Week 529 · Sorrento · Portsea · Fort Nepean · Wine Country
Mornington
We have made it to the Mornington Peninsula 3 times — once coming back from the Great Ocean Road via ferry, a day trip, and a long weekend. Like a Caribbean Bay on one side and the central California coast on the other. Way underrated.
The Mornington Peninsula almost encloses the bay on which Melbourne is located, with Port Phillip Bay on one side and the Bass Strait (part of the Great Southern Ocean) on the other. The first trip was a drive-by on a cloudy day, but we could see it was a place to come back to. Our second trip we were focused on hikes along the ocean side and visiting wineries — but most visitors were on the bay side as the ocean side is too dangerous to swim and has a strong wind. After a short hike on the ocean side, we crossed to the bay side and took a hike on "Millionaires Walk" along the bay cliff and beach from Portsea to Sorrento. One of the wealthiest areas of Australia with a couple of heliports and turquoise blue water that doesn't come through in the pictures. There is only one winery on this part of the peninsula and it required an appointment — we went on our next trip.
We decided we needed to go back — it is only a 1.5-hour drive, but harder to get the rental car than to drive. Of course I went for the cheapest option, which was a van that National selected. So we got a moving van with literally wood floors and only 2 seats.
Sharon had been invited to a party with some friends she met while stranded in Uluru, and we arrived Sunday morning. We spent two days there as Monday was a public holiday. The options for places to stay were limited and expensive — so I booked via AirBnB and got the only reasonably priced place: the "Age of Love" BnB. Good location and served its purpose, but it really wasn't a BnB — it was people living in the upstairs of a store selling new age items and we were staying in an extra bedroom. The hippie host was sick and her Scottish partner greeted us. He was very nice and told us we didn't need a key as they don't lock the doors. He was an ex-second division soccer player in his prime in Scotland and we really didn't understand anything he said.
We started the day with a hike on the ocean side and then went to the Portsea Estate Winery. Worth the wait for an appointment — we had a 2-hour private tour of the estate with a guy who, until recently, was in the professional workforce but was now learning how to run a winery as he had married into a family that owned the estate. The wine tasting was good — but the grounds overlooking the ocean and bay were great.
On our last day, we went to the end of the Mornington Peninsula at Fort Nepean — the military installation which guarded the inlet between the Great Southern Ocean and Port Phillip Bay (i.e. Melbourne). Great views of the bay and the ocean.
"The Mornington Peninsula is really undersold — in any other place this would be a can't-miss attraction, but here it's just another nice place."
Overall the Mornington Peninsula is really undersold — in any other place this would be a can't-miss attraction but here it's just another nice place. We drove along the coast back to St. Kilda — basically 60 miles of seaside towns and million-dollar houses. Way underrated.