Sorrento

Victoria (Melbourne Region)

Sorrento
With some of the most expensive real estate outside the Melbourne CBD, SORRENTO is the traditional haunt of the city’s rich throughout the “season”, from Boxing Day to Easter; many move to their second homes here for the duration. Well-heeled outsiders also make it their playground in January and on summer weekends, flocking here to swim, surf and dive at the bay and ocean beaches. Exploring beautiful rock formations and low-tide pools, and swimming with bottlenose dolphins add to the attraction. The smell of money is everywhere – in the wide, tree-lined residential streets, the clifftop mansions boasting million-dollar views, and the town-centre cafés, restaurants, galleries and antique shops, running along Ocean Road down to the beach.

Sullivan Bay, 3km southeast, was the site of the first white attempt to settle in what is now Victoria in 1803; the settlers struggled here for four months before giving up and moving on to what is now Tasmania. One of the convicts in the expedition was the infamous William Buckley, who escaped, was adopted by the local Aborigines and lived with them for 32 years. When the “wild white man” was seen again by settlers he could scarcely remember how to speak English; his survival against all odds has been immortalized in the phrase “Buckley’s chance”. A display centre on the site (April–Sept Sun 1–4pm; Oct–Mar Sat, Sun & school holidays 1–4pm; free) fleshes out the story of the settlement. Swimming with dolphins and seals is becoming one of the prime attractions of Port Phillip Bay; so much so that tour operators are obliged to follow a code of practice to ensure they don’t adversely affect the animals. Two long-established operators are Polperro Dolphin Swims (tel 03/5988 8437 or mobile tel 018/174 160), who take the smallest maximum number of people, and Moonraker (tel 03/5984 4211, mobile tel 018/591 033). Both depart twice daily during the season (Sept/Oct–May), weather permitting, for a four-hour trip ($55 per swimmer, including wetsuit and snorkelling equipment; $35 for sightseers). A cruise with Sorrento Ferry & Dolphin Watch is much cheaper, as there’s no swimming involved, and the groups are much larger (2hr 30min; tel 03/5984 1602; $20). Practicalities
Only one of Sorrento’s hotels provides accommodation: the 1871 limestone Sorrento Hotel, 5 Hotham Rd, very charming and located in a secluded spot on a hill above the jetty. The equally old Continental Hotel, 21 Ocean Beach Rd, now only does food but on weekend nights there’s live music and a disco. There are a few B&B’s, though: non-smoking Carmel, 142 Ocean Beach Rd, a charming, sandstone B&B smack in the middle of town; Tamasha House, 699 Melbourne Rd,, a modern house halfway between ocean and bay beaches. Caravan parks tend to be either closed (out of season) or completely booked up and cost twice the normal price: two of the more reasonable are Nautilus and the Foreshore Reserve, which has tent sites only. As you might expect, all this glitz needs to be nourished by plenty of fancy eating places. More modest options include getting a takeaway to eat on the benches along Ocean Road or on the beach: try the Sorrento Village Bakehouse, 29 Ocean Beach Rd. In the moderate price range, Buckley’s Chance, 174 Ocean Beach Rd, is a relaxed pancake parlour, which also serves burgers and steaks; and the century-old former Sorrento Tearooms on 3278 Nepean Highway now house the Sandpiper Licensed Restaurant (daily 10am–5pm), which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner (international cuisine) and has great views of the bay. The Continental Hotel, 21 Ocean Beach Rd, has a good café serving Mediterranean cuisine and Mornington Peninsula wines. Ferries run across the mouth of the bay from Sorrento to Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula. The Peninsula Searoad Ferry (tel 03/5258 3244) carries passengers and vehicles year-round (about every 2hr 8am–6pm, in summer until 8pm; advanced car bookings recommended). The Sorrento Passenger Ferry (tel 03/5984 1602, mobile tel 018/392 507; call to check times) departs from Sorrento daily every hour between 9am and 5pm from Boxing Day to Easter as well as during school holidays, calling at Portsea en route.