Getting outdoors is a good way of commemorate our veterans and the lives lost and disturbed by war. They’re open all year round so you don’t just have to visit them on Anzac Day or Remeberance Day.

Newcastle Memorial Walk – Newcastle

A beautiful walk along the coastline giving you an outlook of the city and the Hunter Valley in the distance. It’s an easy 450m walk that starts at the lookout on Memorial Dr at the Cliff and High St junction, and takes you past North Gilmore Cove before ending at Wrightson Ave.

There’s a 160m cliff-top bridge with the silhouettes of soldiers made out of steel. It commemorates the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli with the family names of known Hunter Valley men and women who enlisted during WW1. It’s also in steel to commemorate steelmaking in Newcastle for the war effort and a tribute to the men and women who served their community and country that way.

Wanna go longer and further? Memorial Walk makes up the middle section of the Bathers Way walk, a 6km coastal walk that links the Mereweather Ocean Baths and Nobbys Beach. 

Australian Memorial Walk – North Head, Manly

This was made in 2002 to honour those who served and supported the effort. Located in the Harbour Trust’s North Head Sanctuary, it’s an easy 250m walk on a paved walkway, built along an old track that ran through the bush at North Head

It’s in a bushland setting, but by no means in bushland or wild. It’s designed for anyone to be able to do, mostly designed to educate than make you sweat.

Stop at the five major monuments along the way and a Lone Pine memorial site. The walk is also paved with the names of all that supported and served. Families and businesses can donate to have a name paved.

The walk overlooks the harbour, a view for many to watch their loved ones sail off to and return from the war.

It’s adjacent to the WW2 coast defence artillery site which you can visit after 

1000 Steps Kokoda Track Memorial Walk – Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria

The 1000 Steps Kokoda Memorial Track was built in the early 1900s as a memorial and reminder of the soldiers who lost their lives on the actual Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea during WW2.

Located in the Dandenong Ranges National Park, the walk itself is only 3.1-kms but it packs a punch.

This out-and-back trail is considered moderately challenging. A steep, narrow walk widely used as a fitness challenge but it still deserves to be respected for what it represents.

The walk has 13 memorial plaque along the track, each plaque giving you a brief history of a particular battle with a map showing where it took place on the Kokoda Track. Once you get to the top of the Kokoda Memorial Walk, you’ll find more plaques showcasing the soldiers who fought in the war

It’s located in the Dandenong Ranges, in the Ferntree Gully National Park. If you’re taking the car, it’s just on the corner of the Burwood Hwy and Mount Dandenong Tourist Rd in Upper Ferntree Gully. It’s a popular spot for hiking and running, so expect the carpark to be full and expect the trail to be busy, be polite and stick to your left.

On public transport? It’s a quick train ride from Melbourne and a short walk away from Upper Ferntree Gully train station.

Mount Ainslie Summit Walk – Campbell, Canberra

Like the 1000 Steps, this 4.5km walk is a memorial to the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea and it’s also a test of fitness because of its degree of difficulty and steepness. Like the 1000 Steps, it’s a popular place to train because of its central location in the ACT, located just 5kms from Canberra Central – around 200 people use this track every day.

Even the road leading to the end of Mount Ainslie is where road cyclists train. They do multiple laps going up and down the mountain. The trail itself is well posted and like the actual Kokoda Trail it has signages commemorating a particular battle and soldiers during the WW2 campaign.  

This out-and-back trail starts in Remembrance Park, behind the Australian War Memorial. When you reach the top of Mount Ainslie you’ll be rewarded with a stunning view of the capital and local mountains you can even see the Tidbinbilla Range and Namadgi National Park as well. 

There’s picnic tables you can relax at at the top before heading back down or hitching a ride back, and there’s usually an ice-cream truck that parks there to service people – it knows there’s a demand and it’s willing to take advantage of it.

The water bubbler at the summit is the water source for the bees in the hotter months – so think of the bees, sharing is caring.

The Mount Ainslie Summit Walk is also part of the 145km Canberra Centenary Trail.