“I won’t be getting shot at and I’ll have food.”

By Melissa Meehan
RETRACING the steps of a grandfather he never knew, Catani’s James Canty today (Wednesday) will make the trip to Kokoda.
A recipient of the George Collins Award, James will follow the exact route of the 39th Battalion from Port Moresby up to the Kokoda Track with touring company Kokoda Adventures, the same journey his grandfather James Canty made many years ago.
“It was always something I wanted to do,” James said.
“So when one of my teachers, Ms Davidson, who knew about my grandfather, came to me and said I should enter the competition, I thought why not.”
But it was almost not to be, with Ms Davidson rushing into James’s accounting class five days before entries were to close, reminding him that he had to enter.
“So I had less than five days to write a 500-word essay about my first memory to do with Kokoda or what Kokoda meant to Australia,” he said.
“I was able to combine my own feelings as well as stories passed down from my dad and uncle about my grandfather.”
James said walking the Kokoda Track was something he had wanted to do since 2002, when they realised a picture of his grandfather, taken by war photographer Damien Parer, was used as the face of Anzac Day.
Since winning the award, James has been in training to tackle the tough terrain. His proud mum Maria joins him every Saturday as he tackles a 10-kilometre hike through Labertouche after playing football for the ROC Football Club.
“It’s a pretty tough hike, but I’m hoping it will be good training for Kokoda,” James said.
“I’ll be the first in our family to retrace his steps, while I’ll never be able to experience what it was really like.
“I won’t be getting shot at and I’ll have food. But I’ll be able to take a bit out of it.”
His only enemies will be the mosquitoes, terrain and weather.
James will be back in Australia on 18 July and will speak to the Gazette about his experiences upon his return.