The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway
The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway covers more than 800 metres from Rhodes Station to Concord Hospital in Sydney’s inner-west. It runs along the mangrove-studded shores of Brays Bay on the Parramatta River.
What is it?
The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway is a unique tribute to the bravery of Australian troops who fought through atrocious conditions and against vastly superior enemy numbers in the Papua-New Guinea campaign of July 1942 to January 1943. With US support, the Australians inflicted on the Japanese Imperial Army its first defeat.
The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway is a community project involving Concord Council, the Department of Employment, Education and Training, Concord Rotary, RSL NSW, the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, and Concord Hospital.
The plans, launched in 1994 under the “Australia Remembers” Program, proposed an 800m long Memorial Walkway to be constructed along Brays Bay, which runs alongside Concord Road from Ryde Bridge towards Homebush Bay Drive and linking Rhodes Station to Concord Hospital.
Why is the Kokoda Track There?
The Walkway has a number of objectives:
- to provide a lasting Memorial to all veterans who served in World War II with a particular focus on the Kokoda Track;
- to provide an educational experience on our Australian heritage for current and future generations;
- improve access to the hospital for patients, visitors and staff who travel by rail and;
- provide facilities for healthy lifestyle programs.
Features of the Walkway
The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway has the following spectacular features:
- Memorial Centrepiece – A striking series of granite walls on which images of the New Guinea Campaign have been sandblasted. Water also forms an integral part of the centrepiece, cascading alongside the granite walls.
- Rainforest Area – Includes a watercourse leading into a pond overlooking the Parramatta River.
- Rose Garden Entry Area – A peaceful and beautiful entrance, which features rose clad pergolas and two circular memorial walls amongst beds of roses.
- Stations – The stations are places of significance in the New Guinea Campaign where important battles were fought or events occurred. There are a total of 22 stations along the track (including the rose garden and memorial centrepiece).
- Mangrove Boardwalk – Timber walkways into the mangroves providing a feel for the vegetation in New Guinea.
- Information Centre – Audio visual hospitality centre providing “living history” of the New Guinea Campaign.
- Public Walkway – An 800 metre paved walkway linking Rhodes Station to Concord Hospital.
How to Get to the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway
Bus
- Route 461 City to Ryde
- Route 458 Burwood to Ryde
Train
- To Rhodes Station, then a short walk downhill towards Concord Road and on to the Walkway at Brays Bay Reserve.
Find Out More
For more information about The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway, visit www.kokodawalkway.com.au.
