Mornington Penninsula Getaway

(For the rest of the photos click here!)

Juan and I drove down to the Mornington Penninsula for a little Anniversary Getaway. It's a lot closer than I thought it was, only about 1.5 hours of pleasant driving. On the way down we stopped by Tully's Market to get supplies for our in-room dinner spread and they had some really good produce! The prosciutto was to die for and we returned the next day on our way back to Melbourne for some more (and another pepperoni stick as well which we had mistaken thought was a cabana previously).

Day 1 was very rainy unfortunately (hello summer? when did you say you were gonna come around?) but I was determined to go strawberry picking at Sunny Ridge and so after a quick afternoon nap in our room at Seahaze B&B (we had the Lotus Room and it was a really nice stay! Big bed, DVD library and jacuzzi *double thumbs up*) we drove the whole 10 minutes to the farm. You pay $8 for the U-Pick option and get empty punnets which hold around 500g of strawberries. They also gave us plastic bags for our feet due to the mud - totally stylish! Just as we got into the field of strawberries designated for picking ("please follow the orange cones") the rain decided to get heavier and heavier so we raced through the rows looking for lush red strawberries most of which were the size of my palm! We also bought some boysenberry jam and strawberry Pinot (OMG so strawberrilicious and not toooo sweet at all).

Due to the weather (and our almost frostbitten hands), we decided to retire for the day and make the best of our warm, dry room! Our dinner spread was made up of mozzarella, double brie and sweet chilli cream cheese, 100g of San Merino prosciutto (super delish), a pepperoni stick, pumpkin dip, antipasto mix (olives, artichoke, sundried tomatoes, pickled onions, and ... carrots? what the? unexpected and not very popular with us!), turkish bread, white nectarines and super fresh, just picked strawberries that were the most SWEETEST, TASTIEST, STRAWBERRIEST strawberries I've ever eaten. I totally recommend the U-Pick'ing option (if it's not raining ... or even if it is!).
A steaming hot, bubbly jacuzzi later and we were totally done for the day, soft, warm and full of good, fresh produce!

Day 2 the weather was perfecto! After a breakfast of croissants and deliciouso boysenberry jam (jam bought from Sunny Ridge the day before) on the deck, we made our way up to the Arthur's Seat lookout (ho hum) and pretty soon were on our way to Ashcombe Maze and gardens. Boasting the biggest hedge maze in Australia we couldn't resist! The whole complex is quite pretty but smaller than I thought 25 Acres sounds like. The maze was totally fun even if we managed to solve them pretty fast, running like little children never hurt nobody! There were rose gardens, mini-woodlands, a lake and lavender gardens to boot (purple! so much purple!). Touristy yes, but totally worth it.
Before driving back to Melby city, we drove about 30 minutes further to Sorrento just for a looksee and some fish and chips. Not as touristy as I thought but I don't think we made it to the main beach, just the suburb! The waterfront was pretty peaceful but due to the extreme windchill factor, we polished off our lunch and drove straight home (via the aforementioned prosciutto stop) all relaxed and happy and ready for our Christmas holiday to Sydney lol

Mornington Pennisula: Highly recommended!!!