Great Ocean Road’s new $8 million lookout is here – and it’s striking

At one of the Great Ocean Road region’s natural attractions, a deep cut into the landscape at Loch Ard Gorge – unimaginatively called The Blowhole, but popular all the same – 15 years have passed since the original viewing platform was closed due to safety concerns born of erosion and rock instability.

It was not long after that one of the nearby Twelve Apostles collapsed, reducing to seven the number of the famed photogenic limestone stacks off Victoria’s Shipwreck Coast.

While the number of Apostles (Parks Victoria says there were never actually 12) has remained steady since then (albeit tenuously), the wider Great Ocean Road region has had other challenges, mostly man-made. Pollution, run-off and irresponsible visitors have been the main culprits.

Nonetheless, there’s no denying the very thing that makes this part of Victoria so appealing to visitors, its rugged, natural wildness – is what eroded the so-called Apostles and also contributed to the closure of The Blowhole’s viewing facility.

Moves are afoot. These are not to counter the march of time and nature – after all, those forces are unstoppable. Local and state authorities are seeking to work with the elements to ensure the area is worth the time and effort for the thousands of tourists who descend every year, while at the same time preserving what is humanly possible to preserve.

A striking new viewing platform at the Loch Ard Gorge Blowhole has opened. It is the latest in a series of major infrastructure projects along this part of the coast – Great Ocean Road tourism operators have long been campaigning for infrastructure to help evolve tourism in their region from one-day drives to more immersive, multi-day experiences.

The $8 million lookout, named Poombeeyt Koontapool, gives visitors an accessible, environmentally sensitive vantage point from which to view the power of the Southern Ocean rising through the limestone landscape. The platform wraps around The Blowhole and is designed to amplify the famous roar of the ocean experienced there while ensuring safety and conservation.

The name, meaning “Breath of the Whale” in the Keerray Woorroong language, references the southern right whales that migrate along the coast and is designed by Denton Corker Marshall with direction from traditional owners, the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation and esteemed Indigenous artist and cultural consultant Vicki Couzens.

Loch Ard Gorge is within the terrestrial Port Campbell National Park, with the Twelve Apostles in the adjacent Marine Park on Keerray Woorroong Country.

The platform forms part of stage one of the Shipwreck Coast Master Plan, which aims to upgrade visitor infrastructure, protect fragile coastal assets, and support local economies. In addition to Poombeeyt Koontapool, stage one includes a new viewing platform for the Twelve Apostles, again designed by DCM, the Eastern Maar people and Couzens, featuring wide accessible paths and safer viewing areas.

Currently being constructed is the Twelve Apostles Visitor Experience Centre, under a design by Grimshaw in partnership with the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation and the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority.

It represents a huge change to the nature of the experience and will feature interpretive exhibits, retail and hospitality areas, a rooftop lookout, and a “Welcome Garden”.

To pay or not to pay, though. That is the question. Controversy bubbles along regarding a proposal to charge for viewing.

While no amount of admission fees will stop the effect of ocean eating limestone – perhaps it’s this very ephemerality that will convince people of the value in paying to see these formations while they can.

See parks.vic.gov.au