Letho's Blog

After leaving Altona via a final (so we thought) Melbourne detour on Oct 26, 2010, we drove down to the Mornington Peninsula which is one of two peninsulas enclosing Port Phillip Bay in which Melbourne among other cities is located. The other peninsula is the Bellarine Peninsula. We arrived in the dark and searched for a secret and quiet camping spot. This was our first attempt at camping in the wild which included erecting our new and shiny tent for the first time. We finally managed to do that without knowing exactly where we were and if there were threats of any kind – did I mention that also it is illegal?

Oct 27, 2010

Waking up in the next morning we noticed the place was not that secret and car traffic occasionally passed by. Still, no one was really interested in our presence… our first camping site looked like this:

First thing in the morning was going to Arthur’s Seat from where we expected a nice view over Port Phillip Bay. We were not disappointed and spontaneously engaged in a fine breakfast.

We took a few walks, e.g. the T.C. McKellar’s Walk and Kings Falls Walk. Later on we headed to Sorrento and Portsea and decided to go to Cape Schanck to view the beautiful sunset from there.

We had a nice, romantic dinner consisting of red wine and crackers with cheese while enjoying the last light of day.

Last thing of the day – find a place to stay for the night in the dark and build the camp! We luckily came across Fingal Picnic Ground and settled there – as every so often a bit unsure wether this was a good idea…

Oct 28, 2010

Again we woke up early, worried we would be disturbed by the police and locked in jail with the key thrown away. Again, nothing like that happened and we took off ..

Did you note the sign saying “No camping”? Yeah, we did too .. so what.

We used the fine weather to examine Cape Schanck in full daylight and detail again, e.g. the view to Cape Schanck Lighthouse.

With so much activity before breakfast the time was well due for that, and we did have it in Rye with a view to the beach.

Wondering why the picture is a bit sloped? So was I just looking at it. Nevermind.

Next station was Point Nepean which can be reached via Portsea. It is the most westerly and therefore most remote place you can reach on the Mornington Peninsula. It is resided on one side of the only 3 km wide bay entrance, with Queenscliff on the other side on Bellarine Peninsula. On our walk (of quite a few kilometres) we passed nice views of the coastline and Fort Pearce …

… and a submarine entering Port Phillip (hopefully not a Japanese one?!) …

… and more nice views – and finally Fort Nepean.

On our way back north we passed Sorrento and took a detour to the lovely Ocean Beach. Looks like the seagulls were having a day off at the beach, too:

Heading to the Dandenong Ranges we enjoyed some fine first-class camping cooking:

Guess what – it was dark already and we had no place to stay. Again. We came along Grant Picnic Ground near Belgrave which seemed ok. We fell asleep to the sound of sports motorcycles using the steep and curvy hills as a training ground. What sweeter sound could there be?

Oct 29, 2010

The good thing about not having the slightest clue where you are and what it looks like in the day is – you get overwhelmed by what it looks like in the day. We woke up to the sound of whispering trees, so loud as the waves of the ocean. Sticking our heads out of the tent we were stunned by giant Eucalyptus trees which are typical in the Sherbrooke Forest. Take a look at it by yourself:

Want some moving images? Here ya go, mate:

Exiting the picnic ground we stumbled upon these little beautiful fellas:

After doing the Sherbrooke Falls Walk ..

.. we continued on our way to Mount Dandenong, stopping at the Victoria Rhododendron National Garden near Olinda. It’s a cultivated garden, but in contrast to all the wild and genuine nature we have seen so far we gathered some remarkable impressions:

After arriving at Mount Dandenong .. yay, breakfast time! Finally at 3 p.m. in the afternoon .. *growl* ..

Noticing a pattern already? Yeah, we LOVE breakfasts ..

The weather allowed for a clear view onto the Melbourne skyline 35 km’s away:

Oct 30, 2010

Finally – after a last windy breakfast at Altona Beach – we headed back to Altona, Melbourne, found a campsite near Cherry Lake, were severely bitten by mosquitoes and made our way on the next day to Cape Otway. But that’s another story .. eh, article!