Great Ocean Ecolodge

This is not 5 star luxury so I don’t want to mislead anyone but it’s a genuine 5🌟 experience. Firstly let’s talk wildlife. 6 koalas within 30m of the lodge, a baby a belligerent male who was going for a walk when we found him, and really close up!! So many kangaroos it was hilarious, tons of young joeys in and out of pouches, a bit of a box on and a bit of x rated kangaroo sex. The mob is about 60 strong and often sit right outside the lounge window. Lots of birds probably 40 species in total seen including a wedgetail eagle. There are lots of research projects going on and you will all love the sugar gliders the potoroos and for us the quolls, both eastern and tiger! So let’s talk about the accommodation. It’s rustic, it’s antique, we really loved it but it’s not the Intercontinental. The beds are comfortable the bathrooms large the lounge and dining nice. Staff. They are on a winner here. Steve and Caroline look after the lodge. They are fantastic! Caroline looks after the cooking and she is an amazing cook!!! Steve was so helpful with all our questions. Caroline also rears orphaned animals in her spare time! Emma was our guide, she is a fountain of knowledge, has an amazing rapport with animals and owner of Pepper the koala finding wonder dog!! She can charm quolls, potoroos and red neck wallabies. (She is not as keen on tiger snakes which I think are beautiful). Lastly Jack the uni intern who is a fount of knowledge on all the animals ( ask him about sugar gliders!) was generous with his time, great company and Karen and I wish him well on his career! It’s a not for profit so spend big!! The wines are good value as are the dinners!! Btw nearby is the Otway lighthouse the amazing Great Ocean Walk and beautiful scenery.

As most reviewers have noted, the welcome is warm and the hospitality generous. Breakfast is continental-style, with warm croissants and home-made muesli and jams. Dinners were consistently good, simple and wholesome and always with a choice of main course. The rooms are comfortable but a little spartan, with no wardrobe, and it can get chilly at night. The wi-fi annoyingly needs a new code every four hours, and the signal is unreliable beyond the lounge. At 4pm every day there's tea, coffee and home-made cake served in the lounge as a prelude to a tour of the property's wildlife, enthusiastically led by Emma and her koala-spotting dog Pepper. The whole team's enthusiasm for the wildlife, and the fact that you're pretty much guaranteed to see kangaroos, koalas, a wallaby or two, a quoll, some kookaburras, poteroos and sugar gliders make this an essential stop on your Great Ocean Road itinerary

Room was clean and tidy, basic but should be expected in that environment. The staff are all friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating and passionate of the animals, their habitat and well being and the environment. We had interesting and informative tours, both day and evening and saw loads of kangaroos that came right up to the lodge, some koalas, a quoll, honey gliders and potaroos to name but a few. Emma an ecologist was very knowledgeable in her subject and her dog was an expert 'koala sniffer' sitting under trees where she knew them to be! The food there was plentiful and delicious with a choice of evening meal. There are no TV's or air conditioning and wifi can only be accessed in the lounge but that adds to the appeal. A special thank you to Rose who looked after us well and always had time for a chat! We really enjoyed our couple of days there and would thoroughly recommend it.