8 minute read
Driving Your Passion
Porsches are not your A-to-B cars – that is unless you take them on a weekend drive where you can really enjoy the intrinsic vitality that rears its head once you venture onto the open road. That’s when the full enjoyment of owning one of these coveted sports cars comes to fruition.
No one understands that more than the enthusiasts at the Porsche Centre Brighton. That’s why we have included a driving route to take you out of the suburbs and onto the Mornington Peninsula. It’s a very circuitous route, but one you will love sharing with your Porsche.
This is not just a drive, but also an opportunity to enjoy your car and the excellent attractions that await you in places like Red Hill, Flinders, Cape Schanck and Arthurs Seat.
Let’s start…
Without doubt the best place to start is at the Porsche Centre Brighton, where you can drop in on a Saturday morning and take a look at what’s new in the showroom while you sip your first cappuccino or latte of the day. With the first coffee stop under your belt, hop back in your Porsche and head down Nepean Highway southbound.
The map and directions will have you on the Mornington Peninsula Freeway quickly, and well on your way to the first stop which is a driver change – if you’re willing to give up a seat behind the wheel, that is. If not, keep going on the freeway until you reach Foxeys Hangout.
MORNINGTON PENINSULA
Charlie’s Auto Museum
MAIN RIDGE to Melbourne
Foxeys Hangout
Red Hill Brewery Red Hill Rail Trail
The Giddy Bullfrog Gallery
Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens
Cape Schanck Olive Estate
CAPE SCHANCK
Foxeys Hangout – 795 White Hill Rd, Red Hill Foxeys is a small winery where you can be confident you won’t be overrun by a bus full of eager tourists as the winery doesn’t accept anything larger than a car. The Foxey’s Hangout label was inspired by tales of massacre and murder surrounding an ancient eucalypt that once stood at the corner of Balnarring and Tubbarubba roads on the Mornington Peninsula. It’s worth going just to find out more about the two fox trappers and their demise. Brothers Michael and Tony Lee own the vineyard and planted their first vine in 1997, at Merricks North near the iconic Peninsula road junction named Foxeys Hangout. They later took on the Massoni vineyard at Red Hill. The brothers have plantings of pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris. Wine is made to drink with food so, if you try the wines you may want to stay to share a small plate. This is a farm to table restaurant.
FLINDERS
Full written instructions are available via this link: https://goo.gl/maps/KEg1Sg5E5cvmXfXr8
Red Hill Rail Trail – 155 Shoreham Rd, Red Hill South After a wine tasting and a few bites to eat, perhaps it’s time for a walk and there is a perfect spot in Merricks – the Red Hill Rail Trail. Only four kilometres down the road from Foxey’s you can take a walk on the wild side – an old railway track, or perhaps once in the Porsche again it may be too soon for another stop. The starting point is at Merricks to the north side of the Station Ground Recreation Reserve. The trail climbs steadily for two kilometres, providing good views over Western Port to Philip Island and the Nobbies. You can do this walk in either direction; the whole walk is six kilometres long and can take up to three hours, so be prepared with your walking shoes. Or take a shorter stroll if you feel the urge is too strong to take to the open road again. Wineries and food stops come thick and fast in this area but something that is a bit special is a craft beer brewery, and Red Hill Brewery is just 1.5 kilometres from The Red Hill Trail or nearly six kilometres from Foxey’s Hangout. g
Red Hill Brewery – 88 Shoreham Rd, Red Hill South A diverse and changing array of beers is on tap at Red Hill Brewery, where beers are made hands-on in small batches with passion and skill. There’s a line-up of six beers available all year round which includes a large variety of ales and a wheat beer. Throughout the year it’s not unusual for the brewery to make more than 20 different styles, so there is always something new to try. The brewery also offers food matched to go perfectly with ales and beers. If you’re looking for something that doesn’t involve food or drink, then Red Hill also has a great selection of galleries. One of the most picturesque is the Giddy Bullfrog, which is situated deep in woodlands and operated by artist Gavin Byrt.
