Arthur’s Seat is the promontory to the right of the picture. The car ferry in the foreground runs between Sorrento and Queenscliffe, a journey of about forty-five minutes across the Heads, or several hours if you were to drive around the bay.
Urf, it’s another hot night in the UK. Thunderstorms are on their way and I for one cannot wait. There’s nothing like the refreshing change, the ozone in the air, the fury of the elements – at least while I’m indoors ;-). When the weather is humid like this it reminds me of Australia, of several days in a row where the air would lie hot and heavy, the temperature above 30 degrees before 9am. Then the cool change would come, sometimes with thunder, sometimes just a fresh breeze, the temperature dropping literally in minutes.
Looking back along the bay towards Melbourne. You can just glimpse the towers of Melbourne at the extreme left of the horizon, giving you an idea of the vastness of the bay.
Before we came to the UK (or returned, in my case), we lived on the Mornington Peninsula, just outside Melbourne. It was a beautiful place to live – we were there for seven years, and I just loved it. There are several tall promontories overlooking Port Phillip Bay – Mt Martha, Mt Eliza and Arthur’s Seat, named for the original in Edinburgh. Arthur’s Seat is the highest of the three and the views from the top are spectacular.
Looking towards the entrance to the bay.
In the photo above you can see the small towns strung along the curve of the bay – Dromana, Tootgarook, Rosebud, Rye, Blairgowrie, Sorrento, and the millionaires playground of Portsea. We lived in St Andrews Beach, on the ocean side of the Peninsula, where the land starts to curve towards the head. We were only a few minutes walk from the beach, waves pounding just beyond the dunes – I still miss hearing them at night.
From the top of Arthur’s Seat, the land stretches back in a ridge, the rich soil home to farms and vineyards, lush eucalypt forests and small towns. It is glorious.In fact, I think I’ll be wandering to this part of the world again, both in real life and on this blog. It’s a wonderful place to be.
Thanks for coming on another Wednesday Wander with me – see you next time 🙂
Helen Glynn Jones 
Spent six months in Mentone, Melbourne, in 1994… The ‘Arthur’s Seat’ in Edinburgh resembles a crouching lion from the right angle… sort of Berwick way…
Oh, Mentone! I had a wonderful day on the beach there once 🙂 what did you think of the place?
I haven’t seen the original Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh – it’s on my list of places to visit. That’s very interesting that it looks like a lion from a certain angle…
Liked it…very cosmopolitan…and loved the climate, apart from the mozzies. It would be nice to go back one day, but it’s a long way…
It’s still a tradition with the locals to climb the ‘Seat’ for the sunset…
I bet that’s a tradition going back a loooong way… 😀
One would think…
We lived in Mornington for two years (1990-1992), and had an amazing time.
We went to Arthur’s Seat a number of times: especially enjoyed going up, and down on the chairlift.
x
Oh, Mornington is lovely, isn’t it? I worked there for a while, and also had my daughter at the hospital there, so it’s a place with a lot of memories 😀
The chair lift is closed now, after a series of (unfortunate) accidents – however, there’s talk of building a new one, not sure if it’s happened yet.
Small world!
I remember the chair lift being pretty basic, and a little scary as it went over the windy, meandering road.
Happy days.
x
Small world indeed 😀 Yes, I never would go on it for that reason, haha – instead we just used to go to the lookout at the top.
It was the best place, one of my favourite places I’ve ever lived. Xx
Thanks for sharing! I’d love to visit Australia! My family live In Perth 😊
It’s a great place, Ritu! I hope you get to go there – I haven’t been to Perth but I’ve heard it’s lovely 😀
One day… My cousins make me jealous with their photos all the time!!!
Wow what beautiful views! That first picture is just jaw dropping! You must surely miss it.
I really do miss it. I took that photo when we were at a park – a whole group of us had decided to head over after kinder with the kids, they just ran around in the sea in their undies and had the best time. It was a wonderful place to live 😊
Love the shot of the coastline in particular. I didn’t get to visit Melbourne when I was in Australia. One day I hope to rectify that.
I hope you get to go there one day – it’s a fantastic city 🙂
What a beautiful view. And hearing waves pounding the other side of dunes—there’s no nicer sound. It’s when I sleep the best! And waking up to the sound of them is bliss. One day I hope to be able to buy next to the ocean—I don’t care about a view so much, just hearing those waves would be heaven on earth. 🙂
It was a very special place to live – I really loved it there. I miss the sound of the waves at night, and the fresh sea mists we used to get. Out house was slightly elevated, but we couldn’t see the sea as the dunes were so high, but it was still a lovely view and, as you say, we could hear the waves crashing – it was wonderful. I think I will end up living near the sea again one day – I hope you get to as well 🙂