Special interest activities
Surf Coast has something to interest everyone. With great beaches, beautiful forests and interesting towns and villages, the opportunities to explore and enjoy are limitless. Add a raft of leisure pursuits, from bird-watching and golf, to walking and cycling, and it’s not difficult to see why couples, families, backpackers and groups have made the Surf Coast such a popular holiday destination.
Go for golf
If golf’s your game, the Surf Coast has four challenging courses in extremely picturesque locations to test your skills. You’ll find three along the Great Ocean Road- at Torquay, Anglesea and Lorne - and one at the hinterland town of Winchelsea. Anglesea’s golf comes with a slice of the local wildlife, with dozens of kangaroos grazing on the fairways. The Surf Coast’s four golf courses each provide a unique challenge in picturesque surroundings.
Torquay
The course is at the very beginning of the Great Ocean Road, nestled between Torquay and Jan Juc, with spectacular ocean views. Its 18-hole, par 72 layout covers 5907 metres, providing players with a mix of challenges. It has many bunkers and a series of water hazards. The sand-based course has a driving range and practice putting and chipping greens. Club hire, pro shop and motorised carts available. The club also has bar and restaurant facilities.
Anglesea
Free-roaming kangaroos are a major attraction at this 18-hole, par 73 course set in lush native bush. Renowned as one of Australia’s most scenic, the 5965-metre course is located at the corner of Golf Links Road and Noble Street, just up from the centre of the resort town. It has practice facilities, pro shop and bar and restaurant.
Lorne
Sweeping views of Loutit Bay are part of any game on this nine-hole, undulating layout. It is a 5346-metre, par 70 well-bunkered challenge over 18 holes. Located above the town in Holliday Road, the course has practice facilities, club hire and a club house.
Winchelsea
The hinterland town’s nine-hole, par 68 course is well treed and flat. The second, par 3 “crater hole” provides an interesting challenge. The sunken green is surrounded by a rock wall. Played as 18 holes, the course totals 5317 metres. It is located in Lorne Road.
Backpacker adventure
The Surf Coast is a backpacker’s paradise. Natural beauty and scenery are complemented by a range of experiences and activities for the adventurous, and not so adventurous, independent traveller. Beaches, surf, waterfalls, wildlife, activities and events add to the fun. There are many opportunities for surfing, windsurfing and hangliding; bikeriding in the bush or along the most spectacular roads in Australia. And the wildlife will be there to keep you company.
Blooming lovely
The Surf Coast has many significant areas of vegetation. The most famous is the Anglesea heathlands. Listed on the register of the National Estate, the heathlands are renowned for their vividly coloured native orchids. While first-time visitors may not initially be aware of the floral importance of the heathland, those who take a closer look will be richly rewarded. Millions of years ago, heathlands covered huge areas of Australia. Sadly, little remains. Anglesea heath is one remnant of natural vegetation in south-western Victoria that has escaped farming and urbanisation.
The Anglesea heath is in a wide area behind the resort town, bordering the Angahook-Lorne State Park. While heathland communities exist in other areas of Australia, they are all in some sense unique. The Anglesea heath is different from any other Australian heathland. Nowhere else can you see the plant species that combine to form the vegetation communities found in this area. In spring, a blanket of bushes and windswept vegetation erupts into a dazzling mosaic of colour. Week by week, Anglesea heath changes, bluish-cream of the smoke bush, the yellows and reds of the bush peas and the red, pink and white of the common heath combine to form a spectacular wildflower display. Orchids are an outstanding feature of the heathlands, from the tiny helmet orchid to the great sun orchid. Seventy-nine orchid species occur in the heath, making it one of Australia’s most orchid-rich sites.
Panoramic views of heathy woodlands are divided by moist river valleys that contain thickets of scented paperbark and tea-tree. This naturally sculpted tapestry of heathlands and woodlands provides a haven and food source for many birds, mammals, insects and other animals that all share a special relationship with the heathland vegetation.
Animal attraction
You’ll discover a wide range of native animals across the Surf Coast. Everything from cockatoos, wallabies, possums and kangaroos, to more than 170 different bird species can be seen.
The quickest way to see kangaroos is to visit the Anglesea golf course where they graze on the fairways. Surf Coast’s many nature reserves are brimming with native wildlife, although sometimes you may not think so. Many animals are either shy or nocturnal. That’s not to say you won’t from time to time come across them. Birds are the most obvious and you can see around 200 species in the forest areas, along the coastal clifftops and hovering over the ocean.
The Angahook-Lorne State Park, between Anglesea and Lorne, is home to the swamp wallaby, possums, eastern grey kangaroos, species of antechinus and bandicoots. Echidnas and serveral bat species also are common. More than 170 bird species have been recorded in the area. Among those frequenting the offshore waters and coastline are several intercontinental migrants, some of which come here between breeding seasons. The peregrine falcon, a threatened species worldwide, breeds successfully on the coastal cliffs. The heathlands are good for bird-watching with warblers, honeyeaters, parrots, cockatoos, eagles, falcons and others easily observed.
Bells Beach reserve is a particular stronghold of the rare rufous bristlebird. Other animals include echidnas, dragon lizards and several types of snakes, including the red belly and tiger, both poisonous. A resident mob of eastern grey kangaroos frequent the area, grazing on neighbouring properties.
At Winchelsea, the Barwon River corridor supports a wide fauna range, inlcuding possums, parrots and wedge-tailed eagles. Visitors to sensitive areas should use the tracks and viewing platforms and take their rubbish home.