The seaside town of Lorne and its surfing beach

During our 1 hour 10-min. (57.3 km.) drive, via the Great Ocean Road/B100, to the picturesque seafood village of Apollo Bay from the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, we made a short nature call stopover at the seaside town of Lorne, a popular destination on the Great Ocean Road (it extended to this town in 1922).

Check out “The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Memorial Arch“

This quintessential holiday retreat, attracting visitors for more than a century, has a relaxed Mediterranean feel, mild weather, charming picture-postcard scenery and beautiful Art Deco architecture.  Tall old gum trees line its hilly streets.

From the roadside, we had a panoramic view the 2-km. long, sheltered Lorne surf beach, the only patrolled beach in town, and bathers here were cooling off in the sparkling waters of picturesque Loutit Bay. On the foreshore, residents were picnicking under the trees.   At the pier, people fish for barracuda, whiting and trevally.

Great Pacific Hotel : home of one of the town’s two pubs

A tourist town, Lorne’s main shopping strip is filled with a large number of boutiques and clothing stores, boutique gift stores, cellars, restaurants (serving freshly caught seafood), sidewalk cafes and some art galleries/craft shops.

The foreshore

During the first weekend of January, the town hosts the 1.2 km Pier to Pub swim, described in the Guinness Book of Records as “the largest organized ocean swim in the world” with over 20,000 spectators.

The author, Jandy, Grace and Kyle

How to Get There: Lorne is located 140 kms. (a 2-hour drive) south of Melbourne. From Melbourne, daily coach services are available or rail/coach services via Geelong.