Our Story

One night in 2000, Lizzie Corke and Shayne Neal sat down with a glass of red wine and asked one another, 'What if?' What if you could use your life to do the thing you most wanted in the world? What would it be?

They realised they shared a dream: an environmentally sustainable guesthouse and ecological research centre in the Otways where people could learn about and observe native animals. 'It started as one of those silly conversations but then it started to grow, we made up a business plan and it started to look like it could be a reality,' Lizzie recalls. 'We found the perfect property and bought it, with help from our families.

The Cape Otway Centre for Conservation Ecology opened in 2004 and later that year won the Victorian Tourism Award for Best New Business. The following year, Lizzie was named the Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year, the first female and youngest-ever recipient of the award. The reality matched – or perhaps even exceeded – the dream.

Cape Otway ecology
'I have always been incredibly interested in animals and their interactions with their environment. Marsupial ecology is my greatest passion – their biology is incredible and they have adapted so well to fill the niches of the Australian environment. At Cape Otway we live with koalas, kangaroos, red-shouldered and swamp wallabies, possums and gliders, antechinus and so many other fascinating animals. People love the integrity of the Great Ocean Ecolodge and the Cape Otway Centre - it is a magnificent Ecolodge within a Wildlife Rehabilitation and Ecological Research Centre. Many of our guests become special friends who come back time and again.'

Engaged in nature
'The Cape Otway Centre is unique in that we offer opportunities for guests to become actively engaged in nature interpretation and biodiversity conservation by contributing to ongoing research and conservation projects.' The Cape Otway Centre adjoins the Great Otway National Park on the way to the Cape Otway Lighthouse, just off the Great Ocean Road. Awarded Advanced EcoCertification and Benchmarked by Green Globe 21, the mud-brick building runs entirely from solar power and rainwater. It showcases sustainable, harmonious living within the environment and has won many awards for ecotourism, sustainability and business excellence.

Living a dream
'I love what we are doing. We feel so privileged to spend our lives in the beautiful wilderness of the Otways with magnificent beaches, secret rainforests, majestic trees and fascinating wildlife. And we are so pleased to share it with people from Australia and around the world so that this fragile ecology may be better understood, nurtured and protected for future generations to enjoy.'

By Michael Winkler for Tourism Victoria's Identities of Victoria Project