The Baths at Sorrento

The Baths at Sorrento is in a lovely location, and we’ve found that the food has been good and the staff helpful.   We’ve been previously, and here. However, when we were there this week, the pricing had changed to a “fixed price” of $59 for 2 courses (with quite few optional “extras” – including bread – on top of this).   

So, it’s no longer your casual lunch place. I don’t intend this as criticism; they’re certainly not the only place on the Peninsula to adopt the “fixed price” approach.    And good luck to them if this approach works for them.  There seemed to be a good number of patrons on the summer weekday that we were there, which perhaps says something about the demographic of the Sorrento/Portsea area. 

There’s a bit of flair apparent in the entrees and deserts, but it seemed to me that the “mains” fell a little short.   After all, fish and chips or a chicken burger or even a risotto for a main, while in keeping with the “casual dining” concept, does seem, when you’re paying a $59 for 2 courses,  a little, shall we say, understated.  There are other choices, including gnocchi and mussels, but it was extra for a steak or seafood linguinie.  Surely, for the price, there’s scope for more flair with the mains?  My chicken burger was very nice, as was the chocolate mousse which I coupled it with, but I was left with the feeling that the pricing was a little “over the top”.

Mornington (2)

We’re home from Mornington. On our last day, after we checked out we went for a walk down the main street. On Wednesdays, it’s set up with stalls, selling all that typical market stuff – clothes, produce, etc. We looked but weren’t taken by any of it. But it seemed to get the people out and about.  It was a lovely day, so perhaps that helped too.    Then it was a quick trip home, a large portion of which is on freeway conditions.

Mornington seems to me to be very much “middle Australia”.   I think we tend to under-rate it because it’s not very far away.   One particular thing in its favour is that there is an enormous amount of parking available.

Clifftop walk

C and I set out to explore the clifftop from Mornington towards Mt Martha. We didn’t get all the way to Mt Martha in the time allocated (until we were picked up), but the walk is interesting.   Sometimes it meanders through the scrub, sometimes it’s on the top of the cliff and sometimes you have to walk alongside the road. For a small distance, we walked on the beach.     There were great vistas at almost every turn, and we saw a number of historical markers and a couple of animals, which we assume were swamp rats.

Foxeys Hangout

We headed to Foxeys Hangout for lunch. I hadn’t been there before but I was impressed: a great outlook over the vines and neighbouring cherry orchard, good service and an interesting range of smallish plates to share. Not cheap (but what winery is?), but OK value for the quality we received.  The only thing missing was the apostrophe in the name!

Mornington

We didn’t get to Lorne this January, so we’re on a short break at Mornington.   It will enable us to use the travel voucher, but that’s not the only reason we’re here!  We’ve stayed down this way before, and we like the area even though it’s rather “suburban”.   It gives easy access to the whole Mornington Peninsula, of course;  the question is, where do we choose to go during our limited time?  

Out accommodation is “family-friendly”, so we’ve had to compromise and go without a view.   However, in other respects it more than met our expectations so we’ve settled in nicely.

Our first afternoon was occupied with a walk in the local area followed by a great meal at the local Afghan restaurant.

Mornington Pier

The main street has been closed off to allow lots of open air dining.

Losing things

I’m the first to admit that I’m quite prone to losing things – typically, my reading glasses.   Something comes up, and I whip them off and put them down on a nearby surface without really thinking.    I’ve tried to train myself to make a mental note that I’ve done this, but it still sometimes occurs.

At least, in the case of glasses, I can generally re-trace my steps and locate them.  However, recently I did the same thing with the car keys.  I had taken something out of the car, and then, distractedly, saw that there was something else in the garage that needed to be done.   In hindsight, I still had the keys in my hand from locking the car, and for some reason, put them down in an obscure location instead of in my pocket.

Needless to say, when I became aware the next day that I didn’t have the keys, I went into panic mode,  but to no avail.  I retraced my steps several times, but … nothing.  Only when S came to my aid, and pieced together what I had been doing in the garage (very smart detective work!) did she locate them – in an obscure corner, and to my great relief.

