General News
13 September, 2025
Kokoda trek complete
Warracknabeal's Dianne Marchment has returned from a trip of a lifetime in Papua New Guinea after conquering the historic Kokoda Trail to raise awareness for men's mental health.
Describing the experience as "amazing", Ms Marchment endured 120km of trekking over eight days.
"It was a lot of gruelling up and down," she said.
"It was hard work, but it was an amazing journey and learning about the history.
"The jungle was just beautiful and the people were amazing," she said.
Due to the large size of the group, Ms Marchment said she was grouped with 44 other trekkers alongside porters who cooked and carried their large bags across the trail.
"It was the toughest but most rewarding thing to do, and to do it with my son was special," she said.
"It was not only physically challenging, but it was also mentally and emotionally challenging."
Although the group trained and tried to prepare their bodies for the challenge, Ms Marchment said some members were struggling after the first day.
"Everyone was just excited to be there, and they did it too fast; we're just not used to it," she said.
On day one, they encountered humid 35-degree weather.
"We got pretty lucky with the weather after day one," she said.
"It rained at night and not while we were walking."
Looking back on the adventure, a highlight for her was reaching the end.
"I didn't think I was going to after day one," she said.
"There was an arch at the end, and the porters lined up and sang to us as we walked through.
"That was just beautiful."
Ms Marchment offered a piece of advice to anyone wanting to venture to the Kokoda Trail
"Just do it! It pushes you to the limit," she said.
"The diggers did it for us, and they did it in tougher conditions to save Australia."
Kokoda Centurions have raised $175,000 for men's suicide mental health.
"Everyone was there for the right reasons and lots of stories were shared," Ms Marchment said.