I woke up at 6.00 am just in time to catch a 7.40 am train to Glen Waverley where my friend was going to pick us up because it is a one hour drive from her house whereas it is more than 2 hours drive from the city where I live. We started from Glen Waverley point where we had our favorite brekky choice of Eggs Benedicts etc at Mocca Jo's.
Above: My brekky Eggs Benedict.. All time favorite.Another one is Eggs Florentine with Virginia Ham.
Above: Something to do with omellete, there is a hidden sausage in the omellete with grilled capsicums etc.
Above: Poppy-seeds bagels.
After our quick brekky, well apparently the place will be fully booked by 9.30 so we quickly gulped down our food and got out. We then moved on to driving down to Frankston beach to see this sand sculpture exhibition. Almost lost our hope because of the scattered showers, had to bring my huge annoying umbrella all the freaking times! Unless you want your umbrella to fly upside down, it is better to bring the long one rather than the foldable one because in Melbourne, the strength of the wind is extraordinary.
It was the second last day of the exhibition and apparently some of the sculpture has been damaged by the rain, hence the cost for visiting dropped from $12 an adult to $7, including sand sculpture art (meaning you could relive your childhood memories or if you have kids, let them build a castle for you)
It would be more fun if the day wasn't that shitty. Oh, don't forget to wear your ugliest sneakers as well because it could get really "ugly" inside with the sand-turn-to-mud everywhere after the rain (still raining at that time). However, we really enjoyed the exhibition though, just shows how creative people are and how much effort they must have spent.
Above: This exhibition started from November last year up to yesterday (April 26th).
Above: Warner Bros Bugs Bunny :)
Above: You could see some part has been damaged due to the constant shower the day before.
Above: Journey 2, no I haven't watched the movie yet.
It was quite small for an exhibition but we still really enjoyed the artwork. After circling for one round, we left Frankston and continued our way down to Sunny Ridge Strawberry farm in Mornington Peninsula. For $8.20 per adult, you will be equipped with a 500 gram empty box and a pair of plastic cover for your shoes because it is again, another muddy situation. It is actually not a strawberry season anymore, hence there were only a few rows left where you could pick hugeass strawberries fresh from the farm. I had so much fun picking the strawberries for the first time they were huge!! A lot of them unfortunately have been water-damaged as well. Now I could understand why strawberries are so expensive because of the difficulties the farmers have to go through to grow them!
Above: Our plastic covers for our shoes. Guess which ones are mine lol
Above: Not even halfway through filling up the box.
Above: Yay!!! Finally the box was full!!!
We walked back to the shop where they also sell homemade strawberry and blueberry jams. According to my friend, they are exceptionally good and taste so much much better than the processed ones sold at local supermarkets. I didn't buy one because I got sick of looking and eating strawberries after that. We decided to try the cafe where you could eat all sorts of strawberry desserts, i.e. fondue, kebab, ice-creams all made of fresh strawberries. The staffs also offer to wash the strawberries you just pick... Feel so blessed :) Omitting the fact that the weather was shit, it was such a happy day for me. Also, was trying to cheer my friend up as well because her grandma just passed away :(
Above: Our strawberries :)
Above: strawberries kebab!! Yum with marshmallows~~~
Above: Yummy and huge scones!!! Love the jam, indeed tasted like it IS homemade :)
Above: Itadakimas people!!!
They have a Facebook page as well where I entered the $1000 photo competition which I know I am not going to win it because your picture needs to be liked by the viewers and the competition is ending on the 30th whereas I just uploaded one yesterday! No time to find supporters. Anyways, all just for fun though, just would like to spread out the words. Like Sunny Ridge Strawberry farm Facebook page if you are Australians! Non-Australians are welcomed too! lol
P.S: No, it is not winter yet but this week has been exceptionally cold .. Brrrrr :(
From the farm, we then moved on to Nepean Point National Park all the way to the end of Melbourne at Portsea where it is literally the end of Melbourne/Victoria. If you look at the shape of Australia island in the map particularly Victoria map, you could see the reverse U shape and I literally went to the very end of the east side of Melbourne where you could not possibly go further than that unless you want to jump into the sea.
Before we drove down there, we wanted to visit the lavender farm but it was closed, most probably not the season anymore. It is a 45 minutes walking trail from the gate where cars are not allowed anymore. Cyclists are welcomed though. The view from the walking trail is magnificent! You will get to see why...
