Kennett River

Kennett River is a small seaside town in Victoria, Australia. It is also sometimes referred to as simply Kennett.

Situated 174 kilometres (108 mi) west of Melbourne, on the scenic Great Ocean Road, Kennett River is a popular tourist destination 27 kilometres (17 mi) from the resort town of Lorne, Victoria.

In 1882 Alex MacLennan was, with his cousins the MacReas, looking for an area suited to farming and fishing and chose this site west of the MacRea's chosen site which he named The Kennet after a river in England. His cousins settled on the other side of the creek at a site they named Wye River. The name of the town changed spelling in the 1960s apparently as a result of a mis-spelt sign. The town name has no connection to one time Victorian State Premier Jeff Kennett.

The rivers in question were probably the River Wye in Buckinghamshire and the River Kennet tributaries of the River Thames in England.

Kennett River is situated in the Colac Otway Shire.