A haven for hedonists

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 13 years ago

A haven for hedonists

The good life ... English-style bathing boxes at Portsea.

The good life ... English-style bathing boxes at Portsea.Credit: Michael Rayner

From wineries to spas, Anthony Dennis laps up the good life on the Mornington Peninsula.

I'M STROLLING along a pathway known as the Millionaire's Walk and feeling like, well, a million dollars on a bright though chilly winter's morning on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. More pointedly and popularly known by locals as Sticky Beak's Walk, the path is high above a cliff-face at the seaside town of Portsea.

The walk is essentially a short, narrow grass track fronted by holiday mansions - some old, some new - belonging to the Melbourne elite over the generations. Begrudgingly open to the public. The owners of the houses have periodically claimed the track as their own front yards, even installing forbidding-looking gates at the start of the walk, hoping to deter nosy intruders.

Below us, jetties stretch beyond the shoreline, like overgrown fingernails, into a glittering inlet. Attached to the piers are neat, white-washed weatherboard boat sheds and change rooms.

Down on the beach around the point are more jetties and a collection of quaint English-style beach boxes. Half the size of a decent garage, one of them sold for $420,000 in recent years.

Until our guide on the walk, Fraser Bell, reminded me I'd forgotten that this was the location of mysterious events in 1967. Harold Holt, the then prime minister and passionate swimmer, sensationally disappeared at nearby Cheviot beach that year. His body was never found. Holt used to drive his maroon Pontiac Parisienne from Melbourne after escaping a suffocating, land-locked Canberra, to his beloved Mornington Peninsula, now just an hour's drive due south of the Victorian capital. Holt, who enjoyed the good life, would doubtless be impressed, amazed even, by how the peninsula has grown; the expenditure on that beach box is nothing compared with what's been spent elsewhere.

The $11 million Port Phillip Estate winery building at Red Hill, north of Portsea, is a swathe of modernist curled concrete that unfurls above Western Port Bay and Bass Strait, like a silk scarf in a light breeze.

Port Phillip Estate is now among more than 200 vineyards on the Mornington Peninsula, a region with a classic cool maritime climate that produces fine pinot noirs and chardonnays, with newer regional varietals such as pinot grigio, pinot gris and even shiraz.

The Port Philip Estate, which won a 2010 Victorian Architecture Award for the firm Wood/Marsh, has just opened six new, high-design "winery apartments" overlooking the vineyards and ocean.

Advertisement

The lavishly decorated suites feel more like those belonging to a New York boutique hotel than accommodation in regional Australia, with leather bedheads, Italian silk throws, Missoni bathrobes and framed Bill Henson photographs in each living area. The complex also features a sleek restaurant, the Port Phillip Dining Room, in a region with more than its share of restaurants rated highly in The Age Good Food Guide, including stand-outs such as Monalto, Max's at Red Hill Estate and Ten Minutes by Tractor. Indeed, where there is good wine there is invariably good food, and I spend my days and nights dining at restaurants such as the elegant Salix at Willow Creek Vineyard, the unpretentious though accomplished The Long Table at Red Hill South and the boathouse-like Stillwater at Crittenden.

Perhaps the most distinctive eatery of all on the peninsula is Merrick's General Wine Store, a converted milk bar in a historic timber building and now a casual, contemporary bistro. Kathleen Quealy, a former Sydneysider way back, was a pioneer of pinot gris on the peninsula and founded its fabled T'Gallant wine label.

Early on a Sunday morning, I'm the first customer at Merricks and plonk myself at a table in front of the blazing open fire before ordering breakfast from a menu featuring dishes such as sauteed mushrooms on sourdough with melted tallegio cheese or grilled caramelised ruby grapefruit with wholegrain toast. True to the word "general" in its name, Merricks is a cafe, restaurant and cellar door all under one roof (or two, if you count the addition of a dining room at the back).

Elsewhere on the peninsula, as the first prime minister to truly embrace Asia, Holt would surely be intrigued by the remarkable Peninsula Hot Springs, which unveiled a new $7 million wing late last year.

Open year-round, the natural thermal hot springs attraction is the brainchild of Charles Davidson, who gained his inspiration for the complex during years spent in Japan, where he grew to appreciate the country's hot-springs culture.

Davidson has added bathing experiences from other nations, such as saunas and cold plunge pools inspired by Finland and Russia. The latest addition is a Turkish bathhouse with a domed roof, a traditional heated centre stone and marble seating in the round. Luxury accommodation, to the tune of 126 rooms scattered around the site, each featuring a thermal bath, is next on Davidson's ambitious drawing board.

