Sun, Sea, Strawberries and Spas

Today was our first organised trip of our travels so we were quite looking forward to being driven around and having a chance to get to see a bit more of Victoria. Just an hour out of Melbourne is the spectacular Mornington Peninsula (a place that had first come to our attention after catching one of those 'place in the sun' type programmes at home) and we were hoping it looked as it did on the TV and it definitely lived up to our expectations!

We were up early for our minibus pickup which was due to arrive at 7am. We were early for a second time this trip and were left waiting for a few minutes before the brightly decorated bus pulled up! We hopped on the bus and the guide said, 'Wow you're actually early!' It's become a running joke in our hostel that people sleep in when they've booked trips. We have an intercom system in our hostel that tells us what is going on in the hostel or to clean up dishes after we have used them etc. Each morning, at around 7ish there's always a call for a person who is supposed to be up for a trip and you see the tour guide nervously tapping his foot and looking at his watch. So maybe this is why our tour guide (Adam) was so surprised to see us!

He gave us a warm welcome and joked that the tour was only booked for Rich but Rach just said 'okay' but sat down anyway, still tired after the early start. He introduced us to the other guy on the bus - Kurt who was another tour guide who was learning the route. We were the first pick-up so we had a quick dart around the city of Melbounre to pick up the rest of the people who would be joining us. Most were couples and we were surprised to see two girls who were younger than us who were also off to see the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island (something we will be doing tomorrow).

We quickly learnt that there were different options to our tour. Most people had chosen the standard tour like us but the couple in front of us were off horse riding on one of the Peninsula's lovely beaches. We were a little scared when the man said ' horses don't generally like me!' You'll be pleased to know we met back up with him in the day and he was fine!

After a random stop at the company's office to confirm all details of each person's booking, we began short journey through Melbourne's rush hour traffic and then we were off!

After a brief sleep we arrived at our first stop.

Our first destination was Napean National Park located near the town of Southsea. The Park was handed to the state of Victoria by the Commonwealth within the last 15 years and is a really historical site that is now part of a project to allow the community to enjoy it again.

The tip of the park forms one side of the mouth to the Port Phillip Bay which is the body of water that gives access to Melbourne and feeds the Yarra River. The park has a wealth of interesting facts, including being one of the most treacherous areas of water in the world for boats trying to access the Bay. Many ships have become victim to the strong currents and huge waves since the first European settlers in the 1800's.

In the 1960's, Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt also used to come to the Napean National Park to enjoy some diving and swimming on one of the beaches away from the public glare. He mysteriously disappeared when swimming in the waters and was never found again despite one of the biggest search and rescue operations in Australian history being mounted. A stone monument stands today overlooking the beach to pay tribute to the late PM.

The site also contains many quarantine buildings that were used by the army when settlers would arrive on ships. Their first taste of Australia would be to stay in this small town. There is a graveyard with some of those who didn't make it, which also contains the bodies of sailors who lost their lives on a boat called Cheviot, a ship that was wrecked off the island in the 1800's.

The quarantine area was used throughout the Second World War until it was closed and abandoned in 1978, the final case of influenza treated there being in 1977. They are now gradually restoring and opening it up as a museum. That's the most history we can remember - take a look at our pics for more, and Google it. It's an interesting place.

We all piled back on to the minibus ready to travel a matter of minutes to our next destination - Peninsula Hot Springs. It is the first natural thermal hot springs and day spa in Victoria. The 50°C hot mineral spring water flows from an underground aquifer 637 metres below the surface. The water runs untouched direct from the source to the pools, which range between 37°C and 43°C. Peninsula Hot Springs thermal mineral water contains a range of naturally occurring minerals including sulphur, calcium, magnesium and potassium.

A range of activities were on offer here including massages and spa activities. Adam quickly showed us the area we were being allowed to use. Most people were in swimwear and the bath robes the spa give you but our group were all in normal clothes because we had been expecting to go strawberry picking instead. Victoria is experiencing a late summer this year so the strawberries weren't quite ready so this was offered as an alternative. First we were offered lunch which consisted of a posh baguette with smoked salmon on plus lots of random flavoured seeds and a green pip thing that made it quite salty. This was topped feta cheese. The chicken option was also quite sophisticated too. We were also offered fruit too - we opted for kiwi which was quite tough to cut using plastic cutlery!

