If you’ve been following our blogs, you’d know that we are trying to bring our Humble Beach Shack back to glory. We had researched in depth before we came up with our design and a plan for its execution. In this blog post we tell the stories behind our decor.
When we were property hunting in the peninsula for this holiday accommodation project, we saw many run down houses. Many of them were vacated by their retiree occupants before they headed to the nursery homes. Entering these houses is like stepping back in time. For many of the retirees, their children had left home for years. They lived in the same house with their partners until they were the last one to go. We saw rooms that hadn’t changed a bit since their children departed in the 80s, or even 70s. The beds are always neatly made, sometimes a bit dusty, frozen in time. The pictures on the walls tell their family stories.
These experiences added to our determinations to maintain the neighbourhood characteristics, and their stories. It is unfortunate that the property we have doesn’t come with its original decor nor furnitures. We therefore had to source them piece by piece. Ebay, Gumtree are often good sources; and of course the local antique shop. Sadly we cannot afford most antiques in the shop. We also don’t like the cheap remakes from Asia neither. Luckily we found some good offerings online, with lots of driving to many corners in Melbourne, we got a few good pieces. They were as humble as our old beach shack, all needing our tender love and care.
Here are a few pictures of us cleaning, polishing and preparing these items for display in our cottages. Enjoy.
If you are a wine expert or a long time Italian wine drinker, please look away. Most wine drinkers won’t describe a wine as “versatile”. However, with hot asian spices, you do need something interesting to go with. Unless, you go with a beer or tea, they always work and work well.
There are 2 schools of thoughts on pairing with very spicy dishes; some would match with an off dry to “relieve” the spiciness, others would match with a high alcohol, high tannin red for a “head on collision”.
I have a different objective. It’s not arm wrestling here. I ain’t looking a wine with favours to co-exists with, nor compete with the spice. I am hoping for something that can add to and enhance the spiciness.
At Crittenden Estate, I found the best match today. Crittenden Estate first planted in 1982. They are also pioneers of wine tourism in Mornington Peninsula, which inspires us MP Cottages to start our holiday accommodation business today. Besides making wine, Crittenden runs a restaurant and accommodation onsite. We dined and stayed at the Crittenden Estate, had a great time. We’d recommend quality competitors, they are one of them.
View from the Crittenden Estate Lakeside Villa, after a heavy rain.
Sunset at the Lakeside Villa patio
Enjoying a sparkling at the Lakeside Villa
Back to their wine, Crittenden Estate makes a Vermentino. Let’s begin with our proper wine notes after tasting:
“The Crittenden Estate Pinocchio Vermentino offers lively aromas of pear, white peach, and pink grapefruit with subtle notes of citrus zest. It is a refreshing medium body that could enjoy on its own as aperitif, perfect for MP summer. On the palate, it’s medium acidity and slightly on the riper side with flavors of grapefruit fresh almond. Perfect match with garlic prawns, grilled octopus, goat cheese or even fennel-spiced pork sausages.”
And we put it to a real test ….
What’s harder than pairing a wine with a Sichuan spicy tapa? Try 4. In the featured image you will see the “4 small plates” in our test. They were made with fennel, pepper, aniseed, cinnamon, clove, chili pepper, broad bean chili paste, shallots, ginger, and garlic. Enough? They aren’t dishes made so spicy which numb your lips and tongue, but trust me they have enough. The Vermentino dance in my mouth, I could taste both the wine, the spice and the freshness of the ingredients. It was like magic. I went back and forth around the four dishes and the wine, each time it gave me something new, delicious, savoury and very enjoyable.
I would love to have more. At the time of writing, the Vermentino is no longer on Crittenden’s website. Dear Crittenden (Rollo, Zoe, Garry), if you see this, I hope you haven’t pulled the vines and please continue making it.
It was a cold spring morning in Rye. I woke up in the dark asking myself, “are you sure?” Despite I had readied my cycling gears, getting out of bed for a ride was never easy. The Mornington Peninsula has been a cycling friendly region, cyclists are welcomed and tolerated (yes imagine you are driving behind a big bunch riding at 30km/hr along Point Nepean Road) to ride at anytime of the day. I wanted to start early as I always enjoy riding in the morning, free from the traffic.
I walk quietly towards the living room, with fear of waking up my kids, put on my gear in the dark, turn on the bike light and off I went. I rode along the relatively flat Point Nepean Road with a tail wind on my back, towards Sorrento. You’ll have difficulty finding a better stretch of road for a warm up ride, cars free in the morning, with the sun slowly emerging from the horizon. It was sunrise when I made it to Sorrento. I had a little stop near the Searoad Ferry pier before I turned around for the major objective of the ride, The Arthurs Seat climb.
Brief stop near the Searoad Ferry pier in Sorrento.
For the fit cyclists, the Arthurs Seat climb is steep but short. One climb is never enough and many of them do loops as part of their training. It is a very popular climb for obvious reasons. The climb itself is very well documented, therefore I won’t repeat here.
