🚘 A Mini Road Trip to Lorne, Victoria 🚘

As Laurence and Maddy only have the weekend and evenings to spend with us I thought it would be nice to get out of Melbourne for the weekend. So we packed up the car and drove out of Melbourne towards the Great Ocean Road. Our first stop was Torquay for lunch along the seafront. We had blue sky and sun all the way.

It was another hour’s drive from here and it was coastal all the way with fantastic views. Arriving in Lorne around 4pm, I was dismayed when I saw our accommodation! It looked like a prison block, the photographer had excelled himself with photoshop. The sheets were clean at least, but everywhere else was quite grimy. You get what you pay for, and it meant more for dinner!

We went for a short walk before dinner but it was very chilly so we didn’t stay out too long.

Lorne was founded in 1869 and is now a popular surfing and holiday spot. It gets incredibly busy during summer. There is a huge caravan and camping site almost on the beach. Cafes, restaurants and bars line the parade along with gift shops and boutiques.

The white cockatoos are enormous and very tame. It’s a wonder they can still fly.

We had a gastronomic gourmet dinner that evening with cocktails and wine. It was an Asian Fusion restaurant overlooking the ocean.

Tempura Bug Tails
Crying tiger lamb shoulder
with Vietnamese mint & iceberg lettuce

As usual I forgot to take more photos of the food.

After a fairly good night’s sleep for all of us except Maddy who was suffering from a sore throat, we found a cafe along the front for an FEB – Full English Breakfast. Next on our itinerary was a trip to the waterfalls, of which there were many in this region. The drive to the carpark was only 30 minutes and there were different trails to walk. We chose the shortest one, around a 40 minute round trip. Ankle deep mud and fallen trees made this walk quite arduous.

Laurence had crocs on with white socks, Maddy had white trainers on and Anthony had walking shoes on. Luckily for me I had waterproof boots on but not hiking boots. We came across a couple with proper boots and the mud was up over their ankles! But we pressed on regardless.

At one point, to try and avoid the mud I thought I would walk to the side holding onto the ferns. The ferns slipped out of my hands and I ended up doing a downward dog pose and couldn’t move, my face was inches from the mud. Laurence tried to grasp me around the middle and kept telling me to let go, he would pull me up. Maddy was watching and crying with laughter at this point. I will never relinquish my title of being the most accident prone person.

**Won Wondah Falls, Great Otway National Park**

Although the waterfall was quite underwhelming, we all enjoyed the walk apart from the mud now caked on our shoes and splattered over our legs.

We were soon back in the car and on our journey back to Melbourne. Stopping for lunch in a pub on the way home, we sat outside and enjoyed a bottle of wine, until a young boy kicked a ball right into my face! I honestly thought my nose was broken, it was such a shock. Luckily it wasn’t just very bruised. The dad made the poor boy come over and apologise, I felt quite sorry for him. Not such a great finish to a tremendous weekend!

Thanks for reading and
have a great weekend

~ Melbourne Rediscovered – Fairfield Pipe Bridge and Abbotsford Convent ~

We have just spent the last week in Melbourne visiting Laurence and Maddy again. Each time we go to Victoria we try and find somewhere we haven’t been before. Fairfield Pipe Bridge has been on my list for a while after seeing it on another blog, so if you follow My Camera and I you may have heard of this before.

From St Kilda where we were staying it was quite a trek to get there! A tram and bus and a good walk. Also Google Maps led us up the garden path much to my dismay as my dear husband kept saying it’s not this way. We finally found it and enjoyed a delicious lunch at the cafe there.

Fairfield Pipe Bridge

The original bridge was built in 1878 to carry water from Yan Yean Reservoir to Kew. The bridge was washed away in the floods of 1934. A new bridge was built close to the original site.

Fairfield Park Boathouse Cafe

The notice above reads “Notice to Hired Help” – The Manager has the unfortunate duty of informing hired help that instant dismissal from this establishment will follow the disclosure, for whatever reason, of the chef’s tightly held Scone and other Recipes, which have a large following in the colonies.

