So last time I updated we had just arrived in Lorne, we're now in the Mornington Peninsula after a couple of nights in Melbourne.
I have to say Lorne was a great place to spend a couple of nights even if I do say so myself. It's a fantastic little town, a mix of great beach, good greenery, cool stores and chilled out bars with great views ( I'm getting a bit concerned that I actually rate these towns by the quality of the drinking establishments, I can assure you that's not the case - but it helps!)
Lorne is a great place from which to explore, we spent an hour on the beach before heading to Erskine Falls. I am pleased to report that Erskine Falls is a waterfall worth seeing, there was some nervousness based on hearing other travellers stories that have reported that other falls have supported the fact that most states are suffering a water shortage and have transpired to be nothing more than a trickle.
We then moved onto Teddys Lookout which was absolutely stunning before heading back to the Lorne Hotel.
Both nights in Lorne were spent camping at the Lorne foreshore campsite that I'd recommend, the first night we used our little camping stove, however we were probably a little too adventurous with our choice of dinner, eggs Benedict with one pan and one stove proved a little challenging, however not ones to be beaten we persevered and whilst we won't win any Michelin stars, it was edible.
A couple of days ago, we left Lorne for Melbourne and on route passed through Anglesea, Torquay and Bells beach,( Anglesea and Torquay looked like good towns to stay at too) before arriving at Geelong for lunch.
Geelong was not quite what we were expecting, it's about an hour out of Melbourne and is quite industrial, we stopped for a sandwich and then headed into Melbourne to catch up with Jas and Tim at chez Florea.
Jas and Tim are living in an apartment at Docklands which is waterfront with fantastic views of the city.
Friday night we headed down to the bars in docklands under the apartments and had a great catch up with a few drinks. As most of you undoubtedly know I am not the biggest animal fan in the world, however on Friday even I was heaping praise on a particular canine named Ralph. Who is Ralph you may well be asking? - well Ralph was the dog that took a shine to Iain, bounded over to our table and proceeded to knock over our water glasses, as a result Ralph's kind owner replenished our drinks and miraculously water turned to three glasses of wine!
Thanks to Jas and Tim we saw a side to Melbourne that we've heard about but never seen. On previous visits to Melbourne we've not really ventured far from the CBD and the usual tourist sights, but this time, we got to see so much more.
We visited Port Melbourne on Saturday morning, which is a cool little suburb, only a few kms out of the city, it actually had a sandy beach and is where the Spirit of Tasmania ship sets sail for Tasmania. We then walked through to Middle Park and Albert Park before heading across to Chapel street. Again Chapel St is a very long road that runs through numerous suburbs including Prahan, that is filled with bars, cafes and boutiques, including clothes stores that you don't normally get in city centres.
Whilst regrettably for me we didn't have much time to peruse said stores, I think I caught Iain saying a big thank you to the man upstairs for this stroke of luck, in fairness this was probably a good thing for both our bank balance and our back car tyres which are already struggling under the weight of my already bulging suitcase!
Last night Jas had located a fabulous restaurant for dinner, called Fog on Grevile street. the food was delicious and not for the first time (you may remember Port Douglas and Bill Clinton), the Tweedly's shared their dining experience with a celebrity. I say celebrity, however Tim and Iain had to explain several times who this particular chap was- somebody called Joe Bugner, a boxer who fought Mohammad Ali, I'm afraid to say it actually resonated more with Jas and I when we discovered he was on celebrity jungle.
Some of the areas that we saw yesterday reminded me very much of portobello and Camden in London, then this morning we visited south Melbourne markets. After this trip, we are definitely looking at Melbourne in a different light.
Today sadly we said goodbye again and moved onto the mornington peninsula, we were planning to stay at Frankston, the gateway to the mornington peninsula, however a combination of the fact that it was not as far as we thought and the fact that Frankston didn't look as nice as we had hoped meant that we drove onto Sorrento which is where we are tonight. Sorrento is stunning, clear waters, lots of boats and lovely little town, tomorrow we'll explore further and go to Portsea and Port Nepean national park.
Anyway, I'm in desperate need of a cup of tea so I'll leave you now.
Till next time...
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