Portarlington

Monday, 22 September 2014

Thought we had been transported to another country

Sharing lunch with two determined magpies

Portarlington beach and jetty

Family gathering

Jack Rabbit Winery

New door opener

Yesterday, we left Ballarat and moved the caravan to Portarlington, on the Bellarine Peninsula, quite a pleasant drive to Geelong and then along the peninsula.  Although the day started off quite cloudy, this quickly cleared to a clear, sunny day – with a definitely cool breeze coming off the water.

We are staying at the Bellarine Caravan Park at Portarlington, an immense park with only a few caravans at the moment, despite being school holidays in Victoria.  We look out across the beach and Port Phillip Bay to the distant skyscrapers of Melbourne.  Such a beautiful spot, made even better by the weather.

We enjoyed an afternoon visiting with my cousin, Norm, who was more than happy to take us for a drive in his new car.  We had the pleasure of a family dinner at the local club, with Norm’s brother and sister-in-law joining us and sharing many memories of family and caravan holidays.

The superb weather continued today and Himself (after carefully checking the park regulations) connected up the hose and washed both the caravan and car.  This morning we visited one of the local wineries – Jack Rabbit – and sampled a few of their wares.  This winery also has a very posh café and even posher restaurant attached to its cellar door – and the most wonderful view over the Bay.  Next time we are in the area, we will definitely return for a meal.

This afternoon I hopefully entertained the local historical society (at Norm’s invitation) and talked about the plight of Australia’s female convicts in the 19^th Century.  There were plenty of questions, so fingers crossed that most people learned something.

Unfortunately, we also lost the outside door handle to the caravan today – it has been hanging precariously for some time and today was when it decided to come off.  We can get a new one tomorrow from Jayco but until then, one of us has to stay inside or else the screwdriver has to be used – with appropriate mutterings.