Outdoor Cinema
In the 1960s, Victoria's then premier Sir Henry Bolte had a vision of Western Port as a sprawling industrial and petro-chemical complex. Hastings, a historic fishing village located in mangrove forest, did industrialise but somehow managed to combine its maritime heritage and farming hinterland with heavy industry. At night the foreshore has a flare from a gas fractionation plant as a backdrop. Next week the town is hosting a touring outdoor cinema. From January 3 to 6, Cinema Pop Up will screen Step Brothers, Big Hero 6, Pitch Perfect and Spectre on consecutive nights. Main features are supported by live music, a bar, food trucks and sponsor giveaways.
Tickets $5 for under-13s and $10 for the rest. Bookings: CinemaPopUp.com.au
Hasting Pier. Photo: Richard Cornish
Hastings Pier
Western Port has banks of sea grass and some really great fishing. Fishing villages sprang up around the bay after the gold rush, and in 1889 the train from Hastings to Melbourne allowed daily deliveries of fish to the city. Until recently it was possible to buy fresh fish from the commercial fishers docked at Hastings Pier, which predates the train by several decades. Today the pier is a pleasant place for a wander, and a good spot to drop in squid jigs or to watch the mullet rise and break the surface at dusk and dawn. Try catching silver trevally between the pylons or cast into the sandy patches for flathead and King George whiting.
Skinner Street Bike Path
A bike path runs from Somerville station, through Hastings to the beachside village of Balnarring, about 26 kilometres further south. It passes through Tyabb and beside the manna gum and stringybark forest that covers much of HMAS Cerberus naval base. It goes through the pretty settlement of Somers before passing the front gates of historic Coolart homestead. Cyclists can take the train from Melbourne to Frankston then change to the small and regular – but annoyingly infrequent – diesel service that terminates at Stony Point. Alight at Somerville, Tyabb, Hastings or Bittern to pick up the bike path.
Warringine Park wetlands. Photo: Richard Cornish
Wet Wonderland
Warringine Park over-delivers on the cliche "one of the state's best kept secrets". This is a Ramsar-recognised wetland surrounded by tea-tree and eucalypt forest. Cutting through it is a boardwalk and a lovingly maintained bush track. Along the coastline, shallow, tannic pools brim with fledgling fish. In places the path cuts through mangrove forest in which wading birds silently hunt. It also passes one of the state's smallest islands, Sandstone Island, before finishing at Jacks Creek. The return walk covers 7.4 kilometres.
Enjoy the spread at Pelikan Societe. Photo: Richard Cornish
Pelikan Societe
This modern cafe overlooks the pier. Come here to watch yachts bop and sway on the gentle swell, sea birds reel around the sky and ships heading into port. The food here is good, as is the coffee. Enjoy the rillettes, a glass of Mornington Peninsula pinot and the parade of pelicans.
2 Marine Parade, daily 7.30am-4pm, (03) 5909 8132, pelikansociete.com.au
Watch glass artist Leisa Wharington at work. Photo: Richard Cornish
Molten Glass
Leisa Wharington makes beautiful glass objects: vases, decanters, chandeliers. You'll find her in an industrial estate on the edge of town, in a building she and painter Julie Hamilton have turned into a comfortable showroom, studio and teaching space. Watch Leisa take glowing hot lumps of glass and mould them into beautiful forms. By the time it takes to ask her a few questions, she has created a beautifully curved cloche or perhaps a wine decanter. Julie's burlesque-inspired painting of a theatre curtain is a work in progress but she has an exhibition of prickly pear paintings. The artists are famous for their regular dinner party nights, where local wine is served with fresh seafood seared on red-hot glass plates.
The Studio & Co., 200 Marine Parade, Call ahead on 0407 812 982, leisawharington.com
Next Week: Beechworth
6reasons@richardcornish.com.au. Twitter and Insta @Foodcornish