The Great Ocean Road and Scenic Environs is an outstanding and iconic coastal journey. Stories and scenery along the road and coastline help us understand Australia's history, prehistory and ongoing coastal processes.
Constructed by workers including more than 3000 returned servicemen as a utilitarian memorial to First World War servicemen, 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. Archaeological evidence of the repatriation workers camps has potential to reveal details of the living and working conditions and experiences of sustenance workers in remote locations during the inter-war period.
The Ocean Road Planning Scheme was a pioneering planning mechanism which enabled an integrated approach across four local shires to protect and preserve the exceptional scenery of the region. The Scheme initiated processes which led to an evolution in the protection of land in Australia for its scenic environmental value.
The frequently changing diverse landscapes and views from the Great Ocean Road have made it an exemplar route of scenic journey, and Australia's most famous coastal drive. The route was designed to follow the lines of nature and facilitate public access to this spectacular coastline, creating a flowing, serpentine journey that hugs the coast and provide views of diverse scenery. Its viewpoints, scenic lookouts and unobtrusively engineered roadworks allow a natural aesthetic to dominate. The Great Ocean Walk provides further public access to areas of coastline where the road diverts inland.
The powerful, spectacular and distinctive landscapes of the Great Ocean Road and Scenic Environs are highly valued by the Australian community and international tourists for their aesthetic qualities and have inspired visual artists, writers, musicians and theatre troupes. The geological formations from the Twelve Apostles to the Bay of Islands are widely recognised, and are capable of evoking strong emotional responses.
The geomorphological features of the Port Campbell Limestone Coast are rare in their diversity, and it is the definitive place in Australia to observe limestone geomorphology and coastal erosion processes on rocky coasts. The Cretaceous coast of the Otways displays geomorphological processes that are contributing to research into the origins of significant shore platforms that illustrate the environment prior to the breakup of Gondwana.
The Otway Ranges Coastal Cretaceous site contains rare polar dinosaur fossil sites, including Dinosaur Cove, Australia's most famous polar dinosaur fossil site and a site which helped popularise fossils and dinosaurs in Australia. Fossils from later periods are also being discovered in the dunes around Bells Beach. Fossil finds extracted from these sites continue to yield important information about Australia's prehistory, and processes of erosion may lead to further discoveries along this coastline in the future.
Recreational tourism was among the purposes for the road's construction, and the cultural and natural tourism experiences it offers, including the iconic Twelve Apostles and the treacherous Shipwreck Coast, are greatly valued by the Australian community. The iconic Bells Beach is valued by Australia's surfing community for its place in Australian surfing. It was the world's first Surfing Recreation Reserve, and remains the location of the world's longest running international surfing carnival and home to one the most prestigious trophies in surfing.
The Great Ocean Road and Scenic Environs has a special association with a number of people with importance to Australian history. William Thomas Bartholomew McCormack, founding member of the Victorian Country Roads Board, supervised the construction of the Great Ocean Road and was responsible for the practical and aesthetic design of the famous route. The Great Ocean Road may never have been completed if not for the enthusiasm and determination of Howard Hitchcock, businessman, philanthropist, and Mayor of Geelong from 1917 to 1922. Eminent landscape designer Edna Walling's experiences of the environment on the Great Ocean Road from the 1920s-40s were a powerful influence behind her wide-reaching advocacy for the in-situ conservation of native plants, particularly along roadsides, and their judicious use in garden design. The Great Ocean Road is also associated with the more than 3000 returned servicemen who, through the repatriation works program, were employed to construct the road, and took great pride in their involvement in creating an enduring memorial to their fellow servicemen.
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