The Giddy Bullfrog Gallery – 38 Ocean View Ave, Red Hill South Gavin Byrt is an art teacher on weekdays and a painter and sculptor on weekends, so his gallery is full of his own artworks and he is often seen onsite lurking behind an easel. Established more than 30 years ago, his gallery is built on five acres of bushland, which along with bullfrogs is the inspiration for Gavin’s art. But his gallery is no ordinary gallery. The peaceful and welcoming atmosphere is accompanied by the smell of hot scones, cake, soup and pizza, all of which he serves in his atrium café. Getting lost may not be on your mind when going for a weekend drive, but you don’t have to get lost with your Porsche. Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens around four kilometres from the Giddy Bullfrog is home to Australia’s oldest and most famous hedge maze, a beautiful circular rose maze, and the year-round flowering Lavender Labyrinth, all set among 25 acres of worldacclaimed gardens.
Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens – 15 Red Hill-Shoreham Rd, Shoreham The Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens is planted with more than 1000 cypress trees and thousands of metres of pathways. Now more than three metres high and two metres thick, the Maze keeper clips the hedges three times a year to keep it sculpted into a curvaceous challenge to find each of the four mosaic flags in the two halves of the maze. The task takes you through hundreds of metres of winding paths in the South Maze through to the Centre Garden – then you tackle the North Maze. Heading away from Red Hill and Shoreham, roughly 22 kilometres away is a totally different experience – a farm that produces bespoke olive oil from a variety of different olives harvested, washed and milled onsite.
Cape Schanck Olive Estate – 145 Patterson Rd, Cape Schanck At the start of Autumn, olives are monitored on a weekly basis to gauge the optimum harvest time. When ready they are harvested and pressed within hours of picking in the onsite mill room. Each variety is picked and pressed separately, depending on its optimal fruit maturity. The Leccino olives produce a delicate oil, while the Coratina, Frantoio and Picual tend to be medium to robust in intensity and character. The Picholine oils are by far the most robust and aromatic. If driving your Porsche has stirred up your interest in motor cars then a trip another 15 kilometres long will see you outside Charlie’s Auto Museum, an eclectic mix of cars,vintage signs, motorcycles, models and other antiquities like old sewing machines.
Charlie’s Auto Museum –185 Purves Rd, Arthurs Seat Charlie Schwerkolt opened his museum in 1988 with a handful of cars and signs. Since then, it has expanded with numerous exhibits. The collection is not only rare but diverse, interesting and exciting. It is continually changing and growing. Many unusual vehicles are on display including a 1954 Hudson Super Wasp, 1950 MGY, and Studebaker Avanti. It is also home to a great collection of microcars such as the Goggomobil, BMW Isetta, Messerschmit and Reliant Robin with around 15–20 motorcycles and scooters also part of the collection. Two kilometres further south on Purves Road you will no doubt see the Arthurs Seat Eagle, once known as the Arthurs Seat chairlift and also once home to the historic Arthurs Seat hillclimb event. Between 1992 and 2000, the Austin 7 Club ran a very successful historic hillclimb on the road leading up to Arthurs Seat, but even as early as 1935 the RACV held a hillclimb contest there.
Arthurs Seat Eagle – 795 Arthurs Seat Rd, Arthurs Seat The original chairlift at Arthurs Seat was built by Czech-born engineer Vladimir Hayek. It opened on 21 December 1960, rising 225m over nearly one kilometre and operating for more than 40 years under two owners, Dr Hayek and Richard Hudson, before being closed after several safety incidents in 2006. It was replaced by the Arthurs Seat Eagle, an aerial gondola system supported and propelled by cables from above. The flight carries passengers between the base station in Dromana to the summit of Arthurs Seat, passing high over the beautiful Arthurs Seat State Park. A combination of enclosed and open cabins provides an all-weather experience for passengers. Certainly by now, whether you have stopped for a bite to eat or sampled wine or beer, got lost in a maze or viewed the bay from a gondola, it is time to sit down for a meal – but after such a perfect drive through some of the best roads the Mornington Peninsula offers, it can’t be somewhere ordinary. And Heronswood House is certainly not ordinary, and not just a place to eat.
Heronswood House – 105 Latrobe Parade, Dromana Heronswood offers an idyllic location to escape from the crowds, relax and shop for a huge range of plants, heirloom seeds and garden hardware, as well as eating a delightful meal in an historic cottage. The Diggers Garden Shop specialises in Diggers signature heirloom seeds, cottage flowers and edible plants that are complemented by a range of flowering shrubs and cool climate trees. But the must ‘go to’ is Heronswood’s Fork to Fork Restaurant, located within the historic Heronswood House that offers a seasonal menu using fresh produce grown in the onsite gardens and local Peninsula produce paired with a premium wine list featuring local Trofeo Estate wines.
