Committee for Lorne: Australia Day in Lorne Tin Hill – Who remembers?

On the Australia Day weekend just passed, we received an email at Lorne Historical Society enquiring as to whether we had much material on “Tin Hill”. That same weekend a friend who grew up in Lorne asked, “Is Tin Hill still going?”

“Tin Hill” was an Australia Day ritual for many, starting in the mid ‘70s. Initially we believe it was a gathering at the Pacific
Hotel to celebrate the day with some “refreshments”. Then, someone came up with the bright idea to move the gathering
place to Tin Hill. The official name for Tin Hill is Stradbroke Point. It is the small hillock just before Grassy Creek on the way to Lorne. This was the site of the first toll booth on the Great Ocean Road, opened in 1922.

The pilgrimage to Tin Hill involved clambering into the back of one of Roache’s tip trucks equipped with copious supplies of “refreshments” and after a parade through Mountjoy Parade, proceeding to Grassy Creek, ascending Tin Hill and hoisting the Australian flag to celebrate Australia Day whilst imbibing as a means of coping with the summer heat.

In later years, the event became more organised and t-shirts were printed specially for the occasion containing messages of encouragement for the coming year, such as; “Place to be in ‘83” and “Drink more in ‘84”.

There are a number of anecdotes around the shenanigans which took place on this pilgrimage. One such story relates to a local identity who will remain nameless, who, in a rather unstable condition, actually fell out of the back of the tip truck when it hit a hole in the road. Fortunately, his very relaxed condition allowed him to absorb the impact by rolling along the road thus preventing injury.

It’s doubtful in this day and age whether Tin Hill could continue, and it certainly wouldn’t get an Event Permit given some of the OH&S issues. A zero tolerance policy on drink driving would also impact the annual event. There is a story that, back in the day, the Lorne police were aware of the event and wanted to nab the offenders. The police regularly patrolled the Great Ocean Road between Lorne and Aireys Inlet and kept an eye on the antics at Tin Hill to see if they could apprehend the offenders. The Tin Hill mob kept a watch on the patrol and once the police car had passed Grassy Creek, heading towards Aireys, the Tin Hill mob would bundle into the tip truck and make a run for Lorne before the police turned around at Aireys and headed back.

Alan Roache found that the easiest way to get his passengers to “disembark” upon return to the Pacific Hotel, was to just raise the tipper and slide his passengers out!

This is just some of the folklore of Tin Hill. The Lorne Historical Society would like to compile more information about this unique chapter of Lorne’s culture. If you have stories or photos or any other material, we would love to hear form you.

We have reached out in the past for more information on aspects of Lorne’s history and we have received a very positive response. Hopefully this will occur again.

We are happy to scan any material onto our history databases and return original material to you. If you have any material or stories you can provide, please contact us at [email protected] or leave a message on our telephone at 03 5289 1191.

Peter Spring
Lorne Historical Society