when I went to where the battles occurred. I got more out of it than I could have imagined and consistently hear that sentiment from others who do it. More than 33,000 Australians have walked the track since 2001, mostly through organised group walks. Mr Enright's firm leads about three treks a year, usually in the dry season from July to September, taking 10 to 15 people in each group. "We have a six-month preparation program, so trekkers know each others' strengths and weaknesses," he said. Most people who walk the Kokoda Trail don't expect the connection with the land and people, Mr Enright said. "Many tell me it becomes a spiritual experience," he said. It's hard to put into words. Mr Enright said his father loved military war history. "He lived it, studied it and even spoke to community groups about it and some of that rubbed off on me, specially Aussie Diggers' bravery," he said. Chemical engineer Keith Arnett, 36, is preparing to tackle his maiden trek with Mr Enright in early July "as an act of respect" for his ailing grandfather, Frank White, 94, a former RAN serviceman. Mr White was a sailor aboard the HMS Kanimbla in World War Two which served in the Asian theatre, including New Guinea. "My grandparents raised me after I lost my parents quite young," Mr Arnett said. "I've been talking about doing this for four years with a mate and we'll be doing it together," he said. Chiropractor Phillip Aldridge and wife Raelene, both 64, will walk the Kokoda Trail for the first time in August. But they have become experienced trekkers in the past seven years, having finished treks to Mount Kilimanjaro, through Nepal, Peru and New Zealand. "It's basically now or never for us," Mrs Aldridge said. Phillip's father served in the medical corps in Port Moresby during WW2 and along parts of the Track. "So there is a personal connection too," she said. It's got to have some context and this trek does. Beyond the memory of war's endless reach in our hearts and our minds we come to find peace. Walking slow in the jungle while watching our feet or searching horizons from a mountain peak; at the shores of the ocean in the first light of dawn we find peace in the silence when in stillness we mourn. In the rain and the thunder and in each breath we take, in the hearts of the people who inhabit this place; we remember those who stood by their mates, many lives lost, we cannot replace. We take time in the mourning for an hour or a minute, we take time for a moment to honour their spirit. in our hearts and our minds we are grateful for peace. Lest We Forget Written by Wayne Enright on the Kokoda Track Free Spirit Adventures supports Legacy Kokoda Trekkers, visit www.freespiritadventures.com.au