By Jena Carr
A Geelong father and son team have returned home after completing the Kokoda Trail.
Leif McCaughley and his son Leo embarked on a trip to Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, August 8, to conquer the iconic trek as part of the Kokoda Courage program.
Mr McCaughley said the pair returned to Australia on Tuesday, August 19, and that the trail involved long hours of trekking over eight straight days.
“The whole thing is about mindfulness as well as the physical challenge,” he said.
“It was tough with the climate, coming from Victoria straight into a hot humidity and getting 30 degrees and 90 per cent humidity.
“It didn’t feel that exhausting on the last day, but it caught up with me the following week.
“We’ve done a fair bit of training, and we are both fairly fit individuals… but you’ve always just got to watch exactly what you’re doing.”
Mr McCaughley said the trip was a new experience of a different country’s “dynamic” and enjoyed learning about Papua New Guinea’s history and culture.
“It was a really beautiful place to be with friendly people,” he said.
“They’re just really welcoming and looked after us really well, so that was nice to have that experience and be out in the jungle.
“The diet is different and you’re drinking water out of freshwater creeks and stuff like that, so you need to purify it with little tablets, so it was a bit of preparation setting up the day.”
Mr McCaughley and his son Leo went on the trek to help raise awareness for Type 1 diabetes through the Geelong charity Type 1 Foundation, which the McCaughley family founded.
