I went out for a little “Walk-about” this afternoon around Jardine’s Lookout. As I was walking back down towards Parkview I spotted a small trail leading off to the side near the covered Water Reservoir next to the old Anti-Aircraft Battery. The trail went around the side of the hill behind where the BBQ site is for about 40m, along a fairly steep and slippery path. I noticed a big groove cut out of the hill and when I got closer it was clearly a blocked up Japanese tunnel. Where there is one tunnel, there are usually others, so I continued crashing through the undergrowth. Just a bit further on I found another big entrance, again blocked. I persevered and around the corner I found an open tunnel entrance. The tunnel leads into the hillside about 15m before turning left and away from the other two entrances. I did stick my head in and it appears to carry on, however I was on my own and I don’t like going into new tunnels on my own without anyone knowing. I’ll talk a mate into going into it with me in the coming days. I’ll post my findings. Excuse the low quality photos, I only had my phone on me, but you get the picture. I think the best way to get to them next time is by going to the very back of the BBQ pits site and head up to the right, about 20m up.
Comments
re: Japanese Tunnel near Parkview
Craig, good find!
Do #1 and #2 look like they were dug successfully, then later blocked up with concrete? Or that what we see is as far as the digging went?
Parkview Tunnel
I'm not too sure if they have been deliberately blocked or if they have just been filled in by silt over the years, but I didn't see any clear evidence of concrete.
I'll have a proper look in the next couple of days, and take a few photos.
Parkview Tunnel
I went back to the tunnel the other day for a proper look inside. Not as exciting as I was hoping for. The Tunnel leads straight about 20 metres before turning slightly to the left and then continues for another 15 metres before coming to an end. This tunnel didn't have any alcoves or side rooms as we've seen in other tunnels
.
I had a look at the other entrances close by and think that the Japanese didn't get to start digging the actual tunnels, but just did the preparation work around where the main tunnels were to be dug out.
re: Parkview Tunnel
Thanks Craig, glad to see your camera is working better than mine!
Sometimes inside the tunnels I'm struck by how colourful the rocks look - this is a good example.
Confusion and Correction
Hi Craig,
I think you got confused. The tunnel you pictured above is a single straight cave with a dead end. I went there last weekend, def no turn.
The marker is also completely off. Here are the correct coordinates:
22°15'34.86"N 114°11'53.40"E
You find it easily walking to the very end of the BBQ Sit out site and continue straight up the small valley sloping to the right.
The two other covered up tunnels are 15 and 30m to the right of this one. Just traverse in a SW direction.
tunnel directions and questions
Just asking, can you access the intact tunnel from the John Osborn monument area? From the coordinates, it seems faster there. Anyway, if you can't access it from there, can you tell me how steep and overgrown the slope up from the BBQ site is?
Thank you so much
Lewis
Hi Lewis, You can get to…
Hi Lewis, You can get to them fairly easily from the back of that BBQ site. It is pretty steep but doable. There is one
"deep-ish" tunnel and 2 smaller semi-dug tunnels nearby that once/if completed would have all been joined up, but they didn't get around to finishing them (something must have interrupted their plans?).