So… from The Prom’ we had a fairly easy drive up around Western Port Bay and onto the Mornington Peninsula via Hastings to Stoney Point Caravan Park which is also a part of Crib Point.
Apart from spending some time on the Mornington Peninsula, our stay here coincided with the 2022 Federal Election and Hastings was our closest inter-state polling place. More on the election later.
The Stoney Point Caravan Park is a cosy campground with a mixture of sites, cabins and permanents/weekenders. It is situated behind a large carpark on the waters edge with a very busy public boat ramp and ferry pier. We were lucky enough to be allocated a double-site due to it being a quiet period that looked out to the water.
The park also backed onto the Crib Point train station, which is the end-of-the-line on that part of the peninsula. It was quite a nice location to stay given that it was tucked away on the point and also had in-built entertainment with the boat ramp.
Coolart Wetlands & Homestead
Having arrived fairly early we took a drive to the Coolart Wetlands & Homestead, We didn’t really know what to expect but it provided the opportunity for a bit of a walk and a sticky-beak at the homestead and gardens.
After entering the reserve you wander past fairly ornate homestead, that wouldn’t look out of place in a horror movie, and then through the out-buildings, gardens and a brick stable. From there you can follow walking tracks past a small lagoon and meander through the grounds that have been setup as a wetland reserve for bird-watchers with a series of sizable viewing blinds. We weren’t fortunate enough to see much in the way of wildlife but I suspect that that was due to the weather and the season. Still a nice way to wind down after the mornings drive and setup.
Election Day
Election day dawned bright and clear and we headed into Hastings to the polls. We got the address slightly wrong and were re-directed from a local polling site back up the street a couple of hundred metres to an AEC inter-state polling place. This was good as we didn’t have to line-up and went straight in to vote.
The task done we took a drive up to Arthurs Seat to take in the views from the cable car terminus. The drive up was quite steep and windy compared to the cable car that slowly and silenty glides to the top.
We once again took the opportunity to get some exercise and walk around the tracks weaving underneath the arriving and departing cable cars. The track took us down to the Flinders Cairn. A monument dedicated to Matthew Flinders who climbed up to Arthurs Seat in 1802. Despite being three times higher… it reminded me of the cairn that we built back home in Royalla out of all the rock I had dug up around our property over the years….
After a pleasant time at Arthurs Seat we headed back to the van to watch the election results and the drama unfold that evening. Tuning into the ABC election coverage, the inital results were looking a bit dicey for the ALP and then at a certain point things started warming up and, contrary to expectations, the ALP started to pull away and keep pulling away.
From my perspective… Australia was in desperate need of a change of government and it was extremely pleasing to watch the ALP, Independents and Greens wipe out what has been the worst Australian government in my memory. The only downside of the election coverage was the appallingly biased and disingenuous coverage by an increasingly pro-LNP ABC…
But with that said… the ensuing days of the Albanese government have shown how good and refreshing it is to have the adults back in charge of the country. One can only hope that the ALP, Independents and Greens remember that their power is granted by the people and that it is the people that they serve not billionaires, corporations and religious institutions.
Enough soap-boxing… The day after the election we had the opportunity to catch up with Rob’s niece and her family who had moved back to Melbourne for a second time. We don’t get to see them very often because they’ve mostly lived in Adelaide. We had a very pleasant lunch with Katie, Paul, Layla and Louis at Seaford Beach after which we had a drove through Frankston and the western side of the peninsula.
No trip to the Mornington Peninsula is complete without visiting some of the plethora of wineries to choose from there. To be honest… it wasn’t really winery weather being a bit on the cool and overcast side of Autumn. Never the less we did make a token effort.
Our first stop was Dromana Estate Winery. It was set on lovely garden estate amongst the vinetard in a weatherboard building that housed the restaurant as well as a tasting area. We tasted a decent proportion of their range and left with one white and one red but sad to say that nothing really grabbed us. In hindsight, Dromana Estate felt a little pretentious and underwhelming. Perhaps we had been spoilt by the wineries we visited along the Murray on a previous trip.
We forged on and pulled in at the HickinBotham winery; not too far from Dromana. This winery seemed a bit more inviting and the grounds were a little more interesting with some old drays and wine-making machinery scattered around the carpark.
We wandered into the tasting room and were met by a fairly enthusiastic host who asked us what we would like to taste but insisted that we start with their Sparkling Taminga (a little known Australian grape variety). We were both gob-smacked by this little cracker that was crisp and fruity with a slight fizz. What surprised us most is that we tried the still version of the Taminga and didn’t find it terribly appealing. In the end we left with a couple of bottles of the Sparkling Taminga and one of their reds as well.
At this point we decided to abandon any further wineries as we didn’t really have the storage space for any more. Instead we headed for lunch at the Jetty Road Brewery, also in Dromana. It proved to be a good choice because it was definitely more like beer and cider weather than wine weather. We both had a brisket roll, which were as good as a brisket roll gets. The only issue wasc hoosing a beer given that the vast majority of their range is Pale Ale, IPA, XPA… Ugh! I’ll never understand the current love affair with ‘pale ales’; like munching on a bunch of flowers… In the end I chose a wheat beer. Stupid me… it still had overtones of pale ale. Should have just had the lager. Jo enjoyed her cider.
That was it for Mornington Peninsula wineries. For this trip anyway. With no space to carry more wine and the weather not being condusive to winery hopping we decided that sight-seeing was the better option at this time.
Having decided to bypass anymore wineries we spent a morning in the Flinders area of Mornington Peninsula. First stop was the Flinders Pier, which has recently been subject of a ‘save the Flinders Pier’ campaign to retain this piece of Victorian heritage.
We didn’t spend much time in the Flinders township; again opting to head to the coastline and spend some time hiking on the trails and boardwalks along the beaches and bluffs. The bluffs are he typical mix of sandstone and black basaltic rock that provide nooks and crannies for the hardy coastal trees, bushes and mosses that eke out a living against the harsh ocean winds and salt spray.
The rocky ledges at the water level provide the perfect place for the ocean to carve out a labrynth of rock pools, each with their own distinctive shape, depth and inhabitants. Despite the crystal clarity of the rock pools I’m sad to say that we didn’t encounter any exotic critters like crabs, blue-ringed octopus or anything of that nature. Still there were plenty of snails, limpets and peri-winkles clinging onto the walls and squeezing into the cracks.
You could spend an entire day just browsing each little rockpool universe but there were other places to see… like Cape Schank.
We’re both suckers for a lighthouse… Lighthouses always promise the image of rugged wind-swept coastlines with magnificent panoramic views and a solid, reassuring beacon standing against the elements. Cape Schank Lighthouse doesn’t disappoint.
Starting operation in 1859, it still operates and you can see the light slowly revolving even during the day when the light is off. There’s a few kilometres of walking tracks around the area that take you from the lighthouse down to the beach below via boardwalks and steps. The walk takes in tree lined paths, cliff views and rocky beaches bordering Bass Strait.
Once again the cool overcast weather provided the perfect backdrop and enhanced the scenery which a hint of drama as you contemplated the vast number of shipwrecks littered along the coastline.
Very possibly our favourite part of our time on the Mornington Peninsula…