21 January 2018, Sunday

Today, the three of us took a road trip to Mornington Peninsula, located some 75km southeast of Melbourne city and about an hour’s drive away. It was 27 degrees Celsius and a very fine summer’s day. At 10am, we walked to the Budget/AVIS outlet near our apartment and picked up our rental car, a Toyota Corolla. I happily sat in the backseat while YE took the wheel.

Our first stop was Commonfolk Coffee at 16 Progress Street, Mornington (website: https://www.commonfolkcoffee.com.au/). It is located in the middle of some industrial area and it’s the last place you’ll expect to find a café. Commonfolk occupies a warehouse building so it has spacious interiors. When we visited at 11:30am, it was crowded and almost fully occupied. No surprise as it was a Sunday morning.

I ordered a flat white and an Egg ‘n’ Bacon Roll sandwich, which had bacon, fried eggs, house made chutney & cheddar cheese on a pressed Turkish roll. The chutney added a zing to it. KL had a Toastie while YE customised his meal of toast, fried eggs and pulled pork. It was a very satisfying breakfast and a great start to the day.

After our meal, we chanced upon an antiques shop called Obtainium, just opposite Commonfolk. It looked interesting so we popped in for a quick look. It had all sorts of vintage wear and items. I was tempted to buy some old paperback books but I managed to resist.

Our next stop was Port Phillip Estate vineyard, located at 263 Red Hill Road, Red Hill South (website: https://www.portphillipestate.com.au/). Mornington Peninsula is one of Australia’s foremost cool climate maritime wine regions and Port Phillip Estate specialises in Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. From the carpark, there was no hint of any vineyard in sight as all we saw was a long stretch of limestone earth wall with a tiny, nondescript entrance.

After stepping through the doors, we found ourselves in the Cellar Door Kitchen, a dining room with floor-to-ceiling glass windows offering panoramic views of the beautiful vineyards beyond. It was a wonderful surprise and a complete contrast to the monolithic walls outside.

We couldn’t actually walk to the vineyards so I snapped a few photos from the balcony area before retreating back to the Cellar Door Kitchen. YE was already at the bar counter starting his wine tasting session. It costs A$5 per person for wine tasting but it is refundable if you purchase one bottle of wine. You get to sample six tasting pours of 15ml each, which is approximately equivalent to one standard drink.

According to the tasting notes, the wines on sample are Port Phillip Estate Sauvignon 2017, Quartier Pinot Gris 2017, Port Phillip Estate Salasso Rosé 2017, Port Phillip Estate Balnarring Pinot Noir 2016, Kooyong Estate Pinot Noir 2014 and Port Phillip Estate Single Vineyard Serenne Shiraz 2015. I’m no wine connoisseur so I can’t tell the difference between them, to be honest. But the person pouring the wine explained the distinctive characteristics of each of the wines so we knew what to look out for, and that helped a little. YE bought a bottle of wine and left the place happy.

Next up was Mock Red Hill apple cider farm, just a short drive away from Port Phillip Estate. Mock Red Hill is located at 1103 Mornington Flinders Road, website http://mockredhill.com.au/.

The Mock family planted their first orchard here at Red Hill in 1895 and continue to do so five generations later. They are famous for their bio-dynamic apples, which are grown using environmentally friendly, ecologically safe and biological methods without the use of artificial or synthetic chemicals and fertilisers.

At the Cider Lounge, we did a cider tasting session. Cider is fermented apple juice and they come in alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions. A Tasting Paddle costs A$10 and it was supposed to come with five different varieties of ciders. However, one of the ciders was not available so they substituted it with two pieces of frozen strawberries coated in white chocolate. The ciders were very good indeed. They tasted natural, were full of flavour and very refreshing.

After the tasting session, we went to the orchard where we saw the apple trees. Normally, we would be able to buy some apples but during our visit, the apples were not ripe yet so we could only admire them from afar.

We then drove to another nearby vineyard called Ten Minutes by Tractor (website: https://www.tenminutesbytractor.com.au/). The restaurant was also packed with locals enjoying a nice lunch. YE took the opportunity to do another wine tasting here while I wandered around the outdoor premises and snapped some pictures of the beautiful flowers.

Our next stop was Red Hill Cheese, located at 81 William Street, Red Hill (website: https://redhillcheese.com.au/). Like most of the farms here, they are a family run artisan cheese company that produces small batches of cheese and gourmet produce.

