Lorne


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Lorne Accommodation

Hotels - Motels - Resorts - Holiday Houses - Apartments - B&B's - Beachside Accommodation 

Featured Properties Lorne

Bay Panorama Luxury Apartment Lorne

Exclusive 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, ultimate in luxury & style with sunny north facing balcony. Main bedroom has magnificent sea view through large picture window.

Lorne Accommodation

 

Lorne is well serviced with hotels, motels and resorts. There are a considerable number of self catering and holiday type accommodation such as bed and breakfasts (also known as bnb and b&b), apartments, holiday houses, cottages, cabins, guesthouses as well as tourist or caravan parks, and backpackers or hostels.
 
 

Self catering accommodation – Apartments, Holiday Houses, Cottages, Cabins, B&B’s and Guesthouses in Lorne are:

  • A Sea Change
  • Acacia Villas
  • Allenvale Cottages
  • Anchorage Motel
  • Annie @ Cora Lynn
  • Apartment 46
  • Around About Lorne
  • Bansia Lake Cottages
  • Bay Panarama-Kalimna
  • Bayview Townhouse 2
  • Bayview Townhouse 3
  • Beach Belle
  • Bridun B and B
  • Charlies Bush Sea Retreat
  • Chatby Lane Luxury Apts
  • Cherry Tree Creek Cottage
  • Comfort Inn Lorneview Apts
  • Cora-Lyn Apartments
  • Cumberland
  • Driden House
  • Duetto Villas
  • Erskine Beach Resort
  • Erskine Falls Cottages
  • Erskine On The River
  • Four Bayview
  • Great Ocean Rd cottages
  • Hayden
  • La Mere-Kalimna
  • La Perouse B and B
  • Lemnos Apartments
  • Lemonade Creek Cottages
  • Lorne Beach Apartments
  • Lorne Beach House
  • Lorne Beach Stays 15
  • Lorne Beach Stays 18
  • Lorne Bush House Cottages
  • Lorne Ocean Sun Apartments
  • Lorne Siesta Cottage
  • Malibu Lorne
  • Ocean Lodge Motel and Apts
  • Pacific Apartments Unit 29
  • Phoenix Apartments
  • Pierview on Mount Joy
  • Qdos
  • Richardson Retreat
  • Sandridge Motel
  • Shepherd's Rest Apt
  • Southcliffe Cottage
  • Springlea at Lorne
  • Studio 15
  • Sunny Hill
  • The Chapel
  • The Grand Pacific Hotel
  • The Shed Lorne
  • VillaGrandeLorne
  • Waverley House
  • Windover
 

Tourist, Caravan or Holiday Parks in Lorne are:

  • Cumberland River Holiday Park
  • Lorne Foreshore Reserves

 

The Resorts in Lorne are:
  • Cumberland Lorne Resort
  • Mantra Erskine Beach Resort
  
The Motels in Lorne are:
  • Anchorage Motel
  • Lorne Coachman Inn (Best Western)
  • Lorneview Apartments (Comfort Inn)
  • Sandridge Motel
 
 
The Hotels in Lorne are:
  • Lorne Hotel
  • Grand Pacific Hotel

 

The Backpackers or Hostels in Lorne are:

  • Great Ocean Rd Backpackers YHA Hostel
  • Erskine River Backpackers
 
 

Lorne Information: 

There's something special about Lorne. Lorne is a seaside town on Louttit Bay on the Great Ocean Road, 140km south-west of Melbourne, or about 2 hours drive. Lorne is 29km west of Anglesea. The Erskine River runs through Lorne. With Lorne’s Mediterranean feel and picture-postcard scenery, this beautiful seaside town has been attracting visitors for more than a century.

Dare we compare Lorne to that other schick well known tourist destination, in other words, the Noosa of the South. Set between the ocean and the cool Otway forests, Lorne has a charm that's hard to surpass. Add mild weather, a touch of the café culture, shops, boutiques and galleries and it's no wonder Lorne is one of the Great Ocean Road’s most popular holiday destinations.

