Rockin, Rollin, Riding!

Thursday 29th December 2016

We are getting very used to sleeping in different beds now and last night we had a very comfortable sleep.  Ralph and Bronwyn were taking us for a tour of the Mornington Peninsula which is south of Melbourne.

The forecast had been for rain and some thunderstorms but it was marginally better for the morning.  In fact the morning was quite hot and pleasant but we did get some heavy rain later but only when we were driving thankfully.

We had an early walk on a beach at Bonbeach.  We had a paddle and I fancied a swim but resisted the temptation despite having my flannel with me.

We continued through Sorrento that was the first area habited by Europeans in the Victoria area.  We carried on to Portsea near the end of the peninsula as Ralph explained that a rite of passage was a meal at the Portsea Hotel.

A large old hotel that is very popular and we needed to get in early for lunch in order to get a table.

My meal was a Parma - breaded chicken steak covered by a slice of ham, tomato and Italian cheese.  Parma is a popular Aussie meal, so I thought it was about time I tried it.  It is like pizza on top of chicken, nice.

This is the view from outside the hotel.  We had a little walk along the pier, there were kids jumping in the water and some snorkellers near a boat.

We had recalled that the Seekers had a hit in the 60's with a song called ' Rockin, Rollin, Riding' that included the line, 'all bound for Mornington many miles away'.  It refers to Mornington Peninsula and used to get played on Junior Choice radio programme.  I think the girls were singing the song and getting a bit carried away.

We drove through Burnley Tunnel on the way back.  Hurray!

Ralph dropped us off at Southern Cross Railway Station back in Melbourne City.  We were really touched by the kindness and friendliness of Ralph and Bronwyn.  It was particularly nice to get to know a relative and know that we had similar roots but very different life experiences.  Ralph and I are great rugby fans too, so we had plenty in common.  Sorry we didn't get a photo of Louisa but we didn't get a photo last night and we missed her this morning.  We said our goodbyes but will keep in touch and hope to be able to repay their hospitality when they visit England.

Our whistlestop tour now involved meeting Marg at the railway station and catching a train to Ballarat, west of Melbourne and inland.  We are staying overnight with more of Marg's friends, Lynn and Andrew.

We caught the train from Southern Cross Station to Ballarat.  Andrew picked us up in his 'ute' and took us to his fantastic self sustainable house out in the wup wup!

The house is modern with an open plan living, kitchen, dining area.  It has a large veranda and bedrooms downstairs.  It uses solar power and batteries, gets its own water from the shed roof, piped and stored in a big tank and it used bottled gas for cooking only.  It sits in 20 acres of woodland with a dammed billabong. 

 

We had a lovely barbie and enjoyed clear starry skies the like I have never seen before.  Again, big thanks to Liz and Andrew for looking after us and listening to my ramblings.

We have packed so much excitement into one day.  I have to pinch myself.