Dress – Ladies may remove clothes consistent with charm
~
*Gentlemen may remove clothing consistent with* decency

This was such a cute cafe featuring many original features and we were fortunate enough to enjoy lunch outside as the weather was perfect.

As Anthony is a big walker he said let’s walk back to the City! There was no way I could do this but I said I would walk as far as I could. Walking further than I thought I was getting quite tired, so looked up Google maps to check where we were, there was a turning just up ahead and I decided to come off there and leave him to walk on his own. I also saw there was a convent that looked worth investigating.

I was so glad I did this as this place was amazing. I had a good walk around and there seemed to be something to see with every turn I took.

Abbotsford Convent

Abbotsford Convent is Australia’s largest multi-arts precinct and is home to many studios. They are filled with health practitioners, artists and designers. There are two schools, a radio station and beautiful gardens to wander around. Two cafes, a bar and a toyshop are also on the premises.

**St Mary’s – now Sophia Mundi Steiner School**

History of Abbotsford Convent

Founded by The Sisters of the Good Shepherd in 1863, Abbotsford Convent operated for more than 100 years through the social traumas caused by the gold rush boom and bust, the Great Depression and two world wars. Over the period of a century, thousands of girls and women were placed in care at the Convent, with many residing in the Convent’s Sacred Heart building, and labouring in the onsite Magdalen Laundry.

While the Convent had a positive impact for some women—many of whom were destitute and had nowhere else to go—and provided critically needed shelter, food and education in the absence of state care, the Convent was also a place of hardship and ordeal for some of the women, as was often the experience of those in institutionalised care. Source

I think most of us have read something about the history of the Magdalen Laundries and the horrific ordeals these young girls had to go through, so it was nice to see that this place was now full of positive vibes and helping young people to get on in life. It’s well worth a visit if you want to escape the city or have an extra day in your itinerary whilst in Melbourne.

~ Water in Motion ~

I took these photos yesterday walking the Yarra Trail in Melbourne. We are here for a short break visiting Laurence and Maddy. I thought of Patti’s Challenge of pictures in motion.

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” – Rumi

A Family Trip to Melbourne – Part Three – Lunch at Mornington Peninsula

With the weekend upon us it meant Laurence and Maddy were able to join us for a day out. We all fancied a winery but with so many in Victoria where to go, North, South or East? After some research we decided to wing it and try one in the South East, Mornington Peninsula. Well our first choice didn’t work out which was Foxey’s Hangout, but the carpark attendant suggested we try the sister winery around 15 minutes up the road, called Morning Sun Vineyard. There wasn’t much sun around but plenty of wine.

The menu was short and tapas style so we just ordered every item! Sadly I forgot to take many photos of the food as it disappeared all too quickly. The staff and service were excellent and you could taste any wine. The location was just perfect and it was very cosy inside.

A luscious Shiraz for three and a “flight of whites” for me.

**An almost perfectly quartered photo** – **Cows galloping across the field**

Another fractioned photo!

A wonderful way to spend a Saturday, family, food and wine

On the drive home we passed by a stunning mural on a water tank, so I jumped out and took a few photos. Located on Arthurs Seat Road it was painted by Michael Leeworthy. It depicts life in Arthurs Seat and is a tribute to the local firefighters. I’m linking it to PPAC.

Picture Perfect Philip Island, Victoria

Our trip to Victoria included a one night stay on Philip Island. It’s a place I’ve wanted to see for a while and was intrigued as to why many of the places are named after Isle of Wight towns. I haven’t read anything definitive to explain it, just that the early settlers (1800 or thereabouts) had just holidayed there or saw a similarity.

We travelled from Melbourne with our two intrepid travellers, Laurence and Maddy, with Laurence driving. It’s an easy drive around 90 minutes and you can drive onto the island across the Philip Island Road Bridge from San Remo.

Our first stop of the day was lunch at Saltwater, a restaurant directly on the seafront. After pizzas and fish tacos, we wandered over to see a “squadron” of pelicans awaiting their lunch.

