Sorrento, Victoria, Australia

As we travel around Australia the time factor means that we often have to pass through interesting or attractive places without stopping to explore them and we often make a note to come back another time. Of course, due to the time factor as well as the great distances involved, this rarely happens. Last week, solving both the time and distance factors by flying, we were able to return to Sorrento where we had a very and interesting enjoyable mini holiday with my sister and her husband who came from Melbourne.

Sorrento, Victoria

Sorrento, located on the Mornington Peninsula, is on the popular tourist trail along the coast from Sydney to Adelaide with travellers often taking the vehicle ferry across to Queenscliffe on the western side of Port Phillip. That was what we did some sixteen months back when we were following that route. 

Last week we took a quicker route flying from Brisbane and picking up a rental car at Melbourne Airport then taking the hour and half drive to Sorrento. As it happened, we had chosen to visit during a long weekend for Victoria and the car rental agency was very busy and there was a lot of traffic on the roads. The lengthy camping strip stretching from about Dromana to West Rye was well occupied with the cafes and restaurants on the other side of the road also well patronised.

Sorrento is a small, one street business strip. Nowadays it is a popular village for the wealthy Melburnians who have a holiday home there. A check with the local real estate office indicated that Portsea a little further up the strip is favoured by the even wealthier set. We were fortunate to be able to relax in a comfortable holiday house. Once the weekend was over we even had the village pretty much to ourselves!

Late Afternoon on Ocean Beach, Sorrento

Even though the temperature was around 30C it seemed cooler with the low humidity so I didn't join the locals swimming in the water.

Ocean Beach, Sorrento

In 1803 Sorrento was the location of the first mainland European Victoria settlement. Records show that problems with sustainable water forced the settlers to move across Bass Strait to Hobart,  Tasmania. That sometimes ferocious passage of water claimed many a ship and the calmer waters on the Port side held many a desperate quarantine ship, as we were soon to discover.