Road Trip! Day 3 – Aireys Inlet – Great Ocean Road – Lorne

February 1, 2015

Aireys Inlet, Australia, Countries, Family holidays & travel, Lorne, The Great Ocean Road, Victoria

LetsGoMum

The view from Big Hill, Great Ocean Road, Victoria

We did a grand total of 19kms today – we hit a town we just had to stop at – Lorne, Victoria!

Split Point Lighthouse, Aireys Inlet, Great Ocean Road

We left the Lightkeeper Motel at Aireys Inlet and visited the nearby lighthouse before moving on. Seeing a lighthouse close-up is always fascinating, and this one was a beauty. Stark white, tall and

beautiful, it made for some great photos. The kids thought it looked like something straight out of an adventure story, and the coastal vistas from the wooden viewing platforms next to it were to die for!

We then drove on down the Great Ocean Road, stopping at a couple of scenic spots, as they were just too spectacular not too! The Memorial Arch is that iconic wooden-log arch way with “The Great Ocean Road” etched into it. The road itself is a memorial to the Victorian 1st World War solidiers – and was actually built by returning soldiers as a work project.

The iconic Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch

There are many beautifully situated houses built into the cliffs overlooking the road – here’s one of the more memorable ones – and quite the engineering feat! This pole house is available to stay out, however it’s for couples only 🙁

A pole house in between Aireys Inlet and Lorne, Great Ocean Road, Victoria

Big Hill is a high vantage point that you can pull off the road at to take a panoramic shot of the ocean – just magnificent! Another tourist pulled up and stepped over the guard rail to take a photo that probably would have been just as effective from the roadside – we all looked on from inside our car in horror that he might slip and fall! There always has to be one…

After a windy, picturesque drive we pulled into Lorne within just 20 minutes or so – a lovely seaside town with a long, stunning beach. There is a string of boutiques, cafes and surf shops along the front, and opposite the shops is a children’s paradise, with not only the beach on offer, but also an outdoor trampoline park and supervised high-climbing frame – in addition to the obligatory council children’s playground, which is actually a great one too – a mock-up wharf, complete with boat! We all voted to stop at Lorne for at least one night even though we’d only driven a few kilometres that morning.

The Lorne beachfront council playground – great for a play!

We headed into “the bottle of milk” café so that I could jump onto my laptop and search for a nice ocean view room or apartment for the night – no easy task on a Saturday when the place swells with weekend Melbourne visitors. After about half an hour of Google-ing I found the perfect thing – the Cumberland Lorne Resort – a spacious apartment complex located at the end of the main street. It ticked the box of extensive ocean views and had the bonus of all the creature comforts for a great price of only $255 – that’s not bad for this area on a weekend where many apartments are topping the $400-a-night mark.

The Cumberland Lorne Resort – reasonable rates and almost on the beach with ocean views

We checked in and were delighted to find a large and luxurious apartment, complete with washing machine and dryer (oh joy – how my priorities have changed since becoming a parent!), a Jacuzzi glassed-off from the lounge area (like that’s ever going to happen!), ocean view balcony and large kitchen – now we could self-cater breakfast too! The complex also boasted an indoor heated pool – perfect considering how cold the weather had been, which was now also throwing the odd shower into the mix!

Here’s a quick video grab of Lorne beach – almost deserted!…

Once settled I took the kids over to the playground and beach, which was mostly deserted. This didn’t stop the kids from wanting to go in though, and as there were surf lifesavers on duty, I told them they could go in to ankle depth between the flags (it was pretty wild surf!). Once the kids had frozen solid we headed back to the Motel. Some delicious pizzas from the nearby Andrew’s Chicken shop topped off the day nicely, and we all decided that an extra night in Lorne would be just the thing, and extended our stay.

Today’s route…

You can read our Road Trip! daily blogs here…

So tomorrow will be another day in Lorne – we’ll check in with you then!

Have you travelled (or want to) travel to Lorne, or along the Great Ocean Road with your little beachcombers? Comment here!

About LetsGoMum

Hi, I'm Barbara, mum of the Let's Go Mum blog. We'd love to hear from you! You can contact me anytime with ideas on where you think we should go or what you think we should try...just drop me a line at barbara@letsgomum.com.au!