Days 306-307- Hallowe'en Party

Melbourne -Geelong -Port Arlington -St.Leonard's -Queenscliff -Sorrento -Mornington -around Port Phillip Bay in 36 hours -Saturday, October 28 - Sunday October 29

Yes, we were off on another adventure. This event had been pencilled in months ago when fellow exchanglings Blair and Susan Michaud, from Alberta, ghoulishy volunteered to host a Hallowe'en Party at their house in St. Leonard's, on the Bellarine Peninsula. This area we had never explored, and is in the south west corner of Port Phillip Bay. We had also been invited to visit the home of Keith and Barbara Jones, relatives of our exchange partners. They live in Geelong.
Our route would take us around Port Phiilip Bay, seen in the Map above. We live SE of the City, and would take the M1 through it to Geelong, then, out to the Bellarine Peninsula between Port Arlington and Queenscliff. We would stay in Port Arlington and then Sunday, return via Queenscliff, across "The Rip" via the ferry, and back home through the Mornington Peninsula.

We arose early on Saturday, Matheson being first as he had to clean up after his two night school dramatic performance of "The Pink Panther" (which, I must say, was one of the funniest plays I have seen in a long time!). We picked him up from school and hopped on the M1 through the City towards Geelong.
We had a wonderful visit with Keith and Barbara Jones who had visited our home, and their son Denis, my exchange partner Joan, and their grandchildren, Ben and Zack, last May and June. It was great catching up with our exchange partners' family, as this is one of the things that makes an exchange very enriching. Exchanges allow you this unusual insight into your exchange partners by means of their families, their colleagues, their neighbours, but rarely your actual exchange family. We enjoyed lunch over discussions that varied from travel, to politics to magic! Keith and Barbara had lived in Toronto while Keith was with IBM back in the 1970's. This was one of the reasons we were matched with Joan and Denis, as they wished to see where Denis had lived as a boy of 11 years and had included their desire to be in Ontario on their exchange application.
Late in the afternoon we departed on the half hour drive to St. Leonard's arriving after 4 pm to a full house and a veritable smorgasbord of costumes! Most of our exchange friends from around Victoria had made the trip to this wonderful corner of the State.

Hosts- Blair and Susan and family from Barrhead, Alberta
Kim and Marlene- Edmonton
Wayne and daughter Megan- Winnipeg
Leslie and Joe and family- Woodstock
John and Lori and family- Tilsonburg
John and Cathy and family- Elora
Annika- Toronto
Julie- Washington State
Kiersty and Mark and family- Netherlands
Leon and Sarah- UK
June and grandaughter Stef-Mississauga

We laughed a lot at each other's costumes, enjoyed beverages and a pot-luck dinner. Many of the visitors stayed overnight with Susan and Blair or in the vicinity. We booked a last minute place a few kilometres back in Port Arlington, and were joined (as there was an extra bedroom) by June and her grandaughter. Next morning, we drove back to St. Leonard's and enjoyed a breakfast with many of the overnighters.
Most of the visitors then headed off to Queenscliff, a beautiful historic town at the mouth of Port Phillip Bay. We enjoyed the market, the fish and chips and strolling the shops where we continued to bump into our partygoing friends!
Jumping on the 2 p.m. ferry across "The Rip," the kilometre wide channel that leads out of Port Phillip Bay into the Bass Straight, we arrived in another scenic seaside town, Sorrento. From here, it was an hour or so back along the shores of the Bay, through Mornington and Frankston, to Glen Waverley.

We realised that many of the beautiful sites of this area are very close, and we may find ourselves in one of these pretty villages, or a nearby winery, or swimming at one of the wonderful beaches in the next few weeks, if we can find the time.