Great Ocean Road
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Great Ocean Road Also known as the Surfcoast Highway between Geelong and Torquay |
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Length | 263 kilometres |
General direction: | West-East |
From: | Allansford, Victoria |
To: | Belmont, Geelong |
Towns along road: | Port Campbell, Lavers Hill, Apollo Bay, Lorne, Torquay |
The Great Ocean Road (known as the Surfcoast Highway between Geelong and Torquay) which stretches along the South Eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Geelong and Warrnambool is the world's biggest war memorial. It was built between World War I and World War II by returned servicemen in honour of their fallen comrades. The road took 16 years to build and it was all done by hand using picks, shovels and dynamite.
The main gate, an arch, has been rebuilt a number of times. The first gate was demolished and rebuilt when the road was widened, another was knocked over by a truck and a third arch was razed during the Ash Wednesday fires. The gate is not actually located at the beginning of the road.
Hugging tightly to the coast, the road offers outstanding views of Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean. The section near Port Campbell covers some of the most scenic coastline in the world, because of its striking and dramatic natural rock formations. These formations include Loch Ard Gorge, the Grotto, London Bridge (renamed to London Arch in recent years after the 'bridge' partially collapsed), and most famously The Twelve Apostles.
Previously assigned State Route 100, it was later designated as B100 and is the VicRoads' definition of a B-rated road.
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[edit] Speed limits
The road's speed limit fluctuates from 80km/h (50mph) to 100km/h (62mph). However, its sharp curves make it impossible to reach those speeds in most places. It is a two lane roadway (one lane in each direction) and, as always in Australia, vehicles must drive on the left hand side of the roadway.
There are safety and speed-monitoring cameras at intervals along the road.
[edit] Gallery of sights and tourist landmarks
[edit] See also
- Howard Hitchcock
- Highways in Victoria
- Loch Ard Gorge
- the Grotto
- London Arch
- The Twelve Apostles, Victoria
- Great Ocean Walk
[edit] External links
- Official Great Ocean Road website
- Great Ocean Road Accommodation and Travel Guide Web Site
- Another Great Ocean Road tourism site
- Great Ocean Road photographs
- Great Ocean Road videos and map
Attractions: Bay of Islands Coastal Park | Bells Beach | Otway National Park | Port Campbell National Park | The Twelve Apostles
Towns: Aireys Inlet | Anglesea | Apollo Bay | Lorne | Peterborough | Portland | Torquay