As more and more visitors flock to our southern coastline, there is an ever-increasing risk of misadventure, for many traps and hazards await the unfamiliar and the unwary. While there is so much to enjoy year-round, the busy, beguiling, sunny days of summer pose the greatest threat, for they are very days when, lulled into unguarded torpor by a leisurely lunch or a sparkling sea, bad things can happen.

While many risks can morph into tragedy or heartbreak for inattentive metropolitan day-trippers or weekenders, unfamiliarity with or inattention to the landscape, bush, or sea underpins most summer tragedies. In no particular order, some include:

Ill-judged attempts to scale or descend our rugged cliffs.
Slipping while crossing the slime-covered, sloping rock faces of a tempting river rapid or failure to recognise the patches of slippery green slime on shoreline rock shelves—especially along the North Lorne beach.
Being lured by the siren call of ‘still water’ between wave breaks in an open beach [see main picture] or—perhaps worse—swimming in an enticing narrow sandy cove. For your safety, always swim inside the lifeguarded red and yellow flags.
Walking in light footwear [or, worse, barefoot] on a bush track without thought for what may be basking on the warm packed earth ahead. While the greatest risk for man or dog is a snake [here, tigers and eastern browns predominate], beware our potently painful bull ants and skippers [aka jumping jacks, jack jumpers, or hoppers].
The careless, thoughtless use or abuse of any naked flame in our flammable environment—something that should not need saying to any in this dry and fire-burnt country.

All can be mitigated by knowledge and personal responsibility. Few are [or should be] the purview of ‘the authorities’—without suffocating regulation or multilingual safety signage at every turn of a bush path. But collectively, we have forgotten how to care for ourselves and are far too quick to blame others for our own shortcomings. This has inevitably led to:

An upswing in legal claims of personal injury and compensation—following the unenviable US pattern of blame and lawsuit for errors of our own making.
The scatter-gun appearance of myriad warning signs across our incomparable natural environment that seek to protect us from ourselves.

Thus, as summer approaches, it is worth a few salient tips on the pared-down list [above] … though sadly, those who most need to read articles like this likely won’t, while those who do read it likely know this stuff already.

The following adaption from an excellent Western Australian shire website: https://tinyurl.com/y66me2vb reminds us that limestone coasts are dynamic and constantly As the sea, salt, wind, rain, sand-blasting, and plant root ingrowth erode the cliffs, rocks may suddenly fall, caves break up, cliffs collapse or rock platforms give way. Never underestimate the power of the sea. So, for your safety:

Observe warning signs and fences.
Keep away from cliff edges and do not climb cliff faces
Do not sit, shelter, light fires, or camp under limestone overhangs or caves.
Explain the hazards to your children, always supervise them, and never let them play near cliffs.

Be alert for slicks of slime on coastal rock platforms. Although the rain-wetted, thickly forested southeastern slopes of the Otways drain by a series of short, tumbling streams, water oozes everywhere from the pores of the land, forming slippery slicks as it seeps across flat rock platforms. This dark green algal slime can be a death trap for the unwary—and not just our visitors. Ask any local North Lorne beach dog-walker! Avoid it wherever you can, and take tiny, careful steps if you can’t… but always be on guard. Many arms have been broken and skulls split through careless inattention [mine too].
Most Australians understand rips … or at least they have in the past when a day or weekend at the beach was the Australian norm. Now, as our cities have exploded, our surf beaches are less accessible to the inner suburbs, and ‘devices’ have replaced the boogie board as a kids’ Christmas dream, even many born-and-raised kids seem less attuned to ‘the way of waves’. But, more importantly, our newly-arrived are often unfamiliar with the sea—let alone a surf beach—yet the surf spells danger, rogue waves can surprise, and rips mean death … see CfL: Surf Coast Times: https://tinyurl.com/CfL-BeachSafety.

