Yes, holiday lovers, we are back. Apologies for my tardiness in getting the blog back to real time but I was busy doing nothing.
Today is our first day in Mornington - different accommodation this year, new and lovely and just off Main Street. But more of that later.
We broke the journey to Mornington the same way we did last year - with a stop at Beechworth, at Albertine's B&B. The difference this time was that we stayed for two nights. Such a beautiful place to relax and unwind. Beechworth and Albertine's. We have stayed at many B&Bs, but this place is the pick of the crop. The accommodation is beautiful, the hosts are like long friends and the breakfast is sumptuous. And then there are all the little extras, fresh fruit, bottled water, biscuits, tea and coffee. Time spent on this verandah is well wasted.
A lazy afternoon on the verandah and then dinner at Tanswell's Hotel. The verandah was the better option. Dinner was OK, but nothing to get excited about. The bonus, of course, is that everything is within walking distance to our accommodation.
The next morning we did a 7km walk through Beechworth before our delectable breakfast. Fresh, home made muffins, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, fresh juice, coffee, toast ... it was seriousy too much. Then after that I thought it would be a good idea to ride into Bright and meet Jayne at the Velo Cafe. The old train line has been converted into a cycleway/pedestrian pathway and they are encouraging 'bike tourism'. Perhaps they might delineate between the various branches of the cycle kingdom - a road bike does not enjoy the same terrain as a mountain bike or even a hybrid. Needless to say the track was not made for road bikes. The 75km took me 3 hours, a little longer than anticipated. It was hot, 34 degrees when I reached my destination. The beer at the Velo Cafe was very nice.
That night we opted for the Bridge Road Brewery for dinner. They also do pizza and wine. It was a lovely sunny evening in the courtyard, although a tad too crowded with little children. Dinner was lovely and again just a stroll back home.
No riding Saturday morning, although we did walk. This time we walked a different route and ventured through the Beechworth Historic Park. A more difficult walk because of the hills and the varying surfaces under foot but the views and wildlife were more than adequate compensation.
After another sumptuous breakfast we said goodbye to Owen and Judy and headed towards Melbourne and Libby and Steve's place. The drive was uneventful and we arrived within the precicted 3 hours. Still not hungry after breakfast, we passed on lunch and sat in the afternoon sun just chatting - until I realised that it was nealry 6pm and we needed to be on the road again.
An hour's drive saw us at Mornington. We knew the building we were staying in so there were no difficulties finding it, just locating parking nearby to retrieve the keys and divine the curiousities of the underground parking. We located the foyer, but not the key safe. It would have been handy for the instructions to point out that the key safe lay hidden behind a handle-less cupboard in the foyer.
First world problems. All safely negotiated, we unpacked and headed out for dinner. Saturday night in Mornington on the last 'big' weekend of the holidays meant many restaurants were already packed. We opted for the Bay Hotel and enjoyed a surprsingly tasty meal. Jayne was so impressed that I know we will be returning.
The first full day in Mornington dawned grey and unimpressive, but that meant good cycling weather - aside from the slight breeze. Last year the road between Mornington and Dromana was closed so I could only ride so far before turning back towards home looking for extra kms. Road works complete, I rode just a little beyond Dromana this moring before taking the B110 home, including the climg up Mt Martha. I chalked up just less than 40km on my morning ride and then went for a 6km walk with Jayne, all before breakfast.
The day's adventure was to drive to the Mornington markets. Today they were at the race course. Despite the fact that we knew where the race course was, there were no directions as to where to enter. As a result, we missed the markets, wrong street and too much traffic to go back. Instead we headed for Tyabb, the antique district. We went there last year but it wasn't on the weekend so most of the shops were closed. Not so today. It is a bit scary when things you recognised from your childhood were being sold as antiques. BUT, the find of the day, Stylus' album, The Best Kept Secret. So excited to finally own it. It also made me realise how much our record collection is worth. Some of the same LPs we have at home were on the shelf for $45. There is a lesson in this, children, cherish your parents' record collection, it could buy you a house.
Once my new record was safely stowed back at home, we headed down to the Information Centre to collect some new brochures and refresh our memories. The lady there told us she spoken to so many people from Sydney today - yew! I hope it's no-one we know. I love anonymity.
Then to lunch/dinner at DOC, the best pizzas in Australia. We scored an outside table and enjoyed the afternoon sun and a bottle of wine with our salad and pizza. From there we went to the DOC deli and purchased our survival supplies: kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes and gruyere cheese (Swiss, not French, but close).
As I write this, we are sitting on our balcony enjoying the cheese, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and local wine and watching a beautful young couple argue in the street below. He is seriously not happy and has referred to her in some very unattractive ways. Even from this distance, I can see she is not a 'dog', although I'm not sure he said that loud enough for her to hear. He even phoned her after she left and told her to apologise. That didn't go well either. She hung up on him. So, like the man he isn't, he eventually followed her, swearing and muttering under his breath. A life of servitude awaits.
When he parked his car I thought it was all going to be "it's hip to be square" as he held a baby in one arm and wrestled the pram from the boot with the other. But, no. He had to put the baby down on the ground to get the pram set up. I should've realised, he was driving a Mazda 626, not a Toyota Camry. He ddn't win the fight, but he has the better car.
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