Blogs from Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

Day 20 was a great day. Two fabulous walks - Farnsworth Track and CoppinsTrack; the former in Portsea, the latter near Sorrento. Both were relatively short, provided wonderful views of the beach and the scenic overlooks of the area. Interestingly, there was beach access from both. In fact, in the Farnsworth Track, you did a short coastal portion then returned via the beach. Both provided access to several interesting rock formations - London Bridge and the Sphinx. Of course, I took advantage of this access and explored both fully. Just love the volcanic rock littering the beaches. In all I spent three to four hours doing the walks and just roaming around these areas. Last stop was Rye Ocean Beach - a surf beach on the Bass Strait. Another good day littered with views of beaches, ... read more

We were in no hurry to get going today as we knew we would have the whole day to spend at the Mornington Peninsula, but us being us, we were ready to leave by about 9:30. Our car is parked in valet parking at our hotel, so after getting that, we set up the GPS and hit the road onwards to Mornington Peninsula. When we left, neither of us had any idea what we wanted to do there, or where we wanted to go. Then, halfway there, Ashleigh remembered about a maze she had researched, so we put that into the GPS. This area of Victoria has many mazes, apparently, but I feel we picked the right one, as the others around are more targetted at families with small children. Ashcombe Mazes and Lavender Gardens is ... read more

Well, three weeks until I leave for what my daughter called my 'Fisher Price my first European adventure'...... it's more like 'my once in a lifetime experience'; but lets face it, every trip away should be that memorable. I got the bags out today, ironed stuff and watched youtube travel tip vids. (thanks Rick Steves and Hey Nadine). I don't think I have ever started packing this early. I looked up the fine print of my flights and , yes, my carry on bag conforms. I have been soaking in wisdom from experienced travellers, many thanks to them.... read more

Sunday 22nd March 2015 Today we drove the 80kms or so north to Richard & Carol’s place in Donvale for lunch. Carol is a good friend of Judy’s, they met in Perth when they were both having children and were close friends until Carole moved to Melbourne for her husband's job. We stayed with them on a previous trip and enjoyed catching up with them. After lunch we went for a drive in the Dandenongs which was along winding roads with lots of Sunday drivers. We had a coffee overlooking Melbourne, although it wasn’t a very clear view due to the smog and smoke below. A bit of window shopping followed in the nearby village, Olinda, before we returned to where we dropped them off and headed back to Somerville. Back in Somerville, John had ... read more

A few weeks into our Australian experience and we haven't made it past Victoria. Distracted by the mostly nice weather (we've gotten a bit fussy now), local vineyards and never ending beaches we forgot our plans for finding work (ok, our memories not that bad) and instead had a great holiday! After all, we couldn't leave Victoria without seeing a koala. Luckily for our friends (who we were meant to stay with for only a few days), we spotted our first koala a few days ago in a tree by the road - a missed photo opportunity unfortunately. Local pubs sit in every town with green surrounding gardens and live music playing. Driving between the towns, there are a number of vineyards each with their own restaurant and wine tasting. Living with a local, our time ... read more