About Us

Adventure Kokoda

Major Charlie Lynn established Adventure Kokoda in 1991 and has led 61 expeditions across Kokoda since then. During this time he has established close relations with the Kioari and Orokaiva people who live in villages along the Track.

Charlie is committed to the legacy of Kokoda which is about commemorating the deeds of our veterans and our PNG brothers during World War 11 in the Pacific area.

Some of the initiatives developed by Charlie over the past 12 years include:

• A proposal to proclaim and develop the Kokoda Trail as a National Memorial Park with the aim of creating a self-sustaining eco-adventure trekking industry for the Kioari and Orokaivean people who live along it.
• Establishment of the Network Kokoda Foundationwhich funds educational scholarships and health services in Papua New Guinea.
• Established a Kokoda Bursary Program which sponosors student education at the Port Moresby Grammar School.
• Established a 'Bring-a-Buk' program which has placed more than 2000 new books into the Port Moresby Grammar School library.
• Established a 'Yumi Helpim Pikannini' program that delivers school supplies to village school along the Kokoda Trail.
• Provides regular sponsorships for students from the Port Moresby Grammar School to trek across the Kokoda Trail with Adventure Kokoda trek groups.
• Leading journalists, authors, television and film producers across the Trail to create national awareness of the Kokoda campaign. This has included acclaimed author Peter Fitzsimons, film producer - Yahoo Serious and television documentary teams from Channels 7, 9 and 10.

As part of Charlie's community obligation he has:

• Donated treks for fundraising benefits to Legacy, RSL 'Girl in a Million Quest, The National Heart Foundation, The Royal Blind Society, the Diabetes Foundation, the 'Humpty-Dumpty' Foundation and Lions International.
• Sponsored disadvantaged kids from Youth Insearch and Camp Dare across the Trail as well as students from the University of Western Sydney and the University of Papua New Guinea.
• Led treks from Youth Insearch, Camp Dare and Father Chris Riley's Youth Off The Streets Program.

During the devastating drought in Papua New Guinea in late 1996 Charlie launched a national drought appeal and combined with the RSL to raise more that half-a-million dollars. He visited remote villages in the PNG Highlands in army Blackhawk helicopters to witness the distribution of the food purchased.

Charlie is often asked to speak professionally on the Kokoda campaign. In the past he has donated his speaker fees to Youth Insearch, the 39th Battalion Association, the 2/14th Battalion Association and the Kokoda Track Foundation.

In 1996 Charlie rediscovered the original Isurava battle site with the use of a global positioning system and reference to old 1942 maps. In 1987 veterans from the battle for Isurava visited the site for a 'last parade'. Their pilgrimage was screened on Channel 10.

In 2002 the Prime Minister of Australia, The Hon John Howard and the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Sir Michael Somare, officially opened a magnificent new memorial on the battle site. The memorial has four granite pillars containing the words 'Courage', 'Sacrifice', 'Mateship', 'Endurance'. It is a fitting tribute to those who fought in what has been described as 'the battle that saved Australia.

In 2004 Charlie established a 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel Scholarship Program' for the Kokoda Track Foundation. Students from village schools along the Kokoda Trail have been fully sponsored as boarding students at Sogeri National High School and Iaowari and Popondetta Provincial High Schools.

He has worked tirelessly to encourage Koiari and Orokaiva landowners and clan leaders to have their own representative organisation as part of a strategy to develop a self-sustainable future for them. In a recent letter to the PNG Minister for Inter-Government Relations, the Chief Executive Officer of the Kokoda Track Special Purpose Authority wrote:

Without Charlie Lynn's dedication to the people of the Kokoda Trail, and Papua New Guinea in general, and his assistance in early negotiations in the establishment of the Authority, the establishment of the Kokoda Track Foundation and its future plans for assisting the sustainability of the Kokoda Track Tourism Strategy and its heritage, there would be no special purposes authority - it would still be sitting in limbo."

Charlie has been a tireless advocate for the PNG wartime carriers and his submissions to have a medal issued for their service was accepted by the Australian Government in 2009 and his proposal for an official Kokoda Day to be proclaimed was accepted by the PNG Government in 2010.

Charlie has been appointed to the Board of the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway at Concord. He is also the founding Chairman and current director of Network Kokoda - a foundation established to honour the legacy of our veterans through the protection of the military heritage of the Kokoda Trail and the development of Community Learning Development Centres in Papua New Guinea.

Charlie is a former army major with 21 years service. During his army career he served in Vietnam, Singapore/Malaysia with the ANZUK force and as exchange officer with the United States Army.

During his assignment with the US Army he completed the Special Forces Military Freefall course which involved HALO (High Altitiude Low Opening) tactical parachute jumps from 20,000 feet - at night.

He represented the army in Australian Rules Football, tennis, squash and marathon running.

In 1987 he held the NSW Ultramarathon record with a distance of 213 km in 24 hours. He was second in the Bathurst Centerary 100 km race which he completed in 8 hours and 26 minutes.

Charlie was elected to the NSW Parliament in 1995 as a Liberal Member of the Legislative Council.