After an elaborate tribal welcome to the mountains of Papua New Guinea, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spent the night camping on the Kokoda Track in an Anzac Day trek aimed at drawing the two countries closer.
He is now halfway along his two-day, 16-kilometre trek, with PNG Prime Minister James Marape joining him for every step of the walk in the mountainous jungle.
After flying into Kokoda Village on Tuesday, Mr Albanese was embraced by Mr Marape and welcomed by the tribes of the Oro Province with a "sing-sing".
Amid chanting and drumming, he was presented with a ceremonial headdress made from the beak of a hornbill bird, as well as other garb of a leader of the Hunjara tribe.
Crowds of locals, either waving the Australian and PNG flags or wearing T-shirts adorned with them, followed Mr Albanese and Mr Marape from the airstrip to Kokoda Village.
In addressing the gathered crowd, both emphasised their purpose for this unprecedented joint trek: to acknowledge a shared history, to embody the friendship of two nations and to promote peace in the region.
"In forging a relationship between brothers and sisters, together as one, we will go forward," Mr Albanese said to the crowd gathered at Kokoda Village.
Mr Marape praised Mr Albanese for raising the idea of walking part of the track.
"Our shared journey today should send a message to the world: We do not want war. We do not want destruction of the environment," he said.
"It must be co-existence, living peacefully and in harmony with nature and people of diversity."
The governor of the Oro Province, Gary Juffa, who is also undertaking the trek, urged Mr Albanese to speak on his tribesmen's behalf on the need to address climate change.
As Mr Albanese and Mr Marape march up and down the mountains and valleys, they are in the middle of a convoy of defence personnel providing security and support, porters, advisors and accompanying media.
At times they walk together, at times apart, but frequently stop to talk — and to draw breath as they climb several hundred metres in elevation.
They'll arrive at the Isurava Memorial site in time for the Anzac Day dawn service, the culmination of the trip.
Along with hundreds of other trekkers, they will mark the Battle of Isurava, an intense six-day period of fighting by Australian and Papuan infantry against Japanese soldiers trying to capture Port Moresby in the Second World War.
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2024-04-23 22:13:55Z
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