A group of Ballarat High School students and teachers will have a physically exhausting and challenging school holidays as they tackle the gruelling Kokoda Track.
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Twenty students from years 10 to 12, and three teachers, will hike the 96km track over eight days, finishing their journey on Anzac Day after a dawn service at the famed Isurava battlefield.
"That will probably be the most moving part of the track, and the end for us," said organising teacher James Petrie.
Many of the soldiers who fought and died during the battles along the Kokoda Track were teenagers just a few years older than the Ballarat High students.
They have to be able to endure the 96km trek through some pretty rough terrain, challenging weather conditions, humidity and it will be pretty tough.
- James Petrie
The group will also pay a solemn visit the Bomana Cemetery where the remains of 3126 Commonwealth soldiers, almost 700 of whom remain unidentified, are buried.
The Ballarat High hiking group have been in training for months to have the fitness needed for the challenging trek, which reaches a height of 2190m and is known for its almost constant climbs and descents.
It is the first time the school has run a Kokoda trip, and it is set to become a feature of the school's tour offerings, to be run every second year.
"Ballarat High School has got a pretty big history of students and ex-students serving the country around the world," Mr Petrie said.
"History is a pretty big focus at the school and with Ballarat High offering so many extra curricular international trips, and hearing of other schools offering the Kokoda trip, we thought it would be another really good experience for students."
More than 40 students applied to be part of the Kokoda trip, with the final 20 chosen through an application process which involved a written application, interview and consideration of the physical side of the trip.
Several of the trekkers have family links to the battles for the Kokoda Track, with family members involved in some way.
"They have to be able to endure the 96km trek through some pretty rough terrain, challenging weather conditions, humidity and it will be pretty tough," Mr Petrie said.
Hikers will each carry their own 15kg backpack, with the group getting a taste for what that might be like when they took part in the full 20km Walking Off the War Within walk for PTSD last month carrying 20kg backpacks.
They have also completed several group hikes and each followed an individual training program.
Each night on the track the group will stay in local villages, and they have been collecting sporting equipment, stationary and other supplies to donate to schools and villages where they stay.
The group will also spend a day doing community service both in and outside the classrooms at Kokoda College, and on their last day in Papua New Guinea will visit cultural villages on an immersion program.
The group leaves on April 17 and will hit the Kokoda Track for several hours of hiking on their very first day in the country.
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