We decided to roll up our jeans and try out some of the thermal pools. Rach didn't know whether she should with her foot still trying to heal but thought she may aswell as it isn't something you can do everyday. Plus the guy said it had healing benefits! It felt really relaxing and you could see your foot expand showing the benefits for blood circulation. Amazingly when we got back to the hostel, Rach's foot felt great and now looked a normal colour again!

After our lunch we headed into the Red Hills Wine District to the Mantons Creek Winery for some wine tasting. Although there were many large vineyards you could go to, it was nice that ours was off the beaten track up some unsealed dust roads. It was a lovely setting and by the time we got there the sun was shining through the remaining clouds. It was really peaceful, and a really idyllic setting.

The vineyard can be seen in our photos. It was quite small really, and was overlooked by a lovely large building which housed a small tasting bar and a restaurant that is open at weekends. You could sit out on the patio overlooking the vines sipping the wine in the sun if you wish. How the other half live!!

We tried three wines - a white, a red and a really sweet after-dinner wine which was a mix of three different grapes. It was a bit thicker than usual wine, like a fine syrup, and was really sweet. The smell wasn't the best, but Rich loved the taste, Rach wasn't as keen though.

After taking some time to relax and take some photos in the grounds, as well as ignore the attempts of the land owners dog to play fetch with us (we had been asked not to as it had recently had some operations that meant it shouldn't be running - but it was very friendly and didn't seem to mind!), we were back on the bus and off to the Lavender Gardens and hedge maze - the oldest hedge maze in Australia.

We were still up in the hills for this, and the although not really garden people - it was a lovely place, and again really peaceful. There were two hedge mazes. We eventually found our way out of the first one successfully, but after ten minutes of repeated dead ends and circles, we cheated and went out of the entrance in the second one as we wanted to explore the rest of the place.

There was a huge fresh water lake, woodland, lilly ponds, a rose maze and obviously the lavender garden, not to mention some nice fountains, a small waterfall and a marquee and gazebo for weddings (probably very expensive ones!!). We ended our hour at the gardens with a warm scone with fresh cream and strawberries - yum!
Talking of strawberries, our final stop was at the biggest strawberry fields in the country - Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farm. Normally, our tour would involve picking our own punnet of strawberries, but due to heavy rains they are not ready for another two weeks, and so half an hour in the shop and café was the alternative, and probably an added bonus really as we had got to enjoy the Hot Springs Spa earlier in the day as a result of the strawberry delay!

Everything that could be made with strawberries was available in the shop, as well as their own blueberries, honey, raspberries and biscuits. There was also the first pick of the season available, and of course some strawberry wine tasting!

We weren't sure what to expect from the strawberry wine. We were given three to try; the first was a 100% strawberry, sweet, still wine. It smelt fantastic, and really fresh, and it tasted pretty good too. Next was a sparkling version, again with 100% strawberry. That was also very nice, although quite strong too!

Last was another sparkling one, I think it's called a Strawberry Manston or something similar. It was even nicer than the first two, so we decided to treat ourselves and buy a bottle, along with some fresh strawberries of course (and some choccy sauce to dip them in to!). They will be enjoyed in the hostel shortly!
And that was that. We were a little disappointed to learn on the way home that one of the options you can add to the day was a swim with the bottlenose dolphins in the pristine waters of the Port Phillip Bay, which it turns out is a Bottlenose Dolphin protection area, just to add to the areas already irresistible lure!

All this was just an hour from the city, and we were soon back in the rush hour traffic, or "peak traffic time" which is from 3pm-7pm!

It was a fantastic day and somewhere we would love to go again some time. Right now, we need another early night (and a small amount of sparkling strawberry wine perhaps) ahead of our trip tomorrow!

Hope you're all well.
Love Rich and Rach
xxxxx