A small Victorian town is in mourning following the death of a local woman who was walking the Kokoda Track as a tribute to her late World War Two veteran grandfather.
Samantha Killen, 36, was described as "a super mum and a great wife" by her grieving husband Dion in an interview with Hamilton's local paper The Spectator.
"She used to get up early in the morning and train (for the trek) and still come home and look after us — she was just fantastic," he said.
An ANZ employee and treasurer of the local cricket club, Mrs Killen leaves behind son Harrison, 5 and three-year-old daughter Lilly.
She set out on the trek with her father Kent and brother Grant on Thursday but succumbed to an as-yet unestablished fatal condition on the following Friday.
"I don't know (what caused her death), I haven't been able to talk to anyone who can tell me ... I talked to Sam's father on the phone but he was too upset to talk," her husband said.
AAP is reporting that Mrs Killen was struck down by dehydration, quoting a fellow trekker who said she reported feeling "dizzy" on the day of her death.
Dik Knight, a hotel proprietor based outside Port Moresby, was with his sons trekking along part of the Kokoda Track when he passed the family group.
"We walked over the ridge to Va'ule Creek and on the way passed their group," he told AAP in Port Moresby.
"Because there was an older gentlemen, who I assume was her father, I thought they were going slow because of him.
"Later that night (Thursday), though, we all camped together and learnt they were a family group.
"But they didn't seem too untoward or sick.
"They did get in fairly late to the camp but it's a hard walk.
"In the morning at about 7am she did say she felt `dizzy' but she got up and walked away with them, she seemed in no serious distress," he said.
The Kokoda Track, an historic 96km trek which follows the path used by diggers in World War II, is popular with Australian tourists.
The trek can take up to 10 days and passes through mountains and steep valleys.
Mrs Killen is the third Australian since 2001 to die walking the track.
She was trekking with Niugini Adventures that has an office in Canberra and is believed to have died at Ofi Creek only a day-and-a-half after setting off from Owers Corner, outside Port Moresby.
Niugini Adventures operators in PNG said they wanted the family's permission before commenting.
A medivac helicopter took her body to Port Moresby.
Former Kokoda Track Authority executive officer Warren Bartlett said there had been a recent spate of injuries along the track.
"Since Wednesday there has been at least 12 injuries or instances where people needed a medivac out," he said.
"There's been stomach complaints and knee injuries.
"Not just Australians but PNG porters who either had appendicitis or broke their leg when slipping on a bridge."
In May last year, Shane Green, 32, from Perth died from a suspected heart attack shortly after setting out on the gruelling track.
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