Lorne People

Marie was a school teacher in Camperdown and travelled back to her home in Lorne on weekends. Her mother ran a haberdashery shop in Mountjoy Parade where Marie worked during the holidays. She was also an usher at the Lorne Theatre. She and Gordon knew each other as teenagers – but not well. Later on, because their parents lived in Lorne, they would both spend their holidays here. They met each other again at Bert’s Fun Parlour which was down on the foreshore, opposite where the pool is now. Their friendship blossomed and the rest is history.

Marie was still teaching in Camperdown and Gordon graduated and became a motorbike cop in Seymour. They then married and Marie transferred her teaching job up to Seymour until their first child, Lynne, was born. They always dreamed of moving to Lorne to live permanently and, while on holidays in Lorne, Gordon was told that Henry Love was selling his fishing boat. After a lot of thought, they decided to take the plunge and leave their jobs, buy the boat and move to Lorne. Gordon became a commercial fisherman catching couta, sharks and crayfish. Marie got a job running the Lorne Kindergarten. The fishing was going very well and they were making a lot more money than in Seymour. A couple of years later their second child, Robyn, was born. They bought two blocks of land in Polwarth Road and built their family home on one of the blocks. They are still there today.

Gordon had done very well in the fishing industry and, along with Marie’s work, they were able to pay off their housing loan. He no longer needed to put in the long hours, starting at 3 or 4 am, often having to go out in rough weather. It was hard, physical work, so he retired from fishing and became president of the Fishing Co-Op. Later on, Vern Grose, who was the President of the Lorne Foreshore Committee, offered him a job running the Foreshore Caravan Parks including maintenance of the Foreshore Frontage, which he accepted. Very soon after, he became the Foreman Ranger with a staff of 4 permanents and several more casuals over the Christmas/Easter period. Marie took on the job of running the office, attending to campers and bookings for the 600 camp sites in Lorne and the Cumberland River camping grounds. Gordon was also employed by the Victorian Government as a Crown Lands Bailiff, so as to have official authority, if required, when patrolling the parks and foreshore, including the beach. This has never been taken from him, so be careful if you misbehave in front of him – you might get arrested. Gordon and Marie both retired from the Foreshore work after 25 years, where they made lots of friends that they still see occasionally.

Gordon, who turned 90 recently, still has a 5.5 metre boat and still goes out fishing in it. I have no idea how he manages to beach launch and retrieve it by himself. He never asks for help and still catches heaps of fish. He has also been a champion clay target shooter with many trophies to prove it. Marie has been a very talented tennis player and also coached tennis for many years. She was also a good golfer, with a hole in one to her name. She is a life member of the Country Club because of her generosity and countless hours of volunteer work at the club. She still knits beanies, tea cosies and dolls’ clothes for the Op Shop. She also still works at the Tourist Info Centre two days every week and was awarded a long service medal for 20 years of working there. Gordon has been a member of the Lorne Aquatic Club since it began in 1961. He remembers that, many years ago, an organisation ran a beauty competition and a rock fishing competition in Lorne, with heaps of prizes. The big one was a new car to the angler who caught a tagged flathead. Unfortunately, no one caught it but, a couple of months after the competition, Gordon caught it with the tag still attached but no go with winning the car. Many of the older locals will remember this.

Gordon built a boat he named ‘Turbo’. It was powered by a 308 V8 motor, driving a jet-powered impeller. Many kids and adults had exhilarating rides on Turbo, jumping waves and doing donuts. He also used to tow a tube and ski when the sea was calm enough.

A quote from Gordon and Marie, “Many memories of the good times. Life has been one big adventure and has been kind to us”.

• Keith Miller November 2024