Great Ocean Rd - tourist pleasures

 

Early Plans for an ocean road emerged in the 1880s but only gained real impetus towards the end of WWI. The chairman of the Country Roads Board, W Calder, contacted the State War Council with a prop­osal that funds be provided for repatriation and re-employment of returned soldiers on roads in sparsely populated areas. Calder sub­mitted a plan he described as the South Coast Rd which suggested a starting at Barwon Heads, fol­l­owing the coast around Cape Otway and ending near Warrnambool.

Great Ocean Rd became a permanent memorial to Australian soldiers who died fighting in WW1. Built post-war by returned ex-servicemen, it wound around the rugged south­­ern coast and was a huge engineering feat that ended isolation for Lorne and other Victorian coastal communities.

Geelong Mayor Howard Hitchcock compl­eted the plans. He formed the Gr­eat Ocean Rd Trust, to raise money to fi­nance the pro­ject. He saw it as a way of employing ret­urn­ed soldiers AND of cr­eat­ing a last­ing monument to those who’d died. And he totally und­erstood its worth as a tourist attraction, pro­claim­ing it better for its ocean, mountain, river and fern gully scenery than the Riv­iera in France. Survey work began in Aug 1918 and thou­sands of re­turned sold­iers des­c­en­d­ed south to start work. It was back-breaking work with no heavy mach­in­ery to help, only picks and horse-n-carts. The first stage linking Lorne and Eastern View was comp­l­e­ted in early 1922. Over another decade, the Trust continued its work on the Great Ocean Rd linking Lorne with Cape Patton and Angl­esea, while the Country Roads Board completed Cape Patton-Apollo Bay.

In Nov 1932 the road was opened by Lt Gov Sir Will­iam Irvine, with fans lining the route. Travellers during the ear­ly years paid a toll at gates at Eastern View, where a Mem­orial Arch was erected. Dr­iv­ers paid 2s 6p, and passengers less. The toll was abolished when the Trust handed over the road as a gift to the State Govern­ment in Oct 1936.  Memorial Arch is now a tribute to the 60,000 Australian soldiers killed and the 160,000 wounded in WWI. The bronze Diggers sculpture by Julie Squires was added in 2007.

Now tourists can see a rich art, culture and heritage of the Great Ocean Rd reg­ion, from Aboriginal Dreamtime to maritime museums, lighthouses and shipwr­ecks. Discover the tragic shipwreck history of the coast, examine local lore at the Flagstaff Hill Mar­itime Village and visit historic light-houses. Learn the tragedy of the Loch Ard Gorge near Port Campbell in 1878, an infamous Victor­ian shipwreck. 

Spend time exploring the Aust­ral­ian National Surfing Museum in Vic­t­oria's surf capital of Torquay.  Then visit Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre where educational programmes are delivered by experts on the wonders of Australia’s Indigenous Culture,

The Great Ocean Rd spans 243 ks along the stunning coastline of Vict­or­ia's SW. Take in the panoramic views as the road winds along cliff tops, up to great headlands, down onto the edge of beaches, across river estuaries and through lush rainforests. The stretch between Lorne and Apollo Bay is considered by many to be the most picturesque section of the Great Ocean Road. The highway is carved into sheer cliffs that drop away into the ocean, offering spect­acular views of the waves from Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean crashing onto the rocks and beaches below.

  

Outside Apollo Bay the road winds through the centre of the Great Otway National Park with its beautiful untouched rainforests, before returning to hug the coast for the entire length of the Port Campbell National Park. This is the most famous section of the Great Ocean Rd featuring an amazing collection of rock formations known as the 12 Apostles which have been carved out of the headland by the fierce waves of the Southern Ocean. Witness the rugged splendour of the fam­ous 12 Apostles, magnif­ic­ent rock stacks that rise up majestically from the Southern Ocean on the dramatic coastline. [There were 30 different lime­stone masses stretched along the coast. However the only visible ones from the view­ing areas are the 8 survival apostles. Due to the continuation of the stack’s erosion, eventually the coastal shore will reduce.

Erosion of the mainland coast's limestone cliffs began 10-20 mill years ago, with the stormy Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually wearing away the softer limestone to form caves in the cliffs. The caves event­ually became arches, and when these collapsed, rock stacks of 45 ms high were left isolated from the shore, resulting in the iconic 12 Apostles.

View the 12 Apostles at sunrise or sunset as they change from a brill­iant sandy colour under a full sun to appearing dark in shadow. The Apostles are located 275 ks west of Melbourne, c4 hours drive along the Great Ocean Road.

In the 12 Apostles Helicopters that fly beyond London Bridge marvel at the diversity of one of Australia's most visited coast­line. As sandstone cliffs give way to limestone, the visitor will be able to contrast the to­wering 12 Apostles to the intricate Bay of Islands, a cluster of smal­l­er stacks that appear to float in the ocean. Other sights include Pet­er­borough, The Grotto and The Bay of Martyrs. On this flight, high­lights include the Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, Bak­ers Oven, Sentinel Rock, Port Campbell, two Mile Bay, The Arch, London Bridge, The Grotto, Schom­berg Reef, Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands. The 90 k round tour takes c25 minutes.

Or drive one of the world's most iconic scenic touring routes, each tour going with a spec­ial­ised group.

When the Old Cable Station officially opened in April 1936, it was the Victorian end of the first submarine telephone cable linking Tasmania to the mainland. Today the Apollo Bay Museum is housed in the buildings from which the undersea cable connected Tasmania to the mainland and is operated by the Apollo Bay Historical Society. The museum displays relics from some of the shipwrecks and ship that were essentially the primary means of access before the Great Ocean Road and of the life of what was an extremely isolated community.