Grand Pacific Hotel

I was fortunate to meet Mercedes on my first day in Melbourne. She was my waitress at Barbarino’s, a place I visited almost daily, and thru her I met her roommate Ulla, and a couple Aussie friends they both had met while traveling in Bali. We were six counting me, and in various combinations of the group, we headed out of town for long weekends or to private events in town. Because of them I was able to visit Sydney, drive around Tasmania, backpack in the Grampians National Park and camp on the beach at Lorne. I had to rent a tuxedo for an interesting evening accompanying Ulla as her date, but that is another story. Actually, Ulla (a German national working at the German Consulate in Melbourne) had a friend flying in to visit. So, Lorne was a one night stay on our way along the Great Ocean Road to our main destination, the 12 Apostles.

The Great Ocean Road reminds me a lot of Hwy. 1 driving up from Morro Bay to Moss Landing, nothing but beautiful scenery. But this post is about the Grand Pacific Hotel in Lorne, and as I’ve mentioned, a hotel in Australian translate to a bar, although this is a hotel with rooms, it most certainly does have a bar. Yes, we were sleeping on the beach, but we went in the hotel for a beer and out to a Thai restaurant for dinner.

The hotel is a historic one. Built in 1875 with ocean views that are truly amazing, the hotel is a must stop for anyone traveling past. In 1903 an Australian Handbook described it as: “a fashionable and popular watering-place”, a statement which holds true over 100 years later.