Newhaven

As it was almost 4pm by now we had to get a move on to check into our accommodation. A little boutique guesthouse – The Castle, Villa by the Sea, located in the North of the island in Cowes.

Cowes was named by Henry Cox in 1865, a land surveyor who had just recently visited the seaport in England. Before this it was called Mussel Rocks.

We were already very impressed by the beautiful scenery on our drive up to Cowes. After checking in we walked along to the seafront. I could imagine how busy this place is in the Summer, such a wonderful island for a family holiday. Calm sandy beaches and grassy areas for picnics.

Cowes

Dinner that night was in a Greek restaurant a short walk from our guesthouse.

The next day we had an early breakfast along the seafront before checking out at 10 am. I had a lot planned for today.

Our first stop was Rhyll, a little fishing port named after the one in Wales.

Rhyll

A beautiful carving by Brandon Lawrence. Brandon created this sculpture from the massive cyprus tree that was blown down in a storm in 2016. It is called The Ferry Captain and depicts all things nautical. It honours all the ferry captains over the years.

Continuing with our tour we drove through Philip Island and down to the South West to Ventor, where we had a brief stop to watch the surfers. This is also where the penguins live and there is a nightly parade on show. We gave this a miss the night before as it was extremely chilly, maybe a visit is on the cards for the summer.

Ventnor

Downwards now to the very bottom tip of the island – The Nobbies. Home to the fur seals of Philip Island. There is a wonderful walk around the cliffs that takes approximately half an hour where you can see the roiling rollers of the sea. It’s quite mesmerising watching the waves.

The Nobbies

There is also an interactive Antarctic museum here which we didn’t visit but looked like a great place for families.

Churchill Island

Driving back now across the island to Churchill Island, where a historic heritage farm is located.

Churchill Island was named by Lt. James Grant in 1801 for the name of the man who had given him the seeds first planted here. There are beautiful well kept historical buildings and magnificent gardens to explore. It is still a working farm where there are many animals freely roaming around. A truly tranquil place to while away an hour or two and soak up the peace.

The Farm and Surrounding Areas

Churchill House and Gardens

A fabulous weekend was had by all on this picturesque island. Below are some links for interest.

Philip Island Historical Society

Churchill Island History

The Nobbies

Cowes

Lastly a map of Philip Island

A Rainy Day in The Dandenongs – Part 2

Sunday

For our last day in Melbourne I was determined to get out and about away from the city, much to the disappointment of hubby, who just wanted another shopping day. So we drove up to The Dandedongs on a grey, cold and rainy day! They’re about an hour out of Melbourne so it’s the perfect day trip.

We stopped first at Puffing Billy in Belgrave to have a look at the old steam train and just as we reached the top a train was pulling in. Luckily I didn’t book us a ride through the hills and forests as it was too rainy and windy.

Puffing Billy was constructed in the early 1900’s to open up remote areas. In 1953, a landslide blocked the track and, because of operating losses, the line was officially closed in 1954. It was re-opened again in 1962 due to the tireless efforts of volunteers. Today it is just a tourist attraction taking visitors through the leafy hillside of The Dandedongs.

A few from the official website

Once we’d had a quick look around and read about the history we jumped back in the car to look for a good place for lunch. There are so many cafes, restaurants and pubs we didn’t have to go far. We stopped at Micawbers Tavern for a traditional Aussie lunch, Parmis and schnitzels all round. It reminded me of a cosy country pub in England.

Parmis and schnitzels all round

Enjoying a pint in Micauber’s Tavern

We then went further up into the hills to Skyhigh Mount Dandenong, but the rain had set in for good so there was absolutely nothing to see! This is what you can see on a clear day. This will definitely be another day trip.

The road ahead

On the drive up to the top

Back home we warmed up and dried off before setting out for our last dinner of this trip. We headed into town for a favourite place of Laurence and Maddy’s, a Korean BBQ place in Chinatown called Bornga. A very busy and lively place where it’s quite difficult to book, but it’s worth just turning up and leaving your phone number, there’s normally only a five to ten minutes wait.