Prior to European settlement the area was occupied by the Kolakngat Aborigines. Louttit Bay bears the name of Captain Louttit, who sought shelter in the bay in 1841 while supervising the retrieval of cargo from a shipwreck. This part of the coast was surveyed in 1846. That year, Captain Louttit returned as master of the 'Apollo' and gave the name to that other great tourist town along the coast - Apollo Bay.

The first European settler in the Lorne area was William Lindsay who was issued a timber-cutting licence in 1849. His two young sons were killed when a sand tunnel collapsed. Their graves can be seen, not far from the suspension footbridge which leads from the Great Ocean Road across the Erskine River to the main beach. Others were attracted by the vast timber reserves of the Otway Ranges. Tramlines and sawmills spread out into the local forests. The timber was transported via ocean-going craft from the beach at Lorne. Lorne was also the site of at least five shipwrecks in this period - the 'Osprey' (1854), the 'Rebel' (1855), the 'Otway' (1862), the Anne' (1863) and the 'Henry' (1878).

The Mountjoy brothers arrived in 1864. They commenced farming, built a two-roomed dwelling in 1865 then converted it into the Temperance Hotel in 1868 (now Erskine House). Other rural properties were established and a townsite was surveyed in 1869. The township was laid out in 1871 being named after the Marquis of Lorne. In 1891 Lorne was visited by Rudyard Kipling who stayed at Erskine House.

Lorne's popularity in summer can mean booked-out accommodation and traffic jams although it is fairly quiet outside of holiday seasons. Despite the hordes, Lorne retains a certain charm, owing in part to some fine old buildings. Lorne’s sidewalk cafes, eating houses and boutiques of Mountjoy Parade contribute to Lorne’s mediterranean air. The golf course in Holiday Rd overlooks Lorne. The Lorne pier is a popular fishing spot in an area noted for its snapper, garfish, salmon, trevally, couta, whiting, barracuda, trout and bream. The current permanent population of Lorne is about 1500.

After World War I, the Great Ocean Road was carved out of the coastline, a memorial to those who had fought in the First World War. The road builders were ex-servicemen. The section as far as Lorne was opened in 1922, although the Great Ocean Road was not completed in its entirety until 1933. It greatly facilitated access to Lorne which had hitherto been approached from the interior. The first passenger service from Geelong to Lorne was established in 1924 and guesthouses began to appear in the 1930s. The fishing industry was also established on a small scale at Lorne in 1936 but it expanded considerably in the 1940s. The Ash Wednesday bushfires swept through the Lorne area in 1983, destroying 76 houses.

New Year's Eve is an activity-filled day of the calendar at Lorne. The Mountain to Surf Swim is held on the first Friday evening in January and the Lorne Pier to Lorne Pub Swim on the following day. The Pier to Pub draws over 4000 swimmers for the 1.2km swim watched by over 20,000 spectators. The Lorne Summer Fair falls on a Saturday late in January and the Great Otway Classic Foot Race is held on the Queen's Birthday weekend in June finishing in Lorne.

 

Things to See and Do:  
Tourist Information - The Lorne Visitor Information Centre is located at 144 Mountjoy Pde (the Great Ocean Road Lorne portion). It is open from 9.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on weekdays and to 5.00 p.m.

Beaches and Foreshore Reserve - Part of the charm of Lorne are the pine trees. The fine sandy beaches of Lorne are, of course, one of its major attractions. The Lorne main beach is noted for its surfing potential (particularly at the northern end). The Lorne surf lifesaving club operates on the Lorne main beach in summer and you can hire surfboards etc. from the Lorne Surf Shop at 130 Mountjoy Parade, Lorne. The Lorne Foreshore Reserve, adjacent Mountjoy Parade, is a pleasant recreation area overlooking the ocean. There is a jetty and boat ramp at the southern end of Lorne. The Shipwreck Walk is an easy-going one hour stroll along the coastline, taking in a series of plaques which denote the shipwrecks which have occurred along the coast.

