We spent most of the morning at Pete and Celia's place in the Dandenongs waiting to see if they would let him out of hospital after the op on his leg the previous night. Their son Sam had an interview at a kind of 6th Form College that morning, so due to their inability to drive due to broken legs, Janet had to drive Sam and Celia to that, while I waited around until Pete was ready to be released and picked up from hospital. Eventually all fell into place, I picked up Pete, and Janet took off with Sam to his interview. We also spent the morning stocking up their fridge and larder with food because it would be several days before they could get out and about, and then Janet also cooked up a few things for them to put in the freezer / fridge !! I then had to leave because I had to pick up the keys for the house where we would be staying for the next few days down on the Peninsula.
Port Phillip Bay is the enormous and very protected bay immediately south of Melbourne, and the Peninsula stretches down the eastern side, curling round until it almost meets the opposing peninsula over on the western side, where Geelong is located. The resulting "narrows" at the mouth of the bay therefore ensure an almost totally enclosed natural harbour. Half way down the Peninsula is Mt Eliza where both Janet is from, and where I started out teaching in 1970, and it is a beautiful area. The road then continues on down the coast, through Mornington and Mt Martha, and eventually to Rye, Sorrento, and Portsea right at the tip of the peninsula. Janet's cousin
Jenny has a holiday house down in Sorrento which she had kindly agreed to lend us for a few days while we attended the wedding of Vaughn, the son of good friends of ours John and Vivien Taylor. I had to pick the keys up before close of office hours, so went on ahead of Janet, collected the keys, did some shopping for a few basic groceries (beer, cheese, nibbles, etc - Normal light stuff !!!), and then unpacked Troopie before Janet arrived.
I had never ever been this far down the Peninsula (that I can remember) so it was really interesting going through places like Rye and Sorrento that I had always heard so much about, but never really visited before. It is beautiful down there, and most of the properties are VERY expensive holiday homes overlooking Port Phillip Bay, but with the ocean beaches opening onto the wild Bass Straight right behind them.
We had a quiet evening, cooking at the house, and an early night, but the next morning explored the area a little - The wedding was not until 4.15 pm.
On the ocean side of the peninsula are some stunning surf beaches and rock formations like "London Bridge" (the original larger version fell down a few years ago !!), and just a stone's throw away on the inside are the quieter beaches of Port Philip Bay. Given the very narrow gap between the heads of Queenscliff on the western side and Portsea on the eastern side, the tips of land (known locally as "The Heads") are where defences were set up in the early days to protect the bay from attack - Although precisely who they expected to sail in with guns blazing remains a bit of a mystery !! Penguins from Antarctica ? Tasmanians ?? Anyway, they had gun emplacements and troops stationed there, and they also had a Quarantine Station -
Many of the early (non convict !) ships arriving in the 1850's onwards arrived with all sorts of infectious diseases on board after their long and perilous journeys, and so were quarantined here for the required 40 days (The word quarantine of course comes from the Italian "quaranta giorni", which means 40 days !!) So there were hospitals, living quarters, cemeteries (for those who didn't recover !!), and even a "disinfecting and bathing" complex. This last unit is really spooky and weird, and to be honest makes one think of some places in Eastern Europe in WW II which were less intent on people's long term welfare.
But the chimney, the boilers, and the steam areas are eerily reminiscent, even though they really were only for disinfecting both people and luggage !! Anyway, it was a fascinating place to explore and understand some of the early issues of immigration ! Fortunately by the time I got here things had improved, if only slightly !! While it closed as a quarantine facility in 1979 (after I arrived, please note !!), it was used by the Army as an Officer Cadet School until 1998, and in 1999 was used to house Kosovo refugees on their arrival. It is now purely a museum, housing many artefacts from the times.
After we left the quarantine station, it was time for lunch and we found a great little restaurant beside the bay in Sorrento - Bath's Restaurant - Presumably the site earlier for public baths or a swimming area. The squid was delicious, and the fish was a delight - And excellent meal washed down with a nice cold glass of pinot gris, before we headed back to the house - Janet to prepare for the wedding, and me to have a nap after my glass of lunch time wine !!
By 3.45 we were all booted and spurred, and headed off to the Church just down the road (nothing is very far away down here !!). First time I have worn a suit and tie in a LONG time !!! We were one of the first to arrive at the church, which was just as well because it was tiny, and it ended up absolutely packed ! So we were ensconced well in time, and of course hardly knew a soul there except the groom and his mum and dad and sister (who was a bridesmaid).
But it was a lovely service, with the Bride and Groom obviously very much in love (fortunately !!), and all went well. Coming out afterwards it tried to rain a little, but not enough to really upset anyone, especially since they had been predicting storms and rain all day, so they were very fortunate. (For any non Australians reading this, Melbourne weather is notoriously fickle - It can be a sweltering 30 degrees C one minute, and soon after it can be 15 degrees with driving rain and wind !!) Anyway, the reception was held at the Sorrento Sailing Clubjust 5 minutes from the church, so once the wedding party had left the church in their lovely old Bentley / Rolls cars, we headed towards the yacht club.
And the Club was a perfect setting - Overlooking the Bay, it was beautifully laid out for ?? 150 people ? Luckily most people had arrived before the rain set in in earnest, and we were unaffected as we tucked into our drinks and delicious canapés as we socialised prior to the commencement of "official" proceedings.
Suffice it to say, everything went perfectly (as far as we are aware !!), and it was a beautiful wedding and reception. It was the first wedding we have been to since our own daughter Sarah married Benn in 2010, and brought back some happy memories.
The was lots of dancing and merriment at the end, and eventually everyone went home and we slept solidly as we were so exhausted !
The next morning it was off to the house where our friend's John and Vivien were staying for "next day brunch". Because Janet and I arrived relatively early (I think many of the "younger crowd" had partied on till quite late the night before !!), our car was trapped in the driveway, so we ended up being about the last to leave !! But as our plans had changed, we did not have to drive back to Mt Eliza that afternoon, as we spent the (very pleasant) day eating and drinking !! Started of with eggs, bacon and coffee in the morning, and gradually worked though to sausages then chops and
beer and wine by afternoon !! And also chocolates, although Rod managed to eat EVERY single Dairy Flake, which was most distressing for other Flake aficionados like myself ! However, since he was having a complete knee reconstruction operation on Tuesday, I will accept that he needed them more than we did !! If you are reading this, hope the knee is OK, Rod, and you are soon back on the road !!
But it really was a very pleasant day - with almost everyone from the wedding passing through during the day, it was a lot easier and more relaxed way of meeting everyone and having a chat with many of them than at the reception. Thank you John and Vivien. Best wishes for the future Vaughn and Amanda. And thank you to all the people we met and chatted with over the weekend.
Oh, and of course the first cricket Test Match was on in the background all day, so we were able to enjoy the Poms being given a lesson in how to play cricket !! Snigger.
Then it was back to our house, and pack up ready to depart early the next morning. Well, Janet packed her stuff - I decided to go to bed as I was exhausted, and planned to get up early to pack the van when it was light in the morning !!
Pics from our time down in Sorrento are here.
https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0057Sorrento?authkey=Gv1sRgCNX95vjbsuPPRA#
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