Note: This morning I have sent my parents and grandmother off for a visit to Cape Schanck on the Mornington Peninsula while James and I catch up on the homefront. We are taking care of minor details such as the ever-present, never-ending laundry, a cooktop that was flooded last Friday and will need to be unplugged for up to two more weeks according to our appliance expert, and a seemingly possessed radio in our car which randomly turns itself on and off, switches between FM and AM whenever it desires, interferes with the gps, and generally is at its most troublesome when I am on the verge of getting lost somewhere.
Today seems like an appropriate time to get back to a blog post that I started on our second trip to Cape Schanck a few weeks ago. Since that time, we have also made a third trip, and I'll throw in a few of those pictures as well. But back to the second visit:
What to do with a gorgeous January Saturday afternoon and nothing on the calendar? Neither Ross nor I had to think long about that. We brushed aside the by now completely predictable groans from three of our offspring over yet another car journey, and programmed the gps for our second visit to the Lighthouse at Cape Schanck. We knew they would end up having a wonderful time in spite of themselves, and even if they did not, we were more than ready for another dose of gorgeous scenery on the Mornington Peninsula.
A quick phone call to our friends confirmed that they would be happy to join us, a few things were thrown together for a picnic supper (too few as it turned out), the sunscreen and hat for one child were left behind, and we were on our way. Thankfully Andrea came to our rescue with both sunscreen and an extra hat, meaning no one suffered from sunburn. She also partially fed two of our children. Someday I will hopefully get my act together, although at the current rate it is looking more and more doubtful. I did remember the camera, however---I believe it was the first thing loaded into the car, and had more fun than I ever would have dreamed possible clicking away the afternoon.
Before reaching Cape Schanck, we stopped to admire Port Phillip Bay in its entirety.
The Melbourne skyline was just this side of visible in the haze:
We found the scenery at Cape Schanck to be even more beautiful than we remembered from the first visit.
The tide was out far enough for us to explore the rocky beach to the west of Pulpit Rock. Ignoring the warning signs, the children ran out on the rocks, shrieking and retreating as the occasional wave came pouring over their toes. We wished we had thought to carry out our picnic supper, and made plans for a future photo shoot before Christmas card time next year.
Just a little over a week later we were back again, this time with cousins, and later in the day. The tide was in, meaning we could not explore the rocks, but I think this was just fine with Suzanne who had read enough about the deadly blue ringed octopus to be fearful of Australia's beaches, especially the rocky ones.
The kids made it back to the top before the moms, some more happily than others. Eventually they received their promised lemonade and LOLs, a refreshing ending to a gorgeous afternoon. The last three or four pictures are from Suzanne's camera card. I started going through them to include a few, and there were so many I loved that I will save most for a future post.
Great memories! I couldn't get enough of this spot! Absolutely breathtaking! The pictures are fantastic, but to experience it in person is so much more!
Posted by: Suzanne Pannelle | 02/08/2011 at 04:41 PM
Christie, I just organized my photos form the trip and found I have over 500 shots of this spot - not the day, just the few hours we spent at Cape Schanck. I think I photographed every step of what I saw up and down the boardwalk! As the sun was setting, the scenery changed. I was attempting to chose which to photos to print and found myself saying "Oh, look at this one, Oh, but look at this one, Oh, but this one is beautiful too!" I was truely blessed to have witnessed such a majestic display of God's glory in that sunset. Thanks for leading me to the experience.
Posted by: Suzanne Pannelle | 02/09/2011 at 03:05 PM
Suzanne--my dad says you took two pictures for every step (true to form, he counted as he walked). I'm so glad it was such a beautiful evening.
Posted by: Christie | 02/09/2011 at 03:12 PM
There are so many gorgeous pictures here!
Posted by: Shanda | 02/26/2011 at 12:32 AM