And now one Ballarat woman says its time for Australia to repay the favour and support the descendants of those brave men and the communities living along the Kokoda Track after the COVID-19 pandemic ripped away their main source of income - trekkers.

Liz Crothers did the Kokoda Track in May last year and for her the highlight was not the history and the terrain but the people along the track; the porters accompanying the hikers and those living in villages along the way selling goods and services to the trekkers and trekking companies.

For most towns along the 96km jungle track, the 5000 or so visitors each year - mostly Australians - who tackle the gruelling hike provide their main source of income. But COVID-19 travel restrictions mean there are no trekkers, and no income, and no way of knowing how long that situation will last.

Ms Crothers has launched a fundraising campaign, partnered with the Kokoda Tour Operators Association, with a goal to raise up to $15,000 to be handed directly to the more than 400 households who live along the track. "We are all doing it tough in Australia, but we do have a safety net, we have government support ... but these beautiful communities have literally lost their income source and there's no support, no safety net for them," she said.

"They have lost 100 per cent of the income they rely on and lost it indefinitely. They are people who have got nowhere to turn, nothing else to draw on.

"They gave so much to us during the Kokoda campaign, the fuzzy wuzzy angels supporting the Australians in their time of need, and now in the modern day situation ... it's our turn to help them."

It's the second fundraising campaign she's organised for the region. The first, which was shared around her trekking group, the company that arranged the hike and friends, raised $3500 in May to celebrate the first anniversary of their hike.

That money went to support the porters and their families who worked for the trekking company providing goods they could sell at local markets in Port Moresby, with the remainder of money being used to buy land near Owers Corner where treks start/finish and set up a garden so the families could provide food for their community and to sell at markets.

But she decided more could be done and with thousands of Australians having a personal link to the track, having either hiked it, had a father, grandfather or great-grandfather who campaigned there in 1942 or an interest in military history.

So the second GoFundMe campaign 'It's our turn to help our Kokoda friends' was created and has so far raised more than $7000.

Ms Crothers, a keen hiker, and her sister Kathy, who is passionate about military history, decided to take on the demanding trek together last year, after two years of planning.

Despite a country childhood in which she rarely left the district, Ms Crothers had spent six weeks in PNG as a teenager staying with an aunt who had moved there.

"We as trekkers had the privilege of being able to go and experience something like that and to be welcomed into their communities like someone really special and to be looked after by them every step of the way," she said.

The track traverses mountains and valleys from the Kokoda Plateau in the north to Owers Corner in the south

"Apart from the obvious highlights of getting married and having children, this was hands-down the best experience of our lives," Ms Crothers said.

"I could hardly describe the experience. It was something so, so special on every level for me. I would put the people at the top and I find it hard to split between the porters who were part of our trekking group and the communities along the way.

"The sense of privilege of being welcomed into their villages and communities like we were someone special, that was incredible."

Most of her trekking group had paid extra to hire their own porters to carry their packs, in addition to the general porters hired by the trekking company.

"Most people who trek opt to pay for an extra porter to carry your stuff. At first I felt I couldn't possibly do that, then someone said you are employing someone so I quickly got over it.

"You walk next to that person eight to 10 hours a day and you are literally holding their hand a lot of the time as they push you up or stop you from falling. It's a beautiful relationship and a privilege to have that connection."

One of the porters even carried a guitar to perform with in the evenings or inspire the walkers with during particularly difficult climbs.

"A lot of the porters come from those communities along the track, and all along the way the local women and children set up stalls selling everything from cans of sugary drink through to fruit or melons they have grown, bags of Twisties, bilum local hand woven bags, anything they can scrounge ... and they really count on that money."

Tour companies also buy produce from the villages for meals, pay to rent campgrounds, pay fees to land owners to allow trekkers to visit historic military sites on their land, and in some villages the local school or community group will sing or perform for the visitors in return for a donation.

Locals also receive some funds from the Kokoda Track Authority to maintain their section of track.

IN OTHER NEWS

Ms Crothers and her fundraising partners decided the second tranche of funds raised will go to households for direct support.

"We don't know what they need but they do and it will literally support the household and empower them to have control. It's everybody - not if you are a porter or have a porter in the family - it's literally the Kokoda Track community as a whole."

Anyone wanting to support the fundraising can campaign can do so here.

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