Bulldog Track
Itinerary
Equipment List
2009 Dates & Prices

BULL DOG TRACK

PIONEER TREKKING

This is a 6 day hard trek. Only for the experienced trekker and the trekker who is able to cope with the conditions and cultural aspects that this walk will throw at them.

This track is very raw. The people have not seen any tourism before and for a group of 8 westerners to walk into their villages can be a very daunting experience for some of the old people. To date we have only done the exploratory trek along Bull Dog plus taken one commercial group of trekkers down this track.

Negotiations are still going on with all the land owners, villagers and boat people regards the concept of eco tourism. It is not until we can start bringing more trekkers through that these villages will then physically see the flow on effects of this to their communities. Once this starts then we will be in a better position to explain how positive tourism can be for those involved and start suggesting community development initiatives.

As we get closer to the coast the people living in these communities have the advantage that they can sell their bettle nut harvests which is a cash crop. The villages in the highlands at the start of the track do not have this income so are much more enthusiastic about trekkers coming through their land and staying in their villages to generate income than their coastal counter parts.

WW11 History

Following their bloody defeat at Buna and Kokoda, Japanese forces again fell back to Lae in search of an alternate route across the intimidating impasse of the Owen Stanley range in their attempt to reach Port Moresby. They continued to venture east along the Markham Valley, and south into the mountains towards Wau, which was a small rural town just 60 kms inland from Salamaua; the remnant of a massive gold rush the previous decade. It was also home to a band of Australian Commandos and expatriate volunteers known as 'Kanga Force'. Numbering only a few hundred, they were tasked with the daunting responsibility of defending this remote northern frontier against thousands of determined enemy troops. Fierce fighting ensued between Lae and Wau as it was considered crucial to both sides as a vital central location with a valuable inland airstrip. Such heavy defence required constant resupply of ammunition, food and manpower, and it was evident that an overland route from the south was urgently needed.

250 kms north of Port Moresby, via the mighty Lakekamu River, sweating human trains of soldiers and local carriers, trudged heavily laden towards Wau. They faced insect infested swaps, steep muddy ravines, and cloud covered 2000m peaks, to maintain a bare trickle of goods to the front line. It was common for goods to be in transit for a month. Feats of courage and personal sacrifice, in support of distant comrades locked in a lonely battle few would ever hear or see, were second to none. It was the same treacherous route by which families and children were evacuated from Wau under constant threat of invasion, relying heavily upon the enduring assistance of local villagers. Through cunning, ingenuity and sheer determination, Kanga Force prevented the Japanese ever reaching Wau, finally driving them back in January 1943, when they were within just hundreds of metres of the township.

Shortly after this victory, a road was surveyed and began being cut into the thick jungle. Australian Army Engineers, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Reinhold, achieved the virtually impossible, when they arrived into Wau with a convoy of 14 jeeps in August that year. The 'Reinhold Highway' as it was christened by General Blamey at the time, sustained up to three-tonne trucks until it was closed in March 1944, following the recapture of Lae.

Peter Ryan, renowned author of 'Fear Drives My Feet', recalled the track as a young soldier as 'longer, higher, steeper, wetter, colder and rougher than Kokoda'. A chilling description by any standard.

Trip Highlights

• Amazing land scapes, grass savannahs, pandanus forests and raging rivers. Trek up to 2500 meters then back down to sea level.
• Very isolated villages, trekkers are treated with caution, and are a novelty to the old and young people of the villages.
• Interesting WW11 history involving the Australians.
• Boat down the mighty Lakekamu River at the end of the trek.

Trip Length: 6 days

Start/Finish: This track starts at Wau town ship and finishes at Port Moresby