It’s amazing how transformative a few days by the sea can be.
Lorne, on the Great Ocean Road, is full of fresh air, stunning views, salt water and sunshine, provided my family with a much needed break.
The first glimpse of the turquoise blue water is always exciting. Once you drive under the historical marker at Eastern View the road starts to take on a life of it’s own, hugging the side of the cliffs with distractingly beautiful ocean views, switching back through fern filled gullies, and testing the resilience to motion of even the most well travelled back seat passenger.
The road into Lorne is memorable and it’s amazing to think it was built by hand with only picks, shovels and horse-drawn carts by thousands of returned soldiers almost 100 years ago.
We wasted no time, after settling in to our home for the weekend we headed off to explore and wander.
The roar of the waves crashing and the blue water drew us like a magnet. Our first adventure of the weekend — a walk along the beach to the pier. My daughter Emma is always picking up sticks and other random finds on our walks. On this occasion she decided that a giant piece of kelp was coming home with us.
Find short walks surrounding Lorne here.
The next morning an even bigger adventure was awaiting us all. The whole family was booked into surfing lessons with Go Ride A Wave. I never thought I’d ever try surfing, but I’m not one to turn down an opportunity to experience something new and I’m so glad I gave it a go. Emma was so excited about getting out on a board, and with her wet suit on, she looked like a proper little grommet.
Our instructor was super enthusiastic and his aim was to get us all standing by the end of our two hour lesson. Turns out I’m not a surfer, well not on this occasion anyway, the ocean truly kicked my butt, (my partner David and I had a good laugh about it).
Dumpy waves were not my friend but I had a red hot go and maybe next time, when the water is a bit calmer, I’ll give it another try. The stand out performer in our family was the Mr, who made it his mission to at least stand up once (which he did, but I wasn’t watching).
Next time you are in Lorne, take a surf lesson, it’s truly an immersive experience, both metaphorically — you’ll be connected to the rich surf culture of the area, and literally, because you are going to get dumped by waves over and over.
At home the weekends seem to just fly by, but in Lorne, it felt like time slowed down. Just two nights away felt like a whole summer holiday complete with games of twister, leisurely meals and a few tasty treats; lots of playground time and even a sneaky nap thrown in for good measure.
But all good things must come to an end and it was reluctantly time to head home, but not before one last hurrah. No weekend in Lorne is complete without jumping on the big blue trampolines on the foreshore; it’s a tradition. For only $5 for 10 minutes, who can deny the kid a bit of energy burning fun.
On the drive home Emma proclaimed this ‘the best holiday ever!‘ For a kid who has been to Disneyland twice, that’s a pretty big call. But children live in the moment, and all the moments of those past few days having fun with mum and dad felt pretty special to her. A happy childhood memory created right there.
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Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the Great Ocean Road region the Wadawurrung, Eastern Maar & Gunditjmara. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We recognise and respect their unique cultural heritage and the connection to their traditional lands. We commit to building genuine and lasting partnerships that recognise, embrace and support the spirit of reconciliation, working towards self-determination, equity of outcomes and an equal voice for Australia’s first people.
