5 Days on the Mornington Peninsula

We've had a pretty low key summer, with not much planned besides an invitation to stay at a new friend's beach house for two nights in mid-January. We met these new friends (Sarah and Adrian) in October, through a party at a former work colleague of Andy's. Adrian is a Design Technology teacher like Andy, and they have two girls aged 7 and 8 who Ella and Ollie played with all afternoon. Sarah and Adrian lived abroad in a few different countries for a long time, most recently in Sweden, and had just come back to Melbourne to be with Sarah's family (Adrian is originally from Belgium). We clicked immediately, having many things in common in terms of travelling and living in different countries with young children, and exchanged numbers to meet up again. We'd seen them a couple of more times since, and they invited us to stay in Sarah's family's beach house in Rye with them over the summer. 

We drove to Rye on a Monday morning, through torrential rain. This summer has been very inconsistent weather-wise, even for Melbourne. We've had some beautiful, sunny days, but there have been more clouds and rain than I remember ever having in summer. We arrived at Sarah and Adrian's in time for lunch, and the weather was cool, cloudy and drizzly for the remainder of the day. Nonetheless, we headed down to the beach for a walk with the kids who were entertained with the various bits of debris that had washed into the shallow waters.

Fortunately the weather improved over the next three days. We spent a lot of time at the beach, swimming, paddling on kayaks and paddle boards, playing beach games, and just chilling out. When we were back at the house the kids played in the hammocks strung up across the many tea trees in the back garden, and played games together. There was very little screen time and all four kids got along very well, even Ollie who was considerably younger than the other three. There were times when Ollie did his own thing, but that's not unusual for him - he likes his "me time". He would happily complete word searches or play checkers with me while the girls were playing together. They had a really cool marble run called Gravitrax which he loved, and I am thinking it will make a great birthday present for him this year. The only real issue ended up being between the two girls, who both wanted to spend time alone with Ella. I suppose that kind of thing happens with sisters who are so close in age!

On our last afternoon we went into Rye itself and got ice creams and had a last play in the beachside playground. It was the first time we really went into Rye and holy moly it was SO busy. Rye was the town we were based at the end of our first stint in Australia, but we were there in February/March so after the peak season. Staying at Sarah and Adrian's, which was about 2km from the main strip, was so much more quiet and peaceful, much more preferable to the crowds I saw on our last day.

Before we left Rye, Steve and Michelle called us to ask if we wanted to stay at their beach house for the next two nights instead of heading home. Hurray! I was so happy to be able to extend our little beach holiday for a few more days, instead of heading back to the city where we'd spent the rest of the summer.

We headed to Rosebud, a short 20 minute drive along the coast to the van Beeks, after our ice cream and park play. Andy was actually in Melbourne that day; he'd headed into the city to play in a padel tennis tournament and would join us back on the peninsula the next day. We had a quiet afternoon/evening at their beach house, the kids playing outside while Michelle and I caught up over a bottle of rosé. 

That night the girls wanted to "camp" in the backyard. The set up a tent and snuggled in. We didn't hear much out of them until nearly 10pm, when then came into the house to tell us Ella was feeling a bit scared. I was not surprised; she's never slept in a tent before. We ended up bringing the tent inside and they slept in the tent in the house... baby steps towards camping for Ella! 

The next morning Michelle and I headed to the Peninsula Hot Springs for an early morning soak. Michelle had had a very busy Christmas period with her family, and was desperate for some R&R. Of course I was only to happy to assist her with this! We got there bright and early (if you enter before 8am on a weekday, it's only $45 for entry!) and spent a relaxing morning there. The hot springs were lovely, but my favourite part was doing hot/cold therapy - a sauna or steam followed by a cold plunge. We did this a few times and it is so refreshing - and also I slept like a baby that night, which I'm sure was due to this. (I've since been researching places with cold plunges in Melbourne, it would be great to be able to do this on a regular basis. I'm reminded of a trip to Finland I had one summer when I was about 20 years old. A friend I was visiting had a holiday cabin on a lake. Of course, there was an outdoor sauna, so we would sauna and then jump into the freezing cold lake. Those Scandinavians really know how to live!)

We could have spent the whole day there, but of course "mama guilt" crept in and we felt we should go back and help out with the kids. By this time Andy had returned from Melbourne and him and Steve were at the beach with the kids. We stayed a bit longer and then packed up in time to visit Devilbend Farm Beer for dinner. This place was pretty much perfect for us: lots of casual outdoor seating and play areas for the kids, including tractors to climb on, a tire swing and a playground. The food was delicious and when we arrived it was happy hour: $5 pots and $10 pints. What more could you ask for?

We followed dinner with an ice cream and walk along the pier, a perfect end to the evening. Oh wait, I forgot to mention that just before we left Ella and Gemma got into a little "tiff". Something about their position on the tire swing and neither of them wanted to budge (who can remember the details of things like this?) We left with a grumpy Ella and the two girls not speaking to each other, however by the end of the walk along the pier they were friends again. I am not looking forward to a time when Ella's fights with friends last longer than this... I remember being a teenaged girl (sort of) and girl fights can be brutal! And I didn't even have social media to contend with. Eek. Let's push that thought out of our minds for a few years...

Anyway. The next day was hot a sunny and we spent it on the beach. It was glorious. I love the beach.

Ollie has the least amount of FOMO of any kid I've ever seen. When he's tired, or has had enough, he loves to just sneak off for a little down time. At 5 years old, he could still use a nap sometimes. 

We ended up staying longer than expected as it was such as nice day. We were also delaying going back to Melbourne, where the temperature was a blistering 34 degrees and we knew we'd have a very warm house waiting for us. We decided to stop at Chadstone shopping centre on the way home, which was lovely and air conditioned... and in a mall food court everyone can have exactly what they want to eat! Sushi for Ollie, Vietnamese rolls for Ella, and Mexican for Andy and me. I think a lot of Melbourne had the same idea as us, as it was quite busy that evening. But it was worth it, as by the time we got home the temperature was dropping and it was time for bed. 

It was a lovely five days away, and I'm very thankful we have friends with beach houses who are gracious enough to let us stay with them!