Friday, April 7, 2023

AUSTRALIA: The Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles

The Great Ocean Road is an iconic symbol of Australia.

It is a National Heritage road that stretches 240 kilometre (150 miles) along the south-eastern coast of Australia

It was built by returned soldiers from WWI between 1919 and 1932 and was dedicated to the soldiers that were killed during the war.

Driving along it are stunning views of the Southern Ocean, cliffs, beaches and forests. The road connects small seaside towns and villages.

The Great Ocean Road was first planned towards the end of WWI to help assimilate the returning soldiers back to civilian life. 


Approximately 3,000 returned servicemen worked on the project.


It is the world's largest war memorial. 


At the time, the rugged south-west coast of Victoria was accessible only by sea or rough bush track.


It was envisaged that the road would connect isolated settlements on the coast, and become a vital transport link for the timber industry and tourism.




Despite improvements over the years, the road was still considered a challenging drive and the Victoria Police motor school used it for training in 1966.


Along the route is Cape Otway Lighthouse. 

It is the oldest working lighthouse in the state of Victoria. 


It was established in 1848. (Yes John, that is before you were born.)


It is perched on 90 metre cliffs above where the Bass Straight and Southern Ocean dangerously collide. 


There were many shipwrecks in these dangerous waters. 


 The Twelve Apostles are a collection of limestone stacks along the Great Ocean Road. 


They were limestone cliffs and through erosion from the harsh Southern Ocean's waves formed caves. 


With more erosion the caves collapsed, forming arches. 


Then with more erosion the arches collapsed, leavening rock stacks 
up to 50 m (160 ft) high. 


The stacks are susceptible to further erosion from ocean. 
So the famous Twelve Apostles are disappearing. 


The formation's name was made official as the "Twelve Apostles", 
despite only ever having had eight stacks. Go figure.


In July 2005, a 50-metre-tall (160 ft) stack collapsed, 
leaving seven standing at the Twelve Apostles viewpoint. 



Due to wave action eroding the cliffs, 
existing headlands are expected to become new limestone stacks in the future.


So who knows, maybe some day there might actually be 12 Apostles

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