The Great Ocean Road – Lorne

This is Part 4 of our Melbourne and Great Ocean Road road trip – 22 to 30 November 2018

So far I’ve covered our 2 nights in Melbourne, a quick stop off at Torquay and Bells Beach and another quick stop and explore at Aireys Inlet and Split Point Lighthouse on our drive to Lorne where we will be staying the first night of our Great Ocean Road trip.  This post covers our stay in Lorne.

All photos in this post were taken with my iPhone.  I hadn’t got my good camera out yet!

SATURDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2018

LORNE BEACH

We arrived in Lorne around lunchtime.  It was too early to check in to our accommodation so we went for a quick look around the town and found somewhere to have some lunch.  Before we had lunch I had a little walk down to the beach.  It was far from a warm summer’s day but still plenty of people down there and lifeguards on duty!

WHERE WE STAYED

We stayed at the Lorne Coachman Inn.  It was all that was available when we went to book and we soon found out why.  On arrival we were told that some rooms were booked by ‘schoolies’.  Lorne is apparently a popular spot for Victoria’s school leavers for schoolies week.  Thoughtfully, they had put us in a room at the other end of the complex to them.  Our room for the night was ok but probably my least favourite accommodation for the entire trip.  It was clean enough, was a generously sized room, and the bed was comfortable, but there were far too many flights of stairs to get our suitcases up and down, it had a very dated and icky bathroom, and the location was not ideal.  It really didn’t matter much though as we were only staying one night. 

TEDDY’S LOOKOUT

We went for a drive up to Teddy’s Lookout which is a short drive to the top end of George Street at the back of Lorne.  It has sweeping views over the Saint George River and the coast.  It seems I didn’t take enough photos to show the various views!

ERSKINE FALLS

Erskine Falls is a nine-kilometre drive from Lorne and is one of the most popular waterfalls in the Otways.  The Erskine Falls plunges 30 metres into the lush tree-fern gully of the Erskine River.

DINNER

Dinner time was spent chilling out back at the motel room.  We’d eaten out a lot over the past few days and were tired so welcomed a night in.  Whilst in town we’d bought some frozen meals and so a quick zap in the motel’s microwave and voila – dinner was served! 

I can happily report that the ‘schoolies’ were not any trouble to us overnight after all.  I heard them a couple of times but not enough to bother me which was fabulous!

SUNDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2018

THE SWING BRIDGE CAFE AND BOATHOUSE

The next morning we had breakfast at the Swing Bridge Cafe and Boathouse.  The Swing Bridge Cafe is a simple weatherboard building done with a beach-shack chic fit-out sitting right on the sandy beach of the Erskine River mouth at the foot of the iconic suspension ‘swing bridge’.

I loved this place!  Really, really loved it!  The food.  The atmosphere.  The service.  The friendly staff.  The outlook.  I felt like I had stepped into the setting of one of the novels I’d read over the years.  It was picture perfect and gave me all the feels.  Suffice to say – if ever you are in Lorne, I highly recommend this place.  I have only been here for breakfast but it was perfection!

CAPE PATTON LOOKOUT POINT

We stopped at Cape Patton Lookout which offers spectacular views east towards Apollo Bay and Skenes Creek.

LONE SAILORS GRAVE

The Barque ‘W.B.Godfrey’ was built in Greenock Scotland in 1861. It was sailing from San Francisco and bound for Melbourne when it was wrecked at this site in 1891 with no loss of life.  In three separate boating accidents five men drowned during salvage operations from the barquentine ‘Chittoo’.

• R.Pleace and J.McIntyre 18th April 1981
• C. Boulter 18th June 1891
• Captain T.Gortley and Seaman V.Godfrey 8th October 1891

Captain Gortley and Seaman Godfrey were buried ashore on high ground.

During the construction of the Great Ocean Road in the 1920s, workers discovered an old grave, marked by a badly weather-beaten cross. This is not the original grave but more a monument to preserve the memory of those buried.

The Godfrey Creek site is approx 32 kms east of Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road and is clearly marked as an historical site.

[Lonely Sailors Grave information sourced here]

LORNE PIER

I loved going for a walk out along Lorne Pier.  The water colour here is divine!  

A bit of history:  The first Lorne pier was built in 1879 to serve the logging industry.  The new pier was conceived nearly 10 years ago when consultants determined that the old pier was deteriorating and something needed to be done. The options were to either fix it or replace it with a new one.  After much debate, eventually Lorne got a new pier which won the approval of the community and also received an Engineering Excellence award in 2007.  A short section of the old pier was left as a historical reminder.

Driving onwards now towards Apollo Bay where we will be spending tonight.  What will the next post in this series cover I wonder?  

Ciao for now,

 

 

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