1972 to 2005 Cyril and Pat Marriner

Cyril Marriner, the creator of Bimbi Park, spent his lifetime in the Otways, growing up on a farm that stretched from Aire River to Cape Otway. With farming providing little income, Cyril turned to horse riding, and in 1972, with seven horses, he began leading trail rides through the Otways. On his overnight rides, he would camp at what would later become Bimbi Park. In 1976, the local scout groups began using the site for camping, drawn to its access to water and natural shelter, even though it wasn’t yet an official campground. In 1980, Cyril registered the Caravan Park with the local shire and called it “Bimbi Park”. He and his wife Pat spent about 30 years building and shaping Bimbi Park.

Why Cyril Called It  “Bimbi” Park

In the Ngunawal Indigenous language, ‘bimbi’ means ‘birds,’ and the park’s natural bushland is full of over 80 types of birds.

Frank and Kat Camping at Bimbi Park 1988-2005

In 1988, Frank and a few friends piled into his HiAce van and set off on an adventure. They went to Cape Otway and got to Crayfish Bay. When it started to get dark they headed off, on the gravel road to the Great Ocean Road (Lighthouse rd-now proper road) , they spotted a small sign “Bimbi Park Campground this way”. They followed it and, upon arrival, Frank met Pat and Cyril at the reception which was a cabin where cabin 17 is now. Frank instantly fell in love with the place and began visiting regularly. During these visits, he would always ask Cyril, while horse riding, if he might sell the park when he retired. With a smile and a chuckle, Cyril would always reply, “Oh, I’m not retiring—I love my horses too much to leave them.”

Photo about 2000 – Kat, Frank, and Emmanuele camping at Bimbi Park with the Brocks, the Vans, the Hollands and the Whites.

Frank and Kat – Early 2005

In early 2005, overwhelmed by Dimitri’s health issues, Frank and Katrina—who had a small shop at the South Melbourne Market for nearly 20 years—decided to sell everything and travel around Australia with their two boys, Emmanuele and Dimitri, in a campervan. Frank began planning the trip, getting quotes for a campervan equipped with oxygen bottles, an oxygen machine, and all the necessary equipment to keep Dimitri alive. One night, while organizing the trip, Frank emailed Bimbi Park to inquire about the cost of staying on a powered site for a month. As a joke, he added, “If it’s too expensive, just sell it to me, and I’ll sell it back when we leave.”

A few days later, Pat responded and said Bimbi Park was actually for sale. Frank’s dream had come true, he told Katrina, and she replied, “I’m not living in the country!” 

Frank Being Sneaky – Mid 2005

Mid 2005, they had sold their shop, and their house was ready for auction, marking the first time in Frank’s life when he had nothing to do. He convinced Katrina to take a break from the city and spend a week in a cabin at Bimbi Park.

They packed all of Dimitri’s breathing equipment and headed off. On the way, they even stopped at the local hospital to introduce themselves, just in case Dimitri had issues (after all, Katrina was on a first-name basis with the staff at Monash Hospital).

They arrived at Bimbi Park in the afternoon and checked into Cabin 26.

The Bimbi Park Cure – Mid 2005

That first night, after one of Frank’s world-famous spaghetti bolognese dinners, the boys went to sleep, and Kat and Frank enjoyed the peace at Bimb Park and a bottle or two of red wine. They eventually fell asleep. In the middle of the night, they both woke up in terror—Dimitri wasn’t connected to his oxygen machine! They rushed into his room, only to find him peacefully sleeping. No obstructions, no struggling, no waking up screaming in the middle of the night, and no oxygen machine. So they decided to let him sleep unassisted.

The entire week passed like this. Dimitri seemed cured, and for the first time in years, Katrina was able to sleep without the fear of losing him in the night.

Back in Melbourne, Katrina visited Dimitri’s ENT specialist and explained what had happened. The specialist replied, “It must be the clean air. The Otways are famous for their pristine air quality. The pollution in the city could be causing his glands to swell.”

After that, Katrina said, “Okay, let’s buy it.”

2006 – Look How Young the Boys Where

2010 – 5 Years in Cape Otway

2015 – The Bikies

2024 – Sophie in Frank Out – lol

Flagpole

At the front entrance to the park is the flagpole that used to be the Flagstaff of the Cape Otway Light station. Decommissioned because of a crack near the hinged base, Cyrilbought it as scrap, put the cracked section deep into the ground and still is tall enough to fly the National and Ceremonial flags as required.

Telephone Line
The telephone poles and line crossing the paddock southwest of the Park is a remnant of the original telephone line that traversed the coastline of Victoria.

Originally a single wire, its purpose, other than communications, was to provide and emergency link for shipwreck victims who as they reached the safety of the Coast could cut the line and would be found as searchers looked for the fault. It is not known if this theory ever worked. It was upgraded early in the Second World War with three lines into Horden Vale which had new lines built along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay and Laver’s Hill. Cape Otway had a direct link to Horden Vales and Laver’s Hill all manned 24 hours.  The Marriner family bought the poles after the cable was laid in the 1970’s.  Cyril has retained this section of the line for aesthetic reasons.

Stump of Giant near entrance of bottom block

There are few remaining giant trees left in our Otway forests.
However one of the few remaining stood right where the new alignment of the Great Ocean Road was to go. So several hundred metres from Maits Rest the Otway Giant was felled to make way for “progress”.

Cyril had the whole saga filmed and recorded and is still hoping to have it transferred from Super 8 to 16mm so it can be screened in the Theater. Cyril arranged for the contractors clearing the road to make it available for a low loader to transport it to Bimbi Park.

It was jacked off the loader and lay on its side for 10 years till a “traxcavtor” lifted it on its feet.

The tree was 275 feet high, 300 years old, and growing. The top had been broken off in storms so its peak height is not known. It is quite probable that the sea could be seen from the top of this tree. Further up the road towards Binns Road junction which is the highest point on this section of the Great Ocean Road, is what was called Cape Horne, named in the early days by explorers as they could see the ocean by climbing one of the trees.