There are two paths available for walkers. You could walk along the wider side of the walking trail (main road) or you could follow the branched out pathway where you could see the beach/ocean view. We started off walking the main road and later on we chose to walk via the branched out path.
Above: The beach view from the smaller/narrower path (more like a windy track).
Above: Love how the waves crash to the shore... :) I could sit there all day watching the wave if not for the painfully cold wind :(
Above: with the 'model' *ahem lol
Above: Just realized I am not too bad for a photographer :)
Above: Caught a ray of sunlight piercing through the sea water. A glimpse of hope :)
Above: I was actually trying to be a superwoman, failed in the process.
As you could see in the background (not focusing on me), THAT is the end of the east side of Australia island. Nowhere else to go after that, hence why I said the end of Melbourne which is also the end of Victoria.
Above: Look at the huge wave at the back, not you can't even surf in that kind of wave. It is too huge, you might die seriously. I was amazed by the sea view but at the same time, I kept thinking how dangerous it could be. Apparently this place used to be the base for the Australian army. There are some inactive mines left planted on the ground somewhere because I spot the signboard and there are some tunnels where the solders used to hide as a safe ground. There are also two inactive gigantic canons left.
On the way back, we rode on the mini bus, usually a train like transporter where it took you back to the entrance point instead of spending another 45 minutes walk back. The last ride was scheduled for 4.30 pm, however because they changed it to a mini van, we chose to hop on it at 3.30 pm considering the limited seats available and consider it a late afternoon, there were still heaps of people around. No, we didn't want to be left there and found by the park ranges as "living frozen statues"
We had two hours to kill after the Nepean Point walk, hence we went and had this fish and chips in Mornington. Forgot the name of the shop really... It is a very tiny shop with only a few seats in and outdoor. I think they mostly do take-aways than dine-ins.
Above: Portion is guaranteed quite huge for 2 people. You ve got chips, scallops, battered fish, calamari & prawns.
Afterwards, we just hung out at McCafe because after 5.30 pm, don't ever wish you could find any shops opened except Maccas! This rule applies in the entire Australia. So, if you plan to visit here, make sure you do and/or see everything during the day. Plan your holiday productively!!
Our next destination was the Mornington Peninsula Hotsprings but the discount rate doesn't start until 7 pm or 7 am. We chose to go at 7 pm because it is $20 pp, $25 during public holiday and $35 before 7 pm. Unfortunately, I couldn't take photos inside because I would be soaking wet with the water, splashes from other visitors or I might even risk losing my camera altogether. We moved on from one pool to the other, hence too risky to bring a camera with me inside, so no photos :(
The experience however was truly rejuvenating! I love it so much! You get the jacuzzi experience except it is outdoor and the special hot springs chemical ingredients are supposed to help your skin and blood circulation to be healthier. The scenery view is breathtaking and as you climbed your way higher up the stairs, the water temperature is getting warmer, hence it is always a good start to soak yourself from the closer pool to the entrance. At the highest slope, you could see the hillside view while for us, because it was at night, we couldn't see anything but pitch black view. However, we could see the stars so clearly. It was such a relaxing experience to just soak yourself in hot tub while having a conversation with some friends and watch the stars or even men-shopping or girls because you get to see them wearing bikinis! Again, too bad no pictures taken here :( Nonetheless, this place is very highly recommended for a quick weekend getaway with friends or loved ones :) Visit their site here. I reckon it is better to go in the morning at 7 am because then, you get to enjoy the view clearer. Besides, it is less dangerous to drive around. Due to the nature of the place, it is located very far away from the main road and the street lightings are very poorly lit, in fact no street lights at all for at least 30 minutes while driving. By the time you finish soaking yourself and taking a shower, it will be 10 pm. Driving back to the city is another 2 hours or worse, it you live on the west side, 3 hours... You do the maths. Alternatively, you could choose to stay overnight there since they provide accommodations as well. All of us tried to stay awake while my friend was driving because after the relaxation of your muscles prior to exposed to cold wind, our body automatically feels exhausted and we are likely to fall asleep! We didn't need that while we were driving home! We kept the conversation going until we reached home and that night, if there was a fire in the house, I wouldn't know. That was how deep I had gone to sleep for... All of us had to wake up at 6 because we had to go straight to work :( Well, I actually slept by 7 pm last night to recover all the lost hours!!!
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