Likewise, they also had tasting plates where visitors can sample eight types of cheese. As we were feeling quite full from all the wine and apple cider tastings earlier, we went for a small tasting plate (A$5). The only difference between the small and large tasting plate (A$10) is the portion – you still get to sample the same eight cheeses.

We were given a slip of paper listing all the cheeses available for the day. There were different types of cow, sheep and goat cheese, coming in semi-hard, soft white-mould, feta style, farmhouse style, rind-washed and blue varieties. We picked a few from each category to try.

The eight cheeses were arranged from mildest to strongest (blue) in a clockwise direction. We started with the lightest one. The blue cheese reminded us of the smell in a zoo, which was not altogether pleasant. Our favourite was the Kongwak Reserve, a light sheep cheese with mountain peppers. I bought small slab of it to bring back (A$11).

After all the food and drink, it was time to do some trekking, or bushwalking, as they say in Australia. Our next stop was Cape Schanck, located at the southernmost tip of Mornington Peninsula. We arrived at 4:10pm.

There was a circuit track where we had a nice view of the Cape Schanck Lighthouse and the surrounding sea. The weather was perfect as the clouds shielded the sun and it was not too hot.

We also went on a boardwalk that led to the end of the cape, where there was a small geological rock formation called Pulpit Rock (no, not the one in Norway). Pulpit Rock is separated from the mainland by water so you’ll need to get wet if you want to reach it. The path to Pulpit Rock is quite rocky and there are waves coming in, so do be careful. To be frank, Pulpit Rock is just a little stump sticking out of the sea and it isn’t very impressive, so it’s ok to just admire it from afar.

After about 50 minutes of light trekking, we made our way back to the carpark and drove back to the city. At about 6:30pm, we stopped by Brighton Beach because I wanted to check out the colourful bathing boxes there. Technically speaking, Brighton Beach is the name of the general area while the iconic bathing boxes are located at Dendy Street Beach.

Parking was super expensive – at A$5.40 per hour. However, you paid for as long as you wished to park. We paid A$3 so that gave us 33 minutes of parking time.

These iconic bathing boxes were first built in 1862 and they numbered more than 200 in 1930. However, many were lost due to neglect and storm damage. After the violent storm in 1934, the remaining few that survived were realigned in their present position, well above the high water mark.

During the 1970s, the State Government attempted to demolish all the boxes but it was met with fierce resistance from the locals. The boxes were deemed to be important to Brighton’s heritage and they have since been protected by a Planning Scheme Heritage Overlay. Today, there are 82 boxes remaining. They are a favourite subject for photographers because of their colourful designs, and have become an icon of Melbourne.

When we visited, the beach was crowded and there were many people taking advantage of the good weather to swim or sunbathe. The boxes were all lined up in a row and they were very pretty indeed. They were all painted in bright colours and some of them had interesting designs and motifs.

Some of the boxes were open and we got to peek inside them. Basically, they were like little store rooms where people kept their chairs and tables and supplies. I guess during weekends like today, the owners would come here and have a little picnic with their family and friends. Just set up some chairs and tables on the sand and enjoy a bottle of wine. Not a bad way to spend a morning or evening.

After the short visit to Dendy Street Beach, we proceeded to our last destination for the day. YE had made a dinner reservation (way back in October!) at 400 Gradi, a restaurant at Brunswick (website: http://400gradi.com.au/).

400 Gradi refers to the high temperature at which a thin-based traditional Neapolitan pizza is cooked (for just 90 seconds) in a wood-fired oven. The restaurant is famous because its founder, Johnny Di Francesco, was crowned the World Pizza Champion at the Campianato Mondiale Della Pizza in Italy in April 2014. His Margherita Pizza beat 600 other competitors from 35 countries to take the top prize. He was the first Australian to have ever won the prestigious honour.

Naturally, we ordered the Margherita pizza and another salami pizza, as well as a salad and a pasta to share. The Margherita pizza really lived up to its reputation. We were very impressed by the tomato base, which was so flavourful we could taste the freshness and juiciness of the tomatoes. The tomato base was like the main draw, not the toppings. The salami in the other pizza was really spicy. All in all, it was a very good meal.

The days are long in summer and the sun was just about to set when we left the restaurant at 9pm to head back to our apartment. We spent the rest of the night relaxing and watching AO matches on TV, a perfect way to end the day!