The Royal Surf Lifesaving Australia report [2024] recorded 323 drowning deaths over the past 12 months [a 16% increase over the ten-year average of 278], and of these, 46% drowned at the beach. 25% were born overseas [predominantly India, China, Nepal, and the UK], a proportionate 34% increase over ten years … https://tinyurl.com/3n8uukjb

Education through carefully supervised and guided school camps seems the best way to introduce our kids to healthy outdoor living and embed a message of surf safety, beach culture, and respectful etiquette. The Anglesea and Cape Otway communities are now remarkably well-structured leaders in this school camp space. Public money might be better spent here than on the many other ‘less gainful pursuits’ in favour and supported in recent years [by the way: whatever happened to the Herald Sun’s Learn to Swim program?]. Meantime, be vigilant, proactive, and [if need be] interventional to save the under-informed from themselves.

As summer approaches, all manner of ‘bitey things’ emerge to cross paths with us—or our pets. A fear of snakes is built into the DNA of most of us [I am awed by those who are not afraid], but if not our fear, they surely deserve our respect. As snakes are protected under the Wildlife Act 1975, capturing, harming, disturbing, or killing them is illegal. Though living with snakes is a fact of life in Australia—especially in regional, bush, and coastal areas—city folk can be less alert and less prepared. See https://tinyurl.com/4f9j9zht for the salient steps to take to maximise snake safety.

More likely to nip you are bull ants—giant red-brown ants always up for a fight, and skippers—smaller black ants with bright yellow pincers that can jump remarkable distances. Both have vicious stings, with skippers [rarely] able to kill through anaphylaxis.

The fifth on my risk list is fire. Given the explosive nature of gum [eucalypt] trees, fire is an ever-present Australian peril. Though fire awareness and prevention are widely covered elsewhere, it would be remiss not to include them here.

Summer should be a happy, relaxed time. Attention to these risk factors will help to keep it so. The unsolved problem is how best to communicate this stuff to the unwary!

John Agar

Feature Writer

A word from the chairman

Hello

How good is Lorne!

What a Cup Weekend we turned on! The market, the music, the beach, the weather, the food, the hospitality. Where else would you rather be? Even the flies wanted to be in Lorne!

As we move into November, many of our local community organisations are holding their Annual General Meetings. These organisations, which help our town to function and flourish, rely on volunteers to keep them going. If you have the time and interest in being part of our community, please put your hand up to be involved. You may not think you have anything to offer, but I assure you, you do!

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The community-funded New Year’s Eve fireworks will be happening again this year on the Lorne Pier. The fireworks returned last year through a joint initiative of the Committee for Lorne and the Lorne Business and Tourism Association and the generous support of our community. This year we are planning two displays, one at 9.30pm for the younger (and older) members of our community, and another at midnight to mark the start of the New Year. We have already received generous commitments of funding from the Lorne business community, but we need your support. We will once again be setting up a Go Fund Me project so that you can contribute to make it happen. Watch this space for further information on how you can contribute.

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By the time you read this, the leadership of the free world will have been decided and the unrelenting media bombardment surrounding the US election will be over. Whichever way it goes, I hope that the verdict of the American voters will be accepted graciously and the new administration will get to work in providing a safe, secure and prosperous future for all its people. Closer to home, we should know the result of our local council election this week. It’s too early to call, but signs are looking good for our local candidate, Leon.

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With Christmas now less than seven weeks away, we are all no doubt planning for celebrations and catch-ups. As we make our plans for Christmas, with the inevitable flurry of gift-buying and rushing around, perhaps we can stop for a few moments and think about what Christmas means to us. Whether you are religious or not, Christmas is about family, peace and thanksgiving. Many in our community have lost family members and friends in the last 12 months and this Christmas will be a time of sadness and loneliness, but hopefully also the comfort of happy memories. We should also reflect on the tragedies and loss in other parts of the world, whether by the hand of nature or the greed and intolerance of powerful men (yes men!). Let us reflect on the gifts we have of family and friendship, and the priceless value of a hug and a smile.

Cheers