ABOUT US
Major Charlie Lynn OAM OL is acknowledged as the pioneer of pilgrimage tourism across the Kokoda Trail.
In 2015 he was inducted as an ‘Officer of Logohu’ in the PNG National Honours and Awards list ‘for service to the bilateral relations between Papua New Guinea and Australia and especially in the development of the Kokoda Trail and its honoured place in the history of both nations over the past 25 years.’
This is one of PNG highest awards and is rarely awarded to foreign citizens.
Charlie’s company, Adventure Kokoda, has led more than 650 expeditions with more than 7,500 Australians from all walks of life across the Kokoda Trail over the past 33 years.
Trip Advisor has selected Adventure Kokoda for their ‘Travellers Choice’ award for the past nine (9) consecutive years.
During Charlie’s 101 treks since 1991 he has mapped the 138 km wartime route. This led to the discovery of original wartime tracks and epic battlesites at Brigade Hill and Isurava which had been bypassed and reclaimed by the jungle over the years since the war. He produced the first 1:25,000 topographical map of the Kokoda Trail since the war which can viewed on this link: Kokoda Topographical Map
Charlie built his company with former army colleagues including military historian, Lieutenant Colonel Rowan Tracey; decorated Vietnam Veteran, Major Chad Sherrin MM; PNG adventurer, Captain Reg Yates; and Navy Commodore Simon Hart CSC.
Today we have 12 trek leaders who have been trained by our leadership group and are without peer as expedition leaders on the Trail due to their understanding of the military strategies and tactics related to each battle.
Our management team, Tracie and Donald Watson, are directors of Adventure Kokoda which is registered as an ‘Overseas Company’ and certified as a ‘Foreign Enterprise’ by the PNG Government.
We operate through ‘Adventure Kokoda PNG’ which is a registered PNG company.
We have invested in a Head Office, a logistics base, vehicles and communication systems in Port Moresby that allow us to operate 24/7 whenever we have groups on the Trail.
Our Port Moresby operation is managed by Mr. Tau Maguli who has worked with us for more than 10-years.
Tau manages 140 of our registered guides and porters from across the Trail. He ensures that each of our trek groups is supported by an equal number from each village which enhances the safety of our trek groups and provides for an interesting cross-section of cultural experiences as they are proud to introduce our trekkers to their families and clan members when we arrive in their villages during our treks.
Over the past three decades we have supported the development of charitable foundations and have provided more philanthropic support to villages across the Trail than all other Kokoda tour companies combined – our work in this area can be viewed on these links:
Adventure Kokoda Charity
Kokoda Track Foundation Workshop – Efogi Village 2004
Network Kokoda