Rotary provided extensive rehabilitation, rest and recuperation services to Australian Servicemen during the Vietnam War.
Sections of the walk pass through tropical rainforest reminiscent of the fetid jungles in which fierce battles were fought on the Kokoda Track. Along the walk are information plaques, designed by Ross Bastiaan in β 50 years after the battle. These plaques are similar to those existing along the actual Kokoda Track. They explain the significance of different points along the Kokoda Track.
The relief map provides some understanding of the very rugged topography over which the almost kilometre track passes. Through the Rotary Club of Broadwater Southport, a local industrial artist, David Yardley, was commissioned to develop the concept into a complete set of plans.
The memorial tells the Kokoda story through sculptured images on the face of a slightly curved wall, in the shape of the topography of the Kokoda Track. The images are based on famous photos taken by wartime photographers and correspondents, Damien Parer and George Silk, and are imposed onto 7 panels.
The top lip design of these panels follows the line of the track over the Owen Stanley Ranges. The panels tell the story of the WWII Kokoda Campaign from the arrival of the 39th Battalion at Port Moresby and the commencement of the Australian troops' journey to its completion at the village of Kokoda.
