Here’s the view – out through the huge windows and over the balcony, the golf course fairways march up and down in the foreground, billiard-table green and just as smooth, but lined by weather-beaten coastal melaleucas and eucalypts, for just over those fairways are the surf breaks of Torquay and Jan Juc on Victoria’s Surf Coast.
And on this sunny winter’s day, the surf is powering in, wet-suited surfers looking like wave-riding penguins as they catch the breaks in the distance.
Even closer are the golfers, and it’s like a scene from Star Wars – they all seem to either be in carts or using remote control buggies to move their golf bags along. From my balcony, it’s as though there’s a squadron of R2-D2 robots scooting dutifully along at the service of their golfing masters and mistresses.
It’s a handy address, this one – Number 1, Great Ocean Road, Victoria. It belongs to the RACV Torquay Resort, a massive wave of a building that curves around the landscape to host 92 guest rooms along with restaurants, lounges, a gym and spa and a 25-metre indoor pool.
That Great Ocean Road stretches 243 kilometres from here to Allansford, near Warrnambool in the state’s south-west. There’s plenty to see along the way, but there’s also plenty to do here.
I came in an electric vehicle, a Polestar 4. It’s a first-time drive in an EV for me, and it’s a bit like the first time driving on the left-hand side – concentration levels are up. “Focus! Don’t confuse that indicator lever with the one on the other side that puts us in reverse.” Not sure of the consequences there, not sure if I want to know.
The idea was to use the Luxury Escapes app to find a weekend away, where you filter out options according to your requirements – I started out with pet-friendly and EV charging, but that didn’t get me anywhere, so the royal woofer is at home and I’m here on the coast at RACV Torquay.
I’m hailing my carbon neutrality on this trip, in my Polestar 4. It’s a comfortable ride with some clever design touches – for example for some more space in the back, there’s no rear-window, the rear-vision is accomplished (and enhanced) using cameras.
For the sake of the exercise, I use one of the eight or so charging stations in the resort’s car parks to boost the car battery. It proves simple to download the Chargefox App (except when I try in the underground car park – not much internet down there), give it my credit-card information and give the car some charge.
Saturday morning is crisp and clear, so I load up with a panini from Torquay’s hailed Italian deli, grocer and pasta bar, Mortadeli (mortadeli.com.au), and hit the Great Ocean Road for Lorne. I’m not alone in that quest, but being late winter, the road isn’t quite as crowded as you’ll find it on a summer weekend.
Want to see multicultural Australia? Visit Lorne Pier and witness the diversity of fishers and fishing styles, some with camping chairs relaxed and waiting for the fish to come on; some hopping about, casting and spinning, testing the water, forever on the move.
The road itself is a gem, with straight stretches near Anglesea, then plenty of curves along the cliffs on the way to Lorne once you pass under the Memorial Arch at Eastern View, acknowledging those World War I veterans who built the road.
Back near the resort, just off site is the Surf Coast Walk. In its entirety it runs from Torquay to Fairhaven, about 44 kilometres. A more modest section nearby is the 3.2 kilometre Bells Track, from Bird Rock in Jan Juc to the legendary surf break, Bells Beach, winding through the coastal scrub with plenty of clifftop views of the surf breaks.
Torquay’s surfing heritage is arguably stronger than any other Australian beach town – this is the birthplace, after all, of brands such as Rip Curl and Quiksilver – and here the culture of the wave is expressed in the Australian National Surfing Museum, worth a visit to appreciate the story of Australia and the waves.
But I can just as happily while away the hours in my room, watching the golfers and their little robots roaming the course.
The details
Stay
The RACV Torquay Resort is at Number 1, Great Ocean Road, Jan Juc, about an 80-minute drive from Melbourne Airport or 40 minutes from Geelong’s Avalon Airport. Luxury Escapes has two-night stays at the resort in an Ocean View room, including breakfast, from $1134.
See luxuryescapes.com
The writer travelled as a guest of Luxury Escapes and Polestar (polestar.com).
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