It is however not just another scenic cycling challenge, but also a monument in Australia road bike racing. For many years the Arthurs Seat climb had been featured as a stage in the Herald Sun Tour. World class cyclists like Simon Clarke, Stuart O’Grady, Bradley Wiggins, Simon Gerrans and recently the Tour de France winner, Christ Froome, had all been sweating along this climb. During a race day, cycling fans and spectators would be gathering at one of the many hairpin turns along the climb, cheering for their favourites.
I took my time riding towards Dromana before I started the climb. I still needed my legs playing with my children in the afternoon, so climbing once was enough.
Stopping at one of the lookouts along the climb, with Port Phillip Bay in the background.
At the top I was rewarded with a good view, and of course the descend. If you know what you are doing, descending the Arthurs Seat is a joy. On a dry day in good conditions, there are many hairpin turns to test your skills.
I ended the ride with an easy stroll back to the cottage, time for coffee and of course a dip in the hot tub.
If you’ve been following our blogs, Facebook or website, you might learn that we’re new to this business.
We didn’t believe that it’d take years of experience to make a bed well, and provide a comfy stay.
However it’d be difficult to do it consistently, and ultra difficult to meet every customer’s expectations.
I had been a long time consumer of bed and breakfast. I saw just as many poorly run places as the good ones. Experience of seeing a half eaten sandwich in the fridge, inaccurate advertising, poor response time, the list goes on. One of my friends claimed he saw an used condom under the pillow …. well.
Therefore I dreamed of offering a cozy place like your own home, with a hotel concierge service. What a dream!
No … it must be better than your own home, otherwise why have a holiday, we have to offer an experience… more on that later, about our decorations and renovations.
I must confess that I don’t make my bed everyday. How do I establish and mobilise a team to do their job to a very high standard, consistently?! Here my previous people management experience will add value. But we can’t do it just by ourselves.
We need to engage our customers, learning from the feedback, finding gaps and making plans to improve.
Before we put our cottages on the market, we spent many nights actually living there. I cannot remember the number of small trips I made to the stores, sourcing all the missing essentials. We also let groups of friends staying over, in return of their comments.
Ok ok, they paid the cleaning fees. But there is our time and effort put in, reacting upon all their comments and ideas.
Although we believe most rough corners had been polished. The effort must not stop here.
We must continue to listen, and we beg you to tell us. It’s not just because business lives on positive reviews, it’s because we must be proud of our offerings.
We will also continue learning. We understand that each of our customer’s complain is another disappointed holiday, NOTHING, NOTHING can replace it.
Therefore we take a positive from each of your comments.
An additional mirror outside bathroom to reduce your morning rush, done.
Additional quilts and electric blankets even in summer, done.
Drying rack for your beach clothing, done.
Clearer descriptions, done.
Many more and counting …
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There is a story behind the sheets on our guest beds.
We once naively thought as soon as we can afford a quality 1000TC sheet, our guests would have a good night of sleep.
We thought we could wash them at home.
We were too naive too simple.
Once at a chain big brand hotel, I gave a strange look to the cleaning lady in the hallway. She thought I needed a towel or housekeeping. “May I look at your towels and sheets?” … “Do you wash them here or elsewhere?”
Of course she couldn’t tell me but I saw small leads here and there, allowing me to find a supplier, who taught me so much. Thanks Simba.
We also learnt lessons from the locals. Besides wanting to succeed together with the local business, there is so much to learn from. It’s the community spirit here in the peninsula. From the local laundry we learn the right fabric to use.
It is not as easy as it seems. Making a bed like a 6 stars hotel.
And of course, our new but fantastic housekeeping team, who was almost in tears trying to make a bed, like a 6 stars hotel, on the top bunk. Trust me, it isn’t easy. YouTube is often a great resource, we watch people making beds fast, 72 seconds for a queen bed in fact; and how to make it nice, folding the corners like a pro butler at The Four Seasons.
In the time being, please, please don’t hesitate telling us if our beds, sheets, quilts, etc can be more comfy, our shower glass can be shinier… Any comments / ideas / experience to share from elsewhere will also be so appreciated.
Pipi has been one of the favourite ingredients in many cuisines. Both their juice and meat add a touch of magic your dishes. Cooked together with a bit of garlic, chilli and wine, I’m in haven. You have it with your favourite carbs, no matter it’s bread, pasta or rice.
The amount of Pipis needed is just what you can hold in both hands. Let’s not eat them all!
Pipis are often found in intertidal zone, in plain English, that’s the shallow water section at our beaches. They aren’t often available in markets, not alive anyway. Many people therefore catch their own.
The Cottage Chef loves pipis like many of you, but we also want to promote a responsible way of catching them. They are important part to our food chain and marine life. Let’s protect them so our oceans remain habitable and enjoyable for many generations to come.
So in this blog we demonstrated how a little quantity caught from the ocean beaches of the