Long Weekend in Melbourne Part 2

On Sunday, we drove out to JL & E's home on the Mornington peninsula, on the outskirts of Melbourne. We had not seen E since they were living in Whistler, BC, so it was wonderful to be with her, JL, and their boys again. Even more fun was meeting the latest addition, a 15 month old elf boy with strawberry blonde hair and a wicked smile.

After giving the boys their books (In Flanders Fields for the oldest, Roche Carrier's The Hockey Sweater, and Robert Munsch books for the other two) I showed them all pictures of their cousins and our grandchildren on my iPad. We caught up on family, homes, jobs and so on. And enjoyed watching the boys with their grandparents. Then we piled into two cars and went to Sorrento.

From what I could understand, Sorrento is further up the Mornington peninsula out toward the coast. As we came into the town along the waterfront, we saw small colorful buildings side by side along the beach. These windowless structures are privately owned and are used to store umbrellas, buckets and whatever might be needed for a day at the seaside. At first I thought that these were the beach homes that we had come to see. But that was far from correct.

We drove through town and out to a park, then continued on foot - three boys, one toddler in a stroller, parents, grandparents, and us - the aunt and uncle - until we came to a dirt road that headed toward the water. At the end was a path that led along the cliff on the public allowance at the edge of lands overlooking the coves and the jetties below. These properties are substantial, to say the least, with beautiful homes and gardens, some with matching boathouses on the docks. It was a challenging walk, up and down and uneven, but worth every step. At the end of it, we came to a path that went down to a sheltered beach where we found seashells and more of the beach huts.

The boys explored every inch, built sand castles, and helped look for shells. Even though we were wearing a few layers against the cool air, the wee one was stripped down and had a bit of a splash at the edge of the water until he did a face plant into the sand. That was the signal that it was time to go back to the cars and find a restaurant. We ate at place with a large dining room, a bar, a generous seniors menu, and a playroom for the kids. It was amazing how easy going the meal was until the little guy took off at full speed around the dining room with me in pursuit. I finally corralled him in the playroom and delivered him back to his Mom and Dad. We said goodnight, goodbye, thanks for the great day, and tired from the long walk and all the fresh air, L, B, J and I headed back to our hotel.