During my visit, eschewing the death-wish plunge pools, I opt for a private, hand-carved, outdoor stone bath warmed at a temperature of between 37 and 43 degrees. If the bath was not surrounded by native Australian shrubs, it could be in Japan. Even though it's midwinter, the supplied bathrobes mean you can make a quick foray into the hot, though not too hot, pool. Just as well they ring a bell to alert you that your time is up.

Davidson says the challenge for Mornington Peninsula is that there isn't a single attraction, like, say, the Great Ocean Road, to characterise the region for visitors; rather there is a plethora of golf courses, some of them, including Moonah Links and The National at Cape Schanck, among the best in Australia; the 50-odd cellar doors; the vineyards, beer brewers and the hot springs.

Such choice is surely the sort of dilemma from which other regions in Australia would happily suffer. This visit reminds me yet again what a lovely and civilised existence the Victorians have created for themselves, ensuring that all of the most appealing aspects of city life are available in virtually all of the accessible regions, such as the Mornington Peninsula itself.

Back on the Stickybeak Walk at Portsea, a pair of bottlenose dolphins is bobbing in the water just off the beach.

Whenever Holt felt like a release from the stress of politics, he called on his "miracle cure" of a visit to the peninsula. After four days of stickybeaking around Harold's haven, I may not have cured my own stress but I'm certainly feeling revitalised, with a return pilgrimage some time a real possibility.

The writer travelled courtesy of Tourism Victoria and Mornington Peninsula Tourism.

Three (other) things to do

1: A rewarding place to break your journey on the way from Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula, McClelland Sculpture Park features a permanent outdoor collection in a bushland setting as well as indoor exhibitions. 360-390 McClelland Drive, Langwarrin. (03) 9789 1671, mcclellandgallery.com.

2: Heronswood consists of a historic house set in a beautiful garden with stunning bay views. Adjoining the house is the Digger's Club, home to Australia's biggest range of heirloom vegetable seeds. 105 Latrobe Parade, Dromana. (03) 5984 7318; diggers.com.au.

3: The Mornington Peninsula is a popular horse-riding destination. And the Victorians, being Victorians, have created Horseback Winery Tours, with half-day or full-day rides to various of cellar doors. Red Hill, Mornington Peninsula. (03) 5989 6119, horsebackwinerytours.com.au.

Trip notes

Getting there

Qantas (13 13 13, qantas.com.au), Jetstar (13 15 38, jetstar.com), Virgin Blue (13 67 89 virginblue.com.au) and Tiger Airways (03 9335 3033, tigerairways.com) all fly to Melbourne Airport at Tullamarine (and from Avalon Airport with Jetstar), from where you can travel on the city's excellent freeway system virtually all the way to Mornington Peninsula.

Staying there

Max's Retreat at Red Hill Estate is a private four-bedroom cottage at a winery, with restaurant and sea views. 9 Station Road, Red Hill South. rooms from $300 a night. (03) 5989 2838, redhillestate.com.au.

Lakeside Villas — Stillwater at Crittenden. More dam-side villas, but damned fine accommodation. Spacious villas right on the water, adjacent to vineyards. 25 Harrisons Road, Dromana. Villas from $250 a night. (03) 5981 9555, stillwateratcrittenden.com.au.

Port Phillip Estate. The designer apartments set a new standard. 263 Red Hill Road, Red Hill South. Apartments from $450 a night. (03) 5989 2708, portphillipestate.com.au.

Dining there

Merricks General Wine Store. Melburnians make day-trips to visit this place, for breakfast or lunch. 3460 Frankston-Flinders Road, Merricks. (03) 5989 8088, mgwinestore.com.au.

Fork to Fork at Heronswood. This perfect lunch spot focuses on the produce from its adjoining garden. Latrobe Parade, Dromana. (03) 5984 7318, diggers.com.au.

Salix Restaurant & Bistro at Willow Creek. Vineyard views and assured contemporary cooking. 166 Balnarring Road, Merricks North. (03) 5989 7640, willow-creek.com.au.

The Long Table. This friendly restaurant features skilfully prepared dishes and warm service. 159 Shoreham Road, Red Hill South. (03) 5989 2326, thelongtable.com.au.

Port Phillip Estate Dining Room; chef Simon West is at the helm of this newcomer.

See + do

Peninsula Hot Springs, Springs Lane, Fingal, Rye. (03) 5950 8777, peninsulahotsprings.com.

More information

visitmorningtonpeninsula.org

Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter

Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.

Most viewed on Traveller

Loading