Fieldwork on the Great Ocean Road

An expedition along the Great Ocean Road developed students’ appreciation of the Victorian environment and their Geography skills.

On the morning of Sunday 9 August, nine Year 11 students along with Mr Cross and Miss Carlisle set off at the ridiculous hour of 8:30am to see one of the most memorable tourist attractions of Victoria, The Great Ocean Road.

The first stop was the Eastern View Memorial Arch, which acquainted us with the type of research we would be conducting on the trip. Our area of study was tourism, so along the road we would not only be looking at tourist facilities and the movements of tourists, we studied the management of tourists and the changes in tourism overtime. We continued on to Lorne and then drove down to Apollo Bay to spend the night with stops at Cumberland River, Wye River, Kennett River and Skenes Creek as well as the Cape Otway Lighthouse. All the while, we recorded our observations of tourism within the area and interviewed tourists, business owners and workers at places popular with tourists, such as the Cape Otway Lighthouse, to expand our understanding of the topic.

Unit 2 Geography Fieldwork Group 2

Unit 2 Geography Fieldwork Group 2

The following day, while we hoped the somewhat decent weather would hold out for us, it was not to be, as all day there were tremendous winds and torrential rain which resulted in our second stop of the day, The Otway Fly being closed. We were, however, still able to explore Mait’s Rest Rainforest Walk which was stunning. By the time we reached the Twelve Apostles, the highlight of the Great Ocean Road, we were well versed in how best to conduct our research and able to record our information quickly. This allowed us to fully enjoy the beauty of this area, despite almost being blown off the cliffs by the winds. Furthermore, we were able to see the less developed destination of Loch Ard Gorge which was beautiful and very interesting due to the story behind it.

This trip allowed us to develop a deeper appreciation of the Victorian environment as well as gain an understanding of our area of study and how best to conduct research to meet all the geographical aims.

Cluny Gilmour (Year 11) and Isabelle Dann (Year 10)

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