Mornington Peninsula

Last week was a fantastic week at work - we spent Thursday and Friday working from the Mornington Peninsula in between bouts of fantastic food and drink. We rented a car and took the Queenscliff - Sorrento car ferry across to Mornington, which was a very cool trip in itself. My first car ferry! These pictures are of (1) the ferry (!!); (2) my team working on the ferry (somehow I didn't have to work and was nominated the photographer); (3) the view from the ferry

Our first stop was lunch at the beautiful La Pentanque on Main Ridge, located right in the middle of the vines. I had a fantastic lunch tasting menu of Hervey Bay scallops followed by Lamb sweetbreads and a snapper fillet. This is also where my obsession with local Pinot Noirs began. Oh, before I forget, beets are really, really popular here. In sandwiches, on hamburgers, in salads. Everything. And you can't call them beets or they don't know what you're talking about. It must be beetroot. I have tried to engage Aussies in a debate as to why they don’t call carrots “carrotroot” or potatoes “potatoeroot” but they don’t take the bait. Anyways, VN ordered beetroot sorbet for dessert. It tasted like....beets.


From here we made our way to the Peninsula Hot Springs, which were super relaxing. They are a series of about 15 outdoor pools, all different temperatures, and all natural springs. I wish I had brought my camera in; the highest pool had 360 views of the countryside all around. Not bad while soaking in a natural 38 degree pool!! 


At this point things just got a little silly. We went from the hot springs to Ten Minutes By Tractor, possibly the best restaurant on the Peninsula. Another beautiful location, but this time we had the six course degustation menu. Fantastic. But we were feeling a bit full! The highlight for me was the scallops, served with broth heated up in a bunson burner type implement (to properly infuse it), and also the goat cheese I had for dessert. 
 
After all of this myself and the other two ladies headed to our accommodation for the night - the old cottage of the Head Lightkeeper of the Capeschanck Lighthouse. It was so cute, quiet, and beautiful. KM and I went for a run in the morning, following a footpath along the coast. It was a bit hilly for my liking, but she was a great sport and slowed way down for me. As if the scenery wasn't enough, we were super lucky and saw three kangaroos! They were just sitting along the side of the path watching us, and then they hopped away. Very cute! Very furry! I must see more of them! Much cooler than squirrels. After a hearty breakfast in town we headed back to the office to round out our Friday.
 





Definitely can't complain about that week!
(PS Good thing I found my camera cord!)