When you were out shopping for walking poles, did you notice some long and lanky, light, one piece poles that wouldn’t look out of place on a cross country skier .
These poles are especially designed for the latest fitness craze – Nordic walking
Ski field operators in the northern hemisphere agonised over how to attract patrons during the snow-less summer months, until an innovative bright spark dreamed up the idea of a fitness regime for deprived snow skiing enthusiasts using cross country-like walking poles to hurtle around their familiar, but now grassy, ski trails. The idea took off and Nordic walking was born.
And there is no doubt that Nordic walking will get you fit. No ifs, no buts …
One of the iconic walks on many Australian bucket lists is the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea. Running for 96 km (60 mi) overland (60 km (37 mi) in a straight line) through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea, the track is renowned as the location of the World War II battle between Japanese and Australian forces in 1942.
Frank’s uncle, Bob Melville, was up and down the track a couple of times before he was 19 years old. It has a strong place in the Australian psyche as a small force of undertrained and equipped troops fought the most desperate and viscious battle encountered by Australian troops in the Second World War.
This article is about a group of people Frank has worked with at Uecomm, a large Australian broadband supplier and their shared common goal to hike the Kokoda Track. Some of them did it for the challenge, some for the fitness regime and some out of respect of our Aussie Soldiers.
In this article we share Part One of their journey, the preparation and fitness campaign!