 

Altona

I think I have previously been to Altona, but I don’t recall why I was there and in any event it was many, many years ago.   I recall that it was a “sleepy hollow”, perhaps little more than a quiet train station, a milk bar and perhaps a fish and chip shop.

Be that as it may, C and I called in to Altona on our return from the Cheetham Wetlands.  Well, it’s no longer “sleepy hollow”.  Yes, the fish and chip shop is still there (we parked next to it!), but the milk bar has morphed into a number of coffee shops and mid-range restaurants.  Although there’s still a rather “suburban” feel to the place, part of the street has been closed off (for summer?  or for covid?) so as to allow outdoor dining in a mall setting. 

The day had warmed up, and we enjoyed our coffee, followed by a walk out the wooden pier.

Fake grass, but nice

Sandy beach

Wooden pier

Lots of shallow water

Part of the Esplanade has also been closed off

Getting the car serviced (3)

I postponed taking the car back to the dealer to be serviced because it was nowhere near the designated kilometres for the next service as a result of so little driving having occurred during the “lockdown”.    But it was overdue in a timing sense, and they say that this is also relevant.  Having a car serviced at the dealer is one of my most “un-favourite” activities.    Of course, I’ve posted about this previously.    But my habit is to bear the pain and take a new car back to the dealer for the first few services before changing over to third party servicing.

Notwithstanding that we are sometimes subjected to stories about “hardship” in the  auto business, the outward signs are that there’s money around!   Major renovations of premises seem to be a regular occurrence, and there are always staff there – supposedly to “help” but with no apparent activity directed at actually “doing” whatever it is that you need.    I suppose there really are people “out the back” who work on your car, but they’re always kept well and truly out of sight.

Perhaps the public likes shiny showrooms, smooth talking staff and coffee machines in waiting areas?  I suppose it was nice that the same person checked me in, updated me when there was going to be a delay and finalised the transaction with me when it was all done (30 minutes later than the already re-scheduled time).  At least a 10% discount on the final bill because of the delay was a nice gesture.

But why can there be no visibility of the actual workshop out there, which presumably has real people in it who are actually working on your car?    Other car maintenance places manage  to do this.   Are we so conditioned to “shininess” that we don’t want to see “reality”?   Or is there a concern that, perhaps, we might take an interest in whether or not anything is actually been done to our car?

Somers

Once again, we were invited again to visit friends C and P at their Somers house. This time, the day was hot, and we ate lunch inside at the house, enjoying the air-conditioned comfort and sea views.  It was a pleasant day in relaxed surroundings.   We were told that quite a number of people were making a “sea change” and moving to live permanently in the area;  I can understand why they might do this (although it’s not for me).

Cheetham Wetlands

C took me walking in the Cheetham Wetlands. These are a number of creeks and marshes, some natural, some man-made, which are a prime habitat for migratory and other birds.   They’re on the shores of the Bay, behind Point Cooke (yes, there’s an “e” at the end of the name of the feature), and I see that they were originally a natural salt marsh and grassy woodlands;   the area was later used as a saltworks. The latter use created the lagoons, although these appear quite degraded now and it’s hard to imagine that they were used as salt pans.

The area is very interesting, but you couldn’t say it was highly scenic.   The attraction lies in the semi-wilderness: the channels, the grasslands and the lagoons, yet within sight of the CBD.

 

 

 

 

 

The highest feature is “The Tower”, known as “The Monument to Migrations and Aspirations” (both birds and humans).  There’s also a bird hide, but that was at the other end of the park, and we didn’t get there.  We walked for quite a distance on the paths and boardwalks through the grasslands, beside the lagoons and through the pines.  We also went on to the beach at Point Cooke: sandy but seemingly in close to its original state.

There were a few birds, but we weren’t able to identify whether any that we saw were rare.    I think you’d head for the bird hide if your main interest was the bird life.  Perhaps we’ll do this another time, although since the gates are locked at 5 pm, it’s not really clear how you’d arrange to watch them at dawn or dusk (presumably when birds are most active).  Possibly it’s still possible to walk in after this time.

Housing quite close – hopefully environmental issues are under control

Channel, as viewed from tower

Former salt pan?

View of CBD

Almost untouched beach near Point Cooke (within a marine sanctuary)