Down the Mornington Peninsula

For the most part, I like not owning a car. I live in a city where the tram is at my doorstep and the train is around the corner. A taxi fare from the CBD is only about 20 dollars. I don't have to worry about the price of petrol or insurance, maintenance bills, rego or car payments. And best of all, I'm reducing my carbon footprint.

But sometimes, when I want to get away from town and explore other places, a car would be rather useful. So, it was quite the treat to have my in-laws drive down from South Australia. It meant that for a few days, we'd have a car to drive down to the Mornington Peninsula, just an hour away from our apartment.

On a sunny Saturday morning, we piled into the car and started the drive down the Nepean Highway. After a nice nap, we stopped the car at Heronswood Garden in Dromana.

It is home to the Digger's Club, a garden club interested in preserving traditional gardening and heritage plant varieties. As if this sign outside Heronswood wasn't proof enough.

My in-laws decided to opt out of paying $10 per person to see the gardens and instead purchased items from the shop before heading to the restaurant on site Fork to Fork for some coffee and scones as we had missed out on their fabulous organic lunch menu. I'd like to make the trip back there someday to try the constantly changing menu.

With gardening purchases in hand, we set our sites on the real reason we came to the Mornington: to drink wine. On our way inland to the wine region, we ended up getting sidetracked at Arthur's Seat and had to pile out of the car to get a picture or two.

Now, finally on to some wineries. Except that my father in-law took a detour when he saw cheese tasting. Okay, so cheese tasting, then wineries! We stopped at Red Hill Cheese to indulge ourselves in a tasting platter (and I tried everything but the blue cheese).

I have found that I am not a fan of cow milk products in Australia (I have yet to deduce why, but so far they seem to have a sharp taste and a slightly foul odor). I surprised myself by enjoying the sheep and goat cheeses. I even bought the sheep's milk soft cheese, Tyabb Mist.

And then, we drove back down the dirt road to stop at Main Ridge Estate. Our first winery of the day. Somehow, with all the distractions and afternoon tea, the day had withered away and it was now after 4pm. Our plans to visit the Peninsula's wineries had suddenly been dashed. But, here at least was one, looking very welcoming in the low afternoon sun.

Known for their award winning chardonnay (which my mother-in-law promptly made a face at) and their pinot noir (my husband bought a bottle of their half acre pinot, in hopes that he can have enough restraint to cellar it for the next 10 years).

We only had time for one more fast detour at Lindenberry to quickly try their range of wines and grab a few cleanskins before heading back up the Nepean Highway. We passed through Brighton just in time to catch the beautiful afternoon sunset on one of the first warm days of this (rather late) Spring.