The ‘Great Ocean Road’ is it one of Victoria’s, indeed Australia’s, most well known international tourist attractions, and a favoured coastal town drive for locals, dotted as it is with beautiful surf & swimming beaches, but you may be surprised to know, the road itself constitutes Australia’s longest War Memorial. This episode we talk about how the construction came about.
The Great Ocean Road’s heritage listing states, it was “Constructed by workers including around 3000 returned servicemen, as a utilitarian memorial…. The Great Ocean Road is a significant reminder of the participation of Australian servicemen in the First World War, the Australian community’s appreciation of their service, and the support provided for the continuing welfare of servicemen upon returning to Australia.” It’s also a beloved destination for surfers, fishers, and those who just enjoy native Australian landscapes and beautiful coastal vistas.
(44 mins)
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REFERENCES:
Bastiaan, Ross. Historical Driver’s Guide to the Great Ocean Road. Royal Historical Society of Victoria [online]. [Accessed October 2021]. Available from: https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/product/historical-drivers-guide-to-the-great-ocean-road-by-ross-bastiaan/
Bastiaan, Ross and ABC Radio National, 2019. The Great Ocean Road: taming a wild coast and honouring sacrifice. [online]. 19 September 2019. [Accessed October 2021]. Available from: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/the-great-ocean-road-taming-a-wild-coast-and-honouring-sacrifice/11527140
ABC, 2008. Polar Dinosaurs [online]. 18 September 2008. [Accessed December 2021]. Available from: https://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/polar-dinosaurs/11010728
Australian Heritage Database. [online]. [Accessed December 2021]. Available from: https://www.environment.gov.au/
Garcia, Carlos Enrique Negron, 2013. Nomination of the Great Ocean Road for recognition under the Heritage Recognition Program [online]. June 2013. Available from: https://bit.ly/3zgKean
Centre For 21st Century Humanities: University Of Newcastle. Colonial Frontier Massacres, Australia, 1780 to 1930, v3. [online]. [Accessed January 2022]. Available from: https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/map.php
Charlwood, D.E., 1971. The Wreck of the Loch Ard. Sydney, NSW: Angus and Robertson. ISBN 0-207-12316-0.
Culture Victoria. Buckley’s Chance – William Buckley. [online]. [Accessed January 2022]. Available from: http://www.cv.vic.gov.au/stories/immigrants-and-emigrants/william-buckley/buckleys-chance/
Dept Of Agriculture Water And Environment. Great Ocean Road – Victoria – Heritage Listing. [online]. [Accessed December 2021]. Available from: https://www.awe.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/places/national/great-ocean-road
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. ‘THE Loch Ard : An Epic Wreck: Death of Eva Carmichael’, 1934. Victorian Collections [online]. [Accessed January 2022]. Available from: https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/521605e019403a17c4ba0952
Gammage, Bill. 2011. The biggest estate on earth : how Aborigines made Australia. 2011. Crows Nest, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74237-748-3.
Kerr, Rosemary. 2013. Landscapes of Memory and Forgetting: Memorialisation, Emotion and Tourism along Australia’s Great Ocean Road. Almatourism – Journal of Tourism, Culture and Territorial Development [online]. 23 December 2013. Vol. 4, no. 8, p. 78–98. [Accessed November 2021]. DOI 10.6092/issn.2036-5195/4062. Available from: https://almatourism.unibo.it/article/view/4062
Pascoe, Bruce. 2018. Dark Emu : Aboriginal Australia and the birth of agriculture. 2018. New edition. Broome, Western Australia : Magabala Books Aboriginal Corporation. ISBN 978-1-925768-95-4.
Torquay Museum Without Walls. Story behind the road: GREAT OCEAN ROAD. [online]. [Accessed January 2022]. Available from: https://www.torquayhistory.com/brief-history-of-torquay/great-ocean-road-2-2/
Torquay Museum Without Walls. Torquay Local History. [online]. [Accessed January 2022]. Available from: https://www.torquayhistory.com/brief-history-of-torquay/
Victoria Tourism Statistics – Great Ocean Road, Twelve Apostles. [online]. [Accessed January 2022]. Available from: https://camperchamp.com.au/statistics/australia/victoria-tourism/
Wikipedia: SS City Of Rayville, 2021. MS City of Rayville. [online]. [Accessed January 2022]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MS_City_of_Rayville&oldid=1033976609
OTHER LINKS:
VisitApolloBay. Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch. [online]. [Accessed December 2021]. Available from: https://visitapollobay.com/explore/experiences/great-ocean-road-memorial-arch/
VISITGREATOCEANROAD. History & Heritage – Visit Great Ocean Road. [online]. [Accessed December 2021]. Available from: https://visitgreatoceanroad.org.au/category/see-and-do/experiences/history-heritage/
ABC, 2021. The unofficial history of the Great Ocean Road. [online]. 30 June 2021. [Accessed October 2021]. Available from: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/melbourne/programs/drive/unofficial-history-of-the-great-ocean-road/13424168
ABC RADIO NATIONAL, 2019. The world’s longest war memorial turns 100. [online]. 15 September 2019. [Accessed October 2021]. Available from: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/sundayextra/8.45/11506854
ABC, 2007. Mud and Passing Points – A History of the Great Ocean Road. Radio National [online]. 26 July 2007. [Accessed November 2021]. Available from: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/hindsight/mud-and-passing-points—a-history-of-the-great/3234778
ABC. A pot-holed history of the Great Ocean Road [online]. [Accessed October 2021]. Available from: https://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2012/09/10/3586722.htm
SBS. The story of the Australian veterans who built the Great Ocean Road. SBS News [online]. [Accessed October 2021]. Available from: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-story-of-the-australian-veterans-who-built-the-great-ocean-road/7676f247-7030-4cc9-a25d-4eeccd5f94a3
MUSIC:
- Intro/Exit music modified from: ‘Grand Canyon’ by LÃHSTANA DAVID [CCFM Music]
- Waves: https://freesound.org/people/konakaboom/sounds/203156/