Melbourne & Mornington Peninsula - Week 2

This was supposed to be John's golf week. The Mornington Peninsula boasts some of Australia's greatest courses, and I was determined to play a few. It started well with Monday at The Dunes, a beautiful Nick Faldo designed course. I loved the layout, and the greens were some of the best I've ever played on. Then the weather gods intervened, and Melbourne turned on some of its worst weather. Rain, cold, wind, we got it all in bucket loads.


The Big House - Nancy & Keith


Thursday, Nancy & Keith arrived for a six day stay. This brightened us up no end. Lovely to see family and friends from home. They stayed in one of the deluxe cabins at the caravan park, which Carol dubbed the "big house", as it had rooms, which we don't have. April, couldn't be left out,  and she loved the extra rooms and all the carpet, and had a great time rolling around. With such bad weather, we used the big house as our base for dinner and happy hour, and it worked a treat.

Friday was supposed to be a golf day for the boys, and shopping expedition for the girls, but as all the amphibious golf carts were booked, we opted for a joint drive and lunch day. We headed out around the eastern side of the Mornington Peninsula, and explored the towns of Hastings, Balnarring, and Flinders, all of which were well worth a visit, but Flinders was the pick. We found a great coffee spot right next to the Post Office, with an open fire, and lots of wicked cakes to go with the coffee. A yummy stop for such a terrible day. We decided to walk the shops and galleries, which were very good, but very optimistic with their pricing. However, the rain came in torrents, and we had to head for the car. We continued on past a number of those wonderful golf courses, that so desperately needed golfers, and headed for Sorrento, which brightens up any day. We really like Sorrento. The sun tried to break through, and we took refuge at The Baths restaurant, right on the bay. A great spot, and a nice simple seafood lunch, and then we got kicked out, as the guests started arriving for a 3.00pm wedding. The girls insisted we hang around the carpark for the arrival of the bride, who arrived just as the heavens opened again. Unfortunately she was wearing one of those strapless numbers. Can you believe that! So the girls left a little disappointed, and the bride arrived a little damp!

Saturday, the rain eased, but the wind got up. The boys decided to give golf a go, whilst the girls headed for the shops at Mornington. Golf was at Moonah Links. We chose the Legends Course, the easier of the two courses at Moonah. We enjoyed the course, which was in great condition despite the rain, but the wind and occasional shower made golf difficult, and on a course with hundreds of bunkers, the sand wedges got a workout! Still the sign on the drive out said it all "a bad day at golf beats a good day at work, any day!" The girls shopping was more successful, so we rendezvoused at the big house for happy hour and home delivered pizza, as the heavens opened again.


John's Dessert

Lunch at Ten Minutes by Tractor

Sunday was a real treat. John had researched the restaurants at the wineries, and flushed with the success of T'Gallant for the wedding anniversary, chose a place with the wonderful name of "Ten Minutes By Tractor". This is one classy place and goes onto our highly recommended list. The food was amazing, with presentation that resembled artworks. It was so good we all had 3 courses. The ingredient lists for each dish were so great, I can't remember every dish. If you are interested, google the restaurant, but keep a towel handy so you don't drool all over the keyboard! The whole day was theatre. The way some of the dishes were brought to the table was fantastic. One entree, which was a smoked terrine, came with the terrine under glass, with smoke captured inside the glass, so that when it was lifted the smokey smell from the fire wafted around the diners. Sounds corny, but it worked. Not to mention Carol's coffee dessert, that came with a small square bowl of coffee beans over which was poured some hot coffee. Under the beans was dry ice, so we got this eery smoke floating around the table, with an incredible coffee aroma. The staff were terrific, and added to a wonderful afternoon in a cosy place with a roaring fire inside, gazing out across the misty vineyards with all their leaves changing colour, eating the most fantastic food. Almost worth missing out on golf! Can you believe that we ended that day back at the big house watching Dancing With The Stars. What went wrong!!!!


A break from shopping



Monday was our last shot at golf. We were running out of venues that weren't waterlogged! We were recommended Eagle Ridge, as it handled wet weather well. Unfortunately the guy neglected to tell us about the very narrow fairways and the fact it had more bunkers than Adolph Hitler, so on a windy and sometimes wet day, we returned dazed and scarred, and light a few golf balls. Yet we still enjoyed ourselves and kept remembering that sign, "a bad day at golf.........

Thankfully, the girls shopping was more successful. Nancy got her new dressing gown, which Keith was thrilled about, and Carol got a new device to measure exactly how much pasta you need per serve, which John is very excited about. We caught up with the girls in front of an open fire in a pub in Mornington. We all had coffees and teas to thaw out, and headed back to the big house for one last happy hour.

Tuesday morning, we farewelled Nancy & Keith, as they piled into the little yellow Getz for the journey back to the airport, and a return to temperatures with more than one number in them. We had had a fantastic time, as usual, and despite the worst weather Melbourne could throw at us. It always leaves us a bit flat when friends go. It seems so quiet. So we got right into packing up. At least it was dry, and we got most of our stuff packed away dry, to start our trip north to warmer places. Next stop Benalla.