Summer Holiday in McCrae

I have just returned from a wonderful week's holiday with family and friends in a house at McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula. The house was called "Four Oaks Cottage" - I don't know why because, even though it was situated on two acres of beautiful gardens, I couldn't for the life of me find even one oak tree, let alone four! However, it did give us the most beautiful view of the Bay from the front porch.

On the second day, Lizzy's friend Indi joined us and Mum & Dad took the ferry from Cowes to Stony Point with Adam (Lizzy's boyfriend) and his friend Simon, where we picked them all up.

The kids put up tents and pumped up lilos to sleep on ...


















Pretty soon, we were all settled in - Jarrah and the cats too! Wayne drove to pick up Torie and Nick in the evening, so we were all together.

The next day was New Year's Eve and my birthday. In the morning I was given some lovely presents, including a case for my banjo.





I got so many lovely cards and presents! I really was spoiled by everyone!

Then we went out to lunch in Rosebud to continue the celebration, where we were joined by our good friends Zoe and Shane.

After lunch, Torie & Nick caught the bus back home as they had a New Year's Eve party to go to. In the evening we had a barbeque back at the cottage and really lovely caramel birthday cake that Wayne had somehow managed to obtain and hide from me.

Then we dropped Lizzy, Indi, Adam & Simon down into Rye where there was going to be a big (alcohol-free) NYE beach party. Richie went to another party with friends in Blairgowrie and the rest of us stayed home for a quiet NYE and to watch the fireworks across the bay from the porch. It was a wonderful sight!


January 1 was a very warm day, so we just sat on the porch chatting, while the kids went down the beach. Richie drove back to Melbourne later that afternoon, as he had another party to go to the next day.


January 2 was VERY hot - 42 degrees! So we sat inside the cottage watching DVDs or reading with the air conditioning on full blast. Later in the afternoon, Wayne took Adam & Simon back to the ferry with Lizzy & Indi. I was taking Mum & Dad too, but had forgotten that I was extremely low on petrol, so had to go and fill up first. This meant a fifteen minute trip in the opposite direction and back again, which meant we were half an hour later in heading off to the ferry. I tried to hurry, without putting us all in danger, but ended up missing the boat by about three minutes! "Missed it by that much!!", I said, holding my thumb and finger about 1cm apart.


We stood on the jetty and waved as Adam & Simon headed off to Cowes to be picked up by Adam's dad and then returned to McCrae with Mum & Dad, as they would have to catch the ferry the next day. Luckily, the man who was caring for their little dog Muffy was happy to have her for one more day! Before we went back to the cottage, we stopped off in Rosebud and had dinner at the pub.


The next day, January 3, I managed to get Mum & Dad to the ferry in plenty of time on the second attempt and waved them off back to Cowes. Wayne left later in the afternoon to go back to Melbourne, as he had to return to work the next day and he took Indi with him. This left just Lizzy and me in the cottage for two more days! It was so peaceful with just us there, after the hubbub of the previous four days!




Yesterday, we visited Heronswood in Dromana. This is a huge property owned by the Diggers Club (a gardening club) where they have lots of heritage plants, fruits and vegetables laid out, as well as seeds and seedlings for sale.










I was delighted to see this place, as I have been a member of the Diggers Club in the past and had read about it in their magazines. I was like a kid in a toy shop and couldn't stop inspecting plants and taking photos. Lizzy was very patient with me but I knew she was pretty bored with it all.


They also have an amazing collection of exotic plants at Heronswood, some of which looked like they had come from another planet!



Lizzy had the map of the property and was guiding us around it a little quicker than I really wanted to go. She kept saying "Yes, that's great, Mum. Now, next we have ...." and walking on.









I particularly enjoyed seeing how they had laid out their vegetable patches in a kind of segmented circular shape. It gave me ideas of how I can develop my own patch!







After a couple of hours, I took pity on Lizzy and we headed off to Portsea for lunch at the hotel. Lizzy had the biggest chicken parmagiana I've ever seen! It was the size of a dinner plate, and then there was a huge serving of chips as well. I had the seafood chowder, which was very yummy. Then we took a walk along the beach to help all that food go down. On the way back to the car we picked up a little tub of Ben & Jerry's icecream to share.


Then, on the way back to the cottage, we dropped in on our dear friends Ken & Lisa who have a holiday house in Sorrento. Ken was at work and their children Kate & Mitchell were off doing their own things (as they are in their late teens), so there was just Lisa there to sit and have a lovely chat with.

This morning, we packed up the final bits and pieces and squashed it all into my boot, put the two cat cages and Jarrah on the back seat with the banjo and waved good bye to the house in McCrae.

I have really enjoyed this Summer holiday and have come home relaxed and rejuvinated - ready for another year!