Safety Beach, Mount Martha, Mornington & Frankston

We finished up at Sorrento on Wednesday the 20^th Feb and drove to Safety Beach where we would stay for the next three nights with friends, Jude and Greg. It was a short drive up Port Phillip Bay to their place.

We met them when we stayed at Broome in 2015. They feature a fair bit in our blog from that trip, www.secondbigtrip.blogspot.com.au . On the first occasion we met them which was a dinner fundraiser for the RFDS at the van park we were in at Broome, they offered to pick us up from a place we were storing our van and vehicle whilst we flew back to Sydney and then pick us up from the airport when we returned and drive us out to pick up our van and vehicle. It was a 20km or more, round trip each time. That is the sort of great guys they are. After we left Broome we kept bumping into them at Karijini National Park and Cape Range National Park. We have been keeping in touch with them ever since. So it was great to see them.

How is this for generosity? Greg pulled his van out of his yard and parked it in front of his place so that we could park inside his fence.

My van.

His van.

They offered for us to stay as long as we liked and use it as a base to do any touring that we wanted. We took them up on that offer and that night we went and visited other travelling friends. Jude and Greg were going out that night anyway so it worked out well.

So after catching up with them we went and visited Jon and Heather at Cranbourne. We had met Jon and Heather when we toured the Northern Territory in 2013. They featured a lot in that blog which was, www.firstbigtrip.blogspot.com.au . They have been to Sydney a couple of times since and stayed at our place once.

Jon and Heather cooked us up a lovely pork roast dinner and we had a great chat, talked over old times and are looking forward to new ones to be made with them.

On Thursday morning Linda and I went out for the day as Jude and Greg had things to do. We headed for the next suburb/town which was Mount Martha. There are a large number of bathing boxes there and it makes a very colourful spectacle. Further up the beach some have been damaged by wave action as the bay has changed due to some dredging at the mouth of Port Phillip Bay.

We then drove on to Mornington and stopped to have a look at Schnapper Point.

Then it was further up the bay to see Frankston. There was a speccy lookout on the main road in.

We had a look in the town and headed back to base. As we drove back in to Safety Beach from the highway we saw that there was a canal development there.

Thursday evening Jude cooked us a beautiful dinner. Went out for a walk for sunset and saw these resident stingrays at the jetty at safety beach.

The next morning, after Greg made us an amazing omelet each, we went out for a walk with Jude. We walked around the canals and most interesting was the development of the marina. We had a coffee at the marina shop and watched the display about the development. It is a sure winner being in such a beautiful place as Safety Beach.

I thought it was especially interesting how they constructed the road under the inlet to the canals. So the entry to the canals between the breakwaters has a road going underneath. So it does not matter how tall a sailing ship might be it can go through into the canals and marina. It is only the depth of their keel that could prevent them from entering. I found that whole thing very clever.

A couple of photos of Safety Beach.

When we got back from the walk Greg and Jude took us out for a drive. We firstly stopped at the jetty as the water and the day was just perfect. I took a video which I will put on facebook. We then drove to Arthurs Seat. It is a mountain overlooking Port Phillip Bay with a gondola ride (ie a chair lift but they call it a gondola). We took the ride and had these views.

Our friends, Greg and Jude.

It seems there is a permanent haze in Gippsland and the Mornington Peninsular but we could still see Melbourne.

We had a light lunch at the pub at the top and went back down on the gondola. We then went up the hill and stopped at one of the lookouts on the way which gave a fuller view of the southern part of the peninsular.

Then we dropped into the Red Hill Winery for the view from their balcony. It looks out over the vineyard toward Western Port.

That night we went out for dinner to the Hickinbotham Winery. It is one of Greg and Jude’s favourite places. We could see why. They brew their own beer as well. So we had beer and wine and lamb and vegetables which were all paddock to plate. It was a great night. The people at the end of the table in this first photo were the owners of the winery and were lovely people. It was great talking to them about the business.

Saturday morning we had another walk before leaving for the trip home. There was a yatch race and we saw lots of the yatchs heading out of the marina. It was just a perfect day as far as the weather was concerned. If we did not have to head home I would love to have stayed for the day and had a swim in that beautiful water.