Oakley Tarrant behind Colin Sinclair's headstone at Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby. Photos: Supplied
Oakley Tarrant is pretty sure he has returned from his trek along the Kokoda Trail as a different person.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Not just because he did not fully realise how physically demanding the trek would be, but because, he said, “it has given me a real perspective about what ‘hard’ actually is”.
A group shot of the five inaugural Colin Sinclair Scholarship recipients at his Port Moresby grave.
“This was a life-changing experience for me,” Oakley said
“Walking in the footsteps of those many brave Australian soldiers has enabled me to have an even greater appreciation of the sacrifices made so we can live the life we have today.
“Looking around me as I was walking and imagining what Kokoda would have been like for those in the war has really given me a much deeper awareness and understanding about mateship and sacrifice.
“And that was hammered home on several occasions when our guide stopped us at historic sites and explained exactly what had happened here, how some men gave up their lives for their mates — and worse.”
Oakley Tarrant takes a well-deserved break – and bath – in a waterfall-fed pool on the trail.
The Year 11 Rochester Secondary College student was an inaugural recipient of a Colin Sinclair Scholarship, established this year by Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh after his trip to Kokoda in 2023.
It is designed to provide young future leaders with the opportunity to immerse themselves in a significant part of Australian history and then come home and spread that message.
The five Colin Sinclair Scholarship winners at Owers’ Corner at the beginning of their trek along the Kokoda Trail.
Oakley’s trip was sponsored by the Freemasons Foundation Victoria, organised by retired Wing Commander John Glover, and he joined four other Year 11 scholarship holders from Murray Plains.
Oakley said one can read as much as one likes about the demands of the trek, but the reality hits home when one starts putting one foot in front of the other
Team Tarrant taking time out for a selfie at Ioribaiwa.
He said at some points you were taking the guide’s word for it that there was a peak somewhere beyond the clouds.
“Brigade Hill was one of the most physically and mentally challenging things I have ever done — and I was doing it without anyone shooting at me,” Oakley said.
“Looking straight up and not being able to see the top due to the clouds was an experience I won't forget.
“We were sometimes walking 10 hours some days to cover between 15km and 20km, the climbs were that steep — although the scenery was just magic.
“And there is no doubt the ancestral spirit of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, who were critical for the Australians in the war, definitely lives on in the people (we) met and walked alongside.
“My porter, Joshua, became one of my best friends on the track and he saved me from slipping over more times than I can count — just as his forbears saved so many of the Australians.”
Oakley and Patrick Tarrant celebrate their arrival at the end of the Kokoda Trail.
Another big plus for Oakley was doing the trek with his father Patrick – every step of the way together.
But he does not hesitate to say the most moving aspect of the whole trip was visiting the Bomona War Cemetery grave of former Rochester soldier Colin Sinclair, who fought on the Kokoda and died in Papua New Guinea in 1942.
Oakley places the Anzac badge Hilma Sinclair had asked him to carry from Rochester on behalf of her family.
He said he had a lot of interaction with Colin’s sister-in-law Hilma, his nieces Jan and Wendy and their families, who still live in Rochester, and by having the opportunity to honour Colin’s memory has made his family happy and proud.
“The Colin Sinclair scholarship means a lot to their family, and I have been pretty humbled to be playing a part in that story — and I am so glad I was able to visit Colin’s grave on their behalf,” he said.
17°C