Centenary of the Great Ocean Road Events along the Road

We wrote recently about the celebrations to mark 100 years since construction of the iconic Great Ocean Road began. ‘The Story of the Road‘ campaign features a series of curated events including gala screenings of the new documentary ‘The Story of the Road‘, pop-up cinemas, public art installations and augmented reality experiences from Torquay to Apollo Bay.

The event celebrates the Great Ocean Road’s rich history as well as its role today as a global destination for both tourists and locals alike, connecting us with one of the most iconic and beautiful coastlines in Australia and standing as the largest war memorial in the world.

Last time we told you about the screening of the documentary on the evening of 18 September 2019 at the Lorne Theatre. We also mentioned the “Pop-Up” cinemas which will screen short features from the documentary. These are located at Torquay, Anglesea, Lorne, Wye River and Apollo Bay.

Other events celebrating the Centenary include:

Art Trail

Ensuring the story lives on beyond the lifetime of the 100 Year celebration, creative studio, The Social Crew, have designed an art installation which combines industrial design, augmented reality and storytelling by encouraging visitors to engage with the installation and explore a story trail.

Not your average seating, these 2.3m circular installations incorporate artworks by three local artists, painted in a palette which reflects the Great Ocean Road and its environment and QR beacons, the majority of which connecting to augmented story pieces.

The artwork aims to contribute to the experience of visiting the towns along the road and as well as encouraging visitors to engage with the works, whilst providing an Instagram opportunity.

An extension to commemorate the centenary and focus on the importance of mindfulness, the public art project aims to encourage visitors to sit down, slow down and relax in their environment, and perhaps learn a little more about their surrounding space.

The circular bench seat design holds significance to the nature of the region itself, representing the cyclical nature that sees many return to the region for enjoyment, lifestyle, growth or to simply take it all in.

Visitors along the road, will also be invited to activate an additional 20+ QR beacons which also connect to educational information about the location, and, at key points of interest, film and augmented stories, long beyond the lifetime of the event.

Keep an eye out for the circular installations in Torquay, Anglesea, Lorne, Wye River, Kennett River and Apollo Bay.  You can learn more here – www.visitgreatoceanroad.org.au/iam100/art-installations

Great Ocean Road Exhibition

The Lorne Historical Society, in conjunction with Surf Coast Shire, is expanding on the permanent exhibition housed in the Lorne Visitor Information Centre. In addition to the material already on display telling the Story of the Road, the Society is adding further material including images and artefacts which add an extra dimension to the exhibition. The original bunting on the makeshift arch erected at Eastern View by the Clarke family on the occasion of the opening of the road to Lorne will be on display.

There will also be on display a letter, written on the back of four postcards in 1924 by Howard Hitchcock, known as the father of the Great Ocean Road to his friend Mr Clarke a property owner at Eastern View in which Hitchcock alludes to where he got his inspiration for the Great Ocean Road.

There will also be additional photographs on display showing the difficult conditions endured by the workers on the road around Lorne, mainly returned servicemen. You will gain a greater appreciation of the magnitude of the task to dig the road out of the cliff face by hand – an extraordinary feat. This exhibition will be open to the public from Thursday 19 September, one hundred years to the day from when construction of the Road commenced.

So, come along and learn more about the building of the road which changed life on the south west coast of Victoria forever. It’s a road that opened up the south west and is now the most popular tourist destination in Australia. It is stands as a tribute to those men who, through sheer determination dug a road out of the cliffs. More importantly it is a War Memorial, the longest memorial in the world and we should never lose sight of that.