Pilgrim

‘To walk the Kokoda Track is to undertake two journeys. The first starts at Owers’ Corner and undulates through 96 kilometres of primary jungle over the Owen Stanley Range until you reach the village of Kokoda on the other side. This journey is ordinarily taken in the company of others and with a backpack, which you may hire a porter to carry for you if you wish. The second journey began the moment you were born. It brings to the track baggage of a different kind. This you must carry yourself, and the journey you must make alone.’

 

So begins JFK Miller’s account of his ten-day jungle trek along Papua New Guinea’s Kokoda Track. The journey was effectively two journeys. The external journey was the physical ten-day trek over the track. The internal journey was the emotional aspect, including what Miller brought to the experience — the mental illness of depression — and what he gained from it.