Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway
Encyclopedia
The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway is a memorial walking track located in the suburb of Concord West, Sydney
, New South Wales
, Australia. It is located along the foreshore of shores of Brays Bay on the Parramatta River
, and is a unique tribute to the Australian troops who fought in the World War II
Papua-New Guinea campaign
of July 1942 till January 1943.
to Rhodes railway station. Along the walkway visitors will see 22 information stations or plaques, which are supplemented with an audio narrative. Each Station describes a significant place or engagement of the campaign which visitors can hear and read, with photographs, maps and interviews. An Educational Resource Centre is also located on the route of the walkway where visitors can further study the events during the Papua-New Guinea campaign and review a calendar of annual events taking place at the Walkway.
At the centre of the walkway is a series of granite
walls on which images of the New Guinea
Campaign have been sandblasted. A cascading waterfall alongside the granite walls forms a part of the Centrepiece,
A lush tropical vegetation envionment has been planted, simulating the conditions of the original Kokoda Track
. The Mangrove
timber boardwalk meanders through part of the simulated forest.
Path.
In July 2010, the walkway was vandalised with spray paint and a blunt object, causing up to $40,000 of damage.
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia. It is located along the foreshore of shores of Brays Bay on the Parramatta River
Parramatta River
The Parramatta River is a waterway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson, along with the smaller Lane Cove and Duck Rivers....
, and is a unique tribute to the Australian troops who fought in the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Papua-New Guinea campaign
Kokoda Track campaign
The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign was part of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 between Japanese and Allied—primarily Australian—forces in what was then the Australian territory of Papua...
of July 1942 till January 1943.
Description
The walkway consists of more than 800 metres of pathway, starting from Concord Repatriation General HospitalConcord Repatriation General Hospital
Concord Repatriation General Hospital , commonly referred to as simply Concord Hospital, is a major hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Hospital Road in Concord...
to Rhodes railway station. Along the walkway visitors will see 22 information stations or plaques, which are supplemented with an audio narrative. Each Station describes a significant place or engagement of the campaign which visitors can hear and read, with photographs, maps and interviews. An Educational Resource Centre is also located on the route of the walkway where visitors can further study the events during the Papua-New Guinea campaign and review a calendar of annual events taking place at the Walkway.
At the centre of the walkway is a series of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
walls on which images of the New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
Campaign have been sandblasted. A cascading waterfall alongside the granite walls forms a part of the Centrepiece,
A lush tropical vegetation envionment has been planted, simulating the conditions of the original Kokoda Track
Kokoda Track
The Kokoda Trail or Track is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland — in a straight line — through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea...
. The Mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
timber boardwalk meanders through part of the simulated forest.
Rose Garden and Entry Area
An entrance featuring two semi-circular memorial walls amongst a bed of roses. Plaques dedicated to the memory of individuals who served in the war are mounted on the surrounding walls. The walkway is linked to the Rose Garden by the Bruce Kingsbury V.C.Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
Path.
History
Construction of the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway commenced in 1994 and was designed by DM Taylor Landscape Architect Pty Ltd. The walkway was opened on 3 October 1996 by the Hon Bruce Scott MP.In July 2010, the walkway was vandalised with spray paint and a blunt object, causing up to $40,000 of damage.