We set off from Melbourne in the early afternoon of the Friday, arriving in Portsea just in time for a pre dinner drink watching the sunset. We ate and drank in the only pub in the village which is rather fittingly called, ‘The Portsea Pub’ (Rosé for the girls and beers for the boys) and ate copious amounts of pizza and salad whilst chatting and laughing with friends, followed by more drinks and fun back at the house until the early hours of the morning.

Saturday was el schorchio so after coffee and croissants in the garden, we spent the morning on Portsea beach - reading books, magazines, discussing weekend plans and watching people attempting to swim past the big waves that were cascading onto the beach. As the croissants wore off and our tummies rumbled, we packed up from the beach and headed for Sorrento, a nearby town filled with boutique shops, delicious eateries, ice cream stalls and fresh fruit and veg markets. Lunch was the first stop and we ate a local cafe where a mixture of Thai style salads, smoked salmon topped bruschetta, tomato’s and greek salads sprawled across the table with fresh juices, ice cold waters and beers to wash it all down. Sorrento was filled with beautiful homeware shops which were dec’d out with neutral linen bedding, straw baskets, heavenly cook books, organic beauty products and gorgeous baby clothes. We mooched in each, making a tick list in my head of everything I’d buy for my future home.

We picked up a load of fresh veg, herbs, seafood and pasta in Sorrento to keep us going for the next couple of days and headed back to the house for an evening of a simple, yet delicious pasta - roasted tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and capers, finished off with a glass of red wine and MAFS (Married at First Sight and everyone’s secret guilty pleasure in the house). Pre dinner, Kai, William and I all headed down to the pier for some sunset pier jumps and a swim in the sea which was just heaven and the perfect way to start a Saturday night in.

Sunday came with showers and cloud, yet despite the weather apps warning us, I had high hopes for the weather changing so marched us all to this beautiful secluded beach we’d found on our attempted walk to Sorrento - beach huts above - however the temperature by now had dropped to around 19, the wind was in high speed and we sat huddled in leather jackets, bikinis and towels wrapped around our legs whilst Uncle William had a brave ice cold swim. We soon decided that the pub was a much better option so we drank more wine and snacked on chips, desperately hoping the sun would come back out. Of which it did, and we finished the afternoon off with a cheeseboard in the garden, following the sun around with our towels until every inch of it was gone.

In British and Aus style, Sunday was BBQ night and all stations were ago - we cooked for double the amount of people but that’s what BBQ’s are all about, right? The final table spread looked a little something like this:

Parmesan and chilli topped corn

Grilled peppers, onion and halloumi

Sausages

Mussels cooked in white wine, tomatoes, chilli and garlic

A fully feta loaded Greek salad

Snapper marinaded in garlic, chilli and lime and cooked on the BBQ

Freshly baked bread

After scoffing our faces with too much food, we continued to eat chocolate, ice cream and drink more wine whilst slumped in-front of the TV, all in a food coma.

Monday was check out day and once we’d packed up the house and car, we stopped to have coffee with my families two friends in a cute cafe by the sea and took Giles with us on one last walk down the pier. Neither of us were ready to head back to Melbourne just yet, so we did a few de-tours en route back, stopping at a famous surf beach to watch the waves roll in before making our way to Arthurs Seat and wind up some mountains to admire the view from up above. The ultimate journey snack pit stop of crisps and a dodgy service station sandwich and we cruised back to Melbourne for a late lunch of left over cheese, olives, chutney, bread and greek salad.

A perfect bank holiday weekend in Portsea!