Walk 37 - Kokoda Memorial Track Walkway

While on the  Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway we wondered who was responsible for this splendid memorial, who designed it, how were those wonderful granite walls achieved.   The following random facts  are now quoted below from sources on the Internet to save you looking them up later.   

We had a leisurely walk following the 800 meters along the Memorial track itself but continued further on the Walkway going past the hospitals located at Concord West.  We found the horse paddocks, the old gardens of Yaralla Estate, the house which is now being renovated.   Please click on this link which is fascinating and very interesting and will answer some of the queries  raised as we wandered around yesterday:

http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/yaralla_estate

then the Memeorial Walkway itself:

"Features of the Memorial Walkway

Designed by DM Taylor Landscape Architects Pty Ltd, the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway has the following features:

Memorial Centrepiece

A striking series of granite walls on which images from the New Guinea Campaign have been sandblasted. Water also forms an integral part of the Centrepiece, with it cascading alongside the granite walls.

Rainforest Area

Includes a watercourse leading into a pond overlooking the Parramatta River.

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-January 1943. With US support the Australians inflicted on the Japanese Imperial Army its first defeat. The fighting on The Kokoda Track was one of the vital elements which saved Australia from invasion in World War II. The Papua campaign, including The Kokoda Track, Milne Bay, Buna, Gona and Sanananda resulted in total Australian and United States casualties of 8546. Casualties from malaria were more than 27,000 and from tropical diseases at least 37,000. More than 2000 Australians and 600 Americans were killed. During the four months of fighting in the Owen Stanley Ranges the Australian infantry lost 607 killed and 1015 wounded. The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway covers more than 800 metres from Rhodes Station to Concord Hospital in Sydney's inner-west, and runs along the mangrove-studded shores of Brays Bay on the Parramatta River. At the centrepiece are magnificent granite walls bearing photographic images of the campaign; there are 22 stations or plaques along the walkway, each describing a significant place or engagement; the walkway has been planted with lush tropical vegetation simulating the conditions of The Kokoda Track. On this site you will see and hear descriptions of the campaign, with photographs, interviews and maps; there are links to Oral Histories andWar Memorial sites; there is an Educational Resource section, aCalendar of annual events taking place at the Walkway, and a link to theFriends of Kokoda. We hope you will enjoy this site and gain an appreciation of the sacrifices and achievements of the young Australians who gave so much in defence of their nation."