Lorne’s ambience - Sip on a cold beer at the Lorne Pub and people watch. At the Lorne pier you can watch the fishing fleet unload its catch. Visit the Lorne fishing co-op where you can buy fresh locally caught seafood.
Fitness fanatics flock to the many endurance events held in Lorne each year. The Lorne  Pier to Pub Swim and the Lorne Mountain to Surf Run are both held in January and attract large numbers of competitors. Then there is also the Great Ocean Road Marathon which kicks off in May and the Anaconda Adventure Race in December.

The Lorne Falls Festival - For those who prefer to get their thrills from the raw energy of rock music, The Falls Festival, held every New Year’s Eve near Lorne, is an essential experience.

Lorne’s Buildings - St Cuthbert's Presbyterian (now Uniting) Church, at 86 Mountjoy Parade, Lorne is a weatherboard church with an asymmetrical tower. Directly adjacent the Lorne beach, on Mountjoy Parade, is Erskine House which started its life as a two-roomed domicile for early settlers the Mountjoy brothers in 1865. Lorne's first post office was established here in 1874 and the first church services were held here in 1879. It was bought by the state government in 1973. Erskine House, Lorne is surrounded by 6 ha of manicured lawns and gardens and now operates as an accommodation centre with lawn bowls, croquet, tennis courts and a putting green. Lorne’s All Saints Church of England was built in 1880 and the Lorne Post Office in 1889. The Grand Pacific Hotel was built in the tip of Point Grey, Lorne facing out to sea. The jetty here is the start of the Lorne Pier to Lorne Pub swimming race.
 
Teddy's Lookout, Lorne - Teddy's Lookout lies at the end of George St, at the Lorne’s southern extreme. It offers fine views over the town and coastline. The rotunda dates from the 1880s.

Lorne Historical Museum - The Lorne Historical Society Museum is located at the corner of Otway St and the Great Ocean Road. It displays memorabilia and photographs relating to the construction of the Great Ocean Road and other local history. It is open Sundays from 1.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m.,

QDOS Contemporary Art Gallery, Lorne - QDOS which serves as a contemporary art exhibition space, sculpture garden and function centre with a cafe/bar and certainly worth a visit.

The Angahook-Lorne State Park - The Angahook-Lorne State Park covers 22,000 ha of coastline from Aireys Inlet to Kennett River. It incorporates the Otway Ranges and is characterised by cliffs, coves, sandy beaches and rock platforms. Between the ridges are deep valleys and gullies carved by the Erskine, Cumberland, Kalimna and St George Rivers. Vegetation ranges from dry heathland to cool temperate rainforest. Messmate, blue gum, mountain grey gum and mountain ash predominate while the wetter areas feature an understorey of blackwood, tree ferns, satinwood, blanket-leaf and musk daisy-bush. There is a plenitude of fauna including 170 bird species, such as the rare crested penguin and peregrine falcon, along with (mostly nocturnal) marsupials such as eastern grey kangaroos, swamp wallabies, marsupial mice, echidnas, ringtail and brushtail possums and bandicoots. In summer the park tends to be somewhat cooler than average and very pleasant. Lorne is a great base for day trips, both car, 4WD and foot into this fantastic nature wonderland.

Carisbrook Falls - 29 km south-west of Lorne, on the Great Ocean Road, is a signposted turnoff on the right to the Carisbrook Falls carpark beside the Carisbrook Creek bridge. A 1-km return walk leads to the falls which are the highest in the Otway Ranges.

Tours - Tours of Lorne and the Great Ocean Road are available from Otwild Adventures, ph: (03) 5236 2119, Otway Ocean Tours, ph: (03) 5244 0944, Last Chance Tours, ph: (03) 5237 7413, Angahook Tours, ph: (03) 5241 3997, Paddle with the Platypus, ph: (03) 5236 2119, Natural Treasures, ph: (03) 9399 1797, Sunroad Tours, ph: (03) 5237 6080, Kalinda Personalized Tours, ph: (03) 5267 2581 and Eco-Logic, ph: (03) 5263 1133.