Nothing but blue sky do I see (Mornington Peninsula)

I began the day by stretching my legs on a neat little 20km bike ride. I thought the area would be fairly flat. Wrong. There are some challenging little hills and I'll need to tackle these more and more if I intend to increase the distance I'm riding. And increase it I will. The target this week is 100km.

Sadly, I thought Victoria was more loving and caring when it came to cyclists. Wrong again. The bicycle lanes, clearly marked with sign posts and white stencil bike, resemble those of NSW. Much like home, the lane was there and then not and then there again. There were parts where it was covered in gravel, or was being overtaken by roadside vegetation. Occasionally, it was smooth and clean and a pleasure to ride on. More often it felt like it was a thin layer of tar hiding a cattle grid.

I was back home and in bed reading the paper (online) by 7:30 but we didn't move to round 2 of exercise until after 9 when we walked 2kms to the cafe I selected for breakfast; Lilo on the Esplanade toward Mt Martha. Excellent choice. Great coffee and huge serves. Lunch not required.

The cloud and drizzle of yesterday was gone to reveal a blue sky and pleasant temperatures in the low 20s. Time to explore the Peninsula. We drove down to Portsea, in part so I could explore the road to see whether a longer ride was in order. The Esplanade was closed part of the way and the detour went straight up the side of a mountain into the heavens. No way these old legs are tackling that end of the world. Not sure where I'll ride in the morning.

We stopped at Sorrento and did a bit of window shopping. It was very crowded and for a moment I thought I was in Italy. There were Vespas parked on the footpath and we were walking behind a large Italian family who were conversing in Italian. Most amusing.

Looking toward Portsea

From there we headed for our first wine tasting at Main Ridge wines. This required a drive up the mountain ridge that runs down the centre of the peninsula. The view from Murray's Lookout was superb.

The winery produces magnificent wines and I have finally been convinced that Australia can produce a decent Pinot Noir. As in France, it is all about the terroir. During our wine tasting we discussed what other wineries we should visit and had a number recommended to us. We're saving those for later.

Melbourne in the distance

Following that there wasn't much left to do aside form head home and get changed for dinner. We walked down to the Counting House and had a beautiful dinner. It offers a small menu that was interesting enough to cause me trouble when selecting what to eat.

It's a tough life here. Everything is within walking distance unless you want to get to the wineries. And the weather is just getting better. I am aiming to take some shots of the sun setting over the water. Soon.