Amazing Roads, Beautiful Coastlines, Natural Wonders, And Iconic Architecture
If a road trip with a flashy destination is what your partner is after, then an evening at the iconic Pole Home on The Great Ocean Road should be high on your list.
Riding a motorcycle along the famous Great Ocean Road in Victoria is nothing new – tens of thousands do it every year. And while not all of them do it riding a Yamaha MT-10. But how many people have ridden the GOR with their significant other and enjoyed an evening at possibly one of the most iconic landmarks along this famous strip of bitumen? And no, I’m not talking about the Twelve Apostles, but the famous house on a stick at Fairhaven.
The only downside of a ride from Melbourne’s CBD to the Great Ocean Road is the two plus hours of mind numbingly boring freeway at the beginning. We split up the ride with a couple of enjoyable coffee breaks, and before we knew it we had reached the famous archway across the road which signalled the fun was about to begin. Not only were we blessed with brilliant weather on the first day, but the coastal road was also surprisingly quiet,
While our accommodation was only a few kilometres from the start point of the Great Ocean Road, you can’t spend all of your time in the Pole Home – even though it’s amazing. With the Great Ocean Road running right past its front door it would be criminal not to experiences one of the greatest riding roads in Australia in its entirety.
We headed out to Apollo Bay for an early afternoon lunch then pushed on to the Twelve Apostles (see highlights panel). After taking in the breathtaking views we hightailed it back to the iconic home to settle in for a relaxing evening.
The Pole Home
Towering forty metres above Fairhaven Beach, the ‘house on a stick’ is a landmark on the GOR. While the Pole Home has been around for four decades, today’s house is actually the second to sit atop the giant concrete monopod.
The first was built by architect Frank Dixon in the mid-1970s. In 2005 the original house was demolished and, following a multi-year design and
build process, replaced by a more contemporary structure. The new house has glass walls and doors that make up two of the property’s sides to maximise the view and privacy. But privacy is not something you get a lot of if you step out onto the wraparound balcony – almost every person that passes looks up at the house, and they usually wave. Access is via a long, narrow bridge which you can’t see once inside. It provides a bizarre feeling of floating above the coastline, amplified by the fact that the home does move around a little in windy conditions.
Inside, the house has a bedsit design with no walls other than a circular room in the centre which hides the concrete support beam and round bathroom, complete with a semi-circular door. The open plan design allows you to look out over the ocean from any part of the house (except the bathroom). The house can be rented through Great Ocean Road Real Estate which has an informative web page. One piece of advice: arrive at your check-in time and maximise your daylight hours admiring the view.