Great Ocean Road Women’s Surf Fest Returns to Lorne!

The Great Ocean Road Women’s Surf Fest will return to the Lorne Foreshore on November 15 and 16, 2025, bringing together surfers, locals, and visitors for a weekend celebrating women, community and surfing on Gadubanud Country.

Now in its second year, the festival — presented by Surfing Victoria — is shaping up to be one of the biggest events on the coastal calendar, featuring a full weekend of surfing, live music, markets, workshops and more.

Festivities will begin bright and early on Saturday at 7am with a Welcome to Country, before the beach and foreshore come alive with a packed schedule of activities designed for all ages and interests.

The festival’s surf program will feature both individual and team competitions, showcasing surfers of all levels — from local club talent to emerging junior athletes.  Alongside the competitive action, there will be surf lessons for beginners and intermediate surfers, giving women and girls the chance to experience the thrill of catching waves under the guidance of accredited coaches, Ange King, the team at Honu Honi and Go Ride a Wave.  Whether it’s a first-time lesson or fine-tuning existing skills, the sessions are designed to build confidence, connection, and fun in the water.

While surfing takes centre stage, there’s plenty more happening both in and out of the water.

The bustling Lorne Swell Market will showcase some of the region’s best producers along with surf inspired goods from creators across Victoria.  You will find beautiful artwork from Ahki Illustrations, locally crafted macrame goods from Styled Knots Macrame, crisp apple cider from Brewers Orchard, accessories for your furry friend from Wet Dog and Co and much more!

The Torquay Dental Surfers Hub will feature health and wellness workshops from local groups including Honu Honi Surf Camps that will be presenting on Surf Forecasting, Surf Etiquette, and how to perfect your pop up whilst the Surf Coast Women’s Health Group will present on Physical Health and Surfing, keeping you surfing well into your later years.

This year’s event will also feature a special guest appearance from 2025 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach champion Isabella Nichols, who will take part in a Q&A session on Saturday and host a surf clinic for emerging young surfers that are part of the Surfing Victoria Pathway Program.

Nichols said she was looking forward to meeting women and girls who love the ocean as much as she does.

“I’m really excited to be heading to Victoria for the Great Ocean Road Women’s Surf Festival,” she said.  “It’s such a special opportunity to connect with other women who share a deep love for the ocean, exchange stories, and build new friendships through surfing.”

“It’s fantastic to welcome Isabella down to the Great Ocean Road Womens Surf Fest,” said Surfing Victoria CEO Adam Robertson.  “She is no stranger to Victoria having visited regularly for the past 10 years and now being one of the few surfers to win the Bell.  This will be a fantastic opportunity for all female surfers to learn from her story and get the chance to meet her at the event.”

The festival will also feature some up and coming local musical talents including Holly Droomer, Star Mailee and Frazey Horsburgh-White.  You can catch them in the Market on the foreshore throughout Saturday.

Locals and visitors can expect a vibrant community vibe across the foreshore, with food, local makers, art, and entertainment throughout the weekend.  Whether you’re dropping by for the market, joining a yoga session, or cheering from the sand, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

The Great Ocean Road Women’s Surf Fest is supported by Surf Coast Events, the Victorian Government, Torquay Dental, Atmosea, Great Ocean Road Holidays, South Coast Surfboards, Honu Honi Surf Camps, Surf Her Way, and the Surf Coast Women’s Boardriders Club.

For the full schedule and updates, follow @gorwomenssurfest on Instagram or visit www.greatoceanroadwomenssurffest.com.au.

Kahlia Dix

Surfing Victoria

A word from the chairman

Hello

Last Sunday morning, the Lorne community came out in force to voice their disappointment with, and disapproval of, the planned redevelopment of the Co-op building at Point Grey.  The meeting was called to allow community members to have their say on the internal layout of the Co-op building.  GORCAPA have not provided this opportunity and declined to attend the meeting.

More than 180 attendees at the meeting unanimously supported the following statement to GORCAPA:

“We seek:

• A return to the promised indoor floor plan of 230 square metres.
• A viable indoor/outdoor café similar in ambience and area to the Apollo Bay Co-op.
• A space for presentation and interpretation of Lorne’s history, including European history.
• If necessary, the community could fund professional curation.
• Engagement in meaningful consultation and communication with the Lorne community to ensure that the new Co-op meets community expectations.”

This statement has been provided to GORCAPA and we await their response.

An alternative plan was also presented to the meeting which reflected a significant size reduction to the area taken up by the public toilet facilities and an increase in the space available for the café/kiosk and for history presentation and interpretation.  This plan was unanimously supported, subject to some further refinement.

More than 20 community members spoke passionately about their history and feelings towards the Co-op building and many useful suggestions were raised which will be factored into future discussions with GORCAPA.  We will keep you informed of progress.

*****

Last week in this column, I raised the issue of the “spare bedroom tax”, and no this is not some April Fool’s Day joke.  It was recently discussed at the Economic Reform Round Table held Canberra in August this year.  The proposal suggests that households with more rooms than they actually use should be charged a tax to free up housing stock, as such a tax would supposedly “prompt” older Australians “sitting in large family homes to list their property for sale and downsize into something smaller”.  The idea is on the table to help solve the housing crisis.  Perhaps the time and intellect of those involved could be more usefully applied to reducing the existing mountain of red-tape and regulation, speeding up building approvals, and fixing the skills shortage, which together are impeding the construction industry and making the Federal Government’s goal of building 1.2 million new houses in 5 years an ever-receding dream.

Commentary suggests that the “spare bedroom tax” could affect up to 7 million homeowners, but I am hopeful that the complexity of introducing and policing such a tax, together with a dose of common sense and fairness, will see this idea consigned to the shredder.  But beware, it has not been ruled out by either the federal or state governments and we know how much they love tax!

*****

Our cricketers have still not got to bowl or face a ball after 3 rounds with 2 wins by forfeit and a washout.  Let’s hope they get to play this week against Irrewarra at Colac.  Good luck boys!

Cheers

John

Lorne Ward Events Calendar

November

15 – 16 Great Ocean Road Women’s Surf Festival

15 – 16 Tide to Treetops Exhibition, Dee Matheson & Veronica McDonald at Lorne Community Connect 10am-4pm each day

22 Lorne Aquatic and Angling Club AGM, All members are invited to attend, sponsored by FoodWorks, followed by our Fishing Competition Trophy Presentations.

December

5 Lorne FNC Annual General Meeting, 5pm at Stribling Reserve, Nomination and Proxy Forms – www.lornefnc.com.au

13 Take a photo with Santa, at Lorne Visitor Info Centre Kids Face Painting 10-1pm

20 Carols Lorne, St Cuthberts Church – 6.30pm Sausage sizzle 7.30pm Carols