A group of 23 women has embarked from Newcastle on one of the world's great treks while raising almost $400,000 for the Mark Hughes Foundation.
The 2024 Kokoda Ladies Trek left Newcastle for Brisbane on March 18 before setting out to Papua New Guinea to complete the gruelling Kokoda Track.
Among the trekkers are Mark Hughes Foundation co-founder Kirralee Hughes, two brain cancer coordinators and four women who have lost a loved one to brain cancer.
Mark Hughes met with the women at McDonald Jones Stadium on Monday morning before the trip, saying he was "so proud" of the group.
"It's going to be a trip of a lifetime, you're never going to forget this," Hughes said.
"Thank you all for committing to the MHF and doing this huge adventure."
The women will walk the Kokoda track over eights days, retracing the footsteps of Australian history on the iconic pilgrimage.
At night, they will stay in secluded camps, sharing stories with local Koiari and Orokaiva people and listening to the nocturnal sounds of the jungle.
The trip is the second ladies trek for the Mark Hughes Foundation after 20 women completed an eight day Tasmanian hike in 2023 and raised more than $300,000 for brain cancer research.
