Food
I moved to the Surf Coast (Torquay to Lorne along the Great Ocean Road) in 2013. It’s the traditional home of the Wadawurrung, Gulidjan and the Gadubanud nations. Being Victorian and close to Melbourne (Torquay lies 100km south-west of the city) we’re all a bit snobby when it comes to food and coffee but it’s unbelievable how much it’s improved. There wouldn’t have been much to recommend 10 years ago!
Two spots in Torquay are doing next-level sandwiches. Mortadeli does a meatball sandwich that you could easily share. Gooleys does a shredded chicken breast roll with lettuce, chips and aioli. They’re both near the Esplanade so you can walk down to look at the ocean with your delicious sandwich.
Torquay has two exceptional contemporary Australian restaurants. The Kyn does amazing cocktails and the tasting menu is about $70. They have takeaway containers if you can’t get through it. Try not to go crazy on the fresh focaccia as a starter so you can enjoy the Turkish “beef ravioli” (manti) and cured ocean trout. It’s always busy; a hustle-bustle vibe but they can tuck you away in a booth for a date.
Samesyn is moody and more intimate; more of a food-centric experience. It’s focused on low waste and the tasting menu is under $100.
Green spaces
The Surf Coast walk is 44km and starts at Point Impossible and ends at Fairhaven beach. I love walking the 6.5km return from Jan Juc to Bells beach. There’s heaps of lookouts, interesting vegetation and bright orange clay cliffs. I also love going from Urquhart bluff to Split Point lighthouse. It’s about 12km return but I’ll divert to the Lighthouse Tea Rooms in the morning or Aireys pub in the afternoon. Dogs on lead are allowed on the Surf Coast walk – my dog loves it! Bring your bathers to do an ocean plunge along the way.
Photograph: Ingo Oeland/Alamy
Cosy Corner in Torquay is where my seven-year-old son surfs because it’s protected from big swells. If you follow the track further around, in less than a kilometre you’re on the crashing surf side.
Point Addis between Torquay and Anglesea is super popular. Pack your ice box and take the boards or just splash around and swim. It’s a surf beach but usually not too wild. It has a special presence as it feels isolated despite being close to town.
Nightlife
The Torquay hotel is a live music hub with bands and DJs – the whole gamut. They get teenagers to people in their 50s enjoying the lineups. There’s also the Sound Doctor in Anglesea Memorial Hall started by a local doctor and hosts low-key folky, mellow stuff and a bit of rock. Some of the concerts sell out in minutes!
Bird Rock in Jan Juc is a small bar with DJs and super-local vibes. The food’s really yummy so it’s a nice place to park yourself for the night. In Anglesea there’s an old house turned into a venue called Last One In with occasional live music and DJs. It’s on the Great Ocean Road with a view of a beautiful creek and bushland. They have a good happy hour too with $10 margaritas.
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The old Lorne theatre has operated since 1937, which is pretty amazing, and has film screenings. They bought in the Golden Age team to program the cinema, which is a bit of a coup for a small town. They do fantastic school holiday programming such as The Goonies. I took my son to see it (and probably enjoyed it more than him). Every time they screen a surf documentary, they sell out the 550-seat theatre.
The Lorne theatre was recently bought by the people who opened The Clam restaurant next door. People worry about gentrification but, on the other hand, there wasn’t much Lorne nightlife before. The Clam serves fresh seafood and hosts live music including Japanese psych, folk, country, punk and First Nations gigs. On Monday evenings there’s a community market with more music and usually dancing too.
The Clam and the Lorne theatre are closed for winter and will open again in spring.
Inspiration
Surfing is embedded in the culture here; everyone has some relationship with the ocean. Bells beach is one of the most famous surfing spots in Australia and the Bells Beach Pro has run every Easter since the early 1960s. Surfers call May “Magic May” because the winter swell kicks in and the waves are usually good right through to October.
For a glimpse into it all, head down to Bells to eavesdrop and pick up some new surfing vernacular. It’s a beautiful place to watch surfing because the cliffs create a giant amphitheatre. If it’s a big wave day, everyone goes; it’s a peanut gallery of people watching people surf. There are vans and utes parked with surfers talking to each other in the car park as they peel their wetsuits off.
Neighbourhood
Torquay has seen a lot of new development in recent years but Anglesea is surrounded by national parks and has a lovely village feel; so does Aireys Inlet and Lorne. Le Comptoir is a small all-day restaurant in Aireys Inlet. It’s like stepping into somewhere in France. The employees are so friendly and there’s delicious charcuterie and cheese. I like to go by myself with a book.
Torquay farmers’ market on a Saturday has excellent produce and is the essence of the Torquay community. It’s a real cross-section of people and everyone hangs, chats and sits on the grass with a coffee or a gozleme. There’s great bread, giant spring rolls – bigger than a Chiko roll! – delicious chilli oil, preserves and the venison guy. Just food wares though … you can’t buy tea cosies or anything.
Indie bookshops are a dying breed so we’re lucky to have three on the Surf Coast that are thriving: Torquay Books, Great Escape Books in Aireys Inlet and Lorne Books. They service everyone from newborns to grandparents and travellers who pop in for a Great Ocean Road map.
Stay
Sunnymead hotel in Aireys Inlet (from $120 in low season) has a mid-century design. They’ve zhooshed up the decor and there’s a new spa, too, with a bathroom with a glass ceiling and four bathtubs lined up, so you can hire them out and get champagne brought to you as you sip and chat with friends. They do cocktails by the pool on the weekend in the summer.
Anglesea Family Caravan Park (campsites from $58 and cabins from $161) has cute cabins right on the beach. Wood panelling inside; a real 70s vibe.
Gill Hutchison is a freelance writer, editor and bookseller. She is the author of Surf Life: Women Who Live to Surf and Create
This main image on this article was changed on 7 July 2024. A previous photograph depicted a section of the Great Ocean Road that is not part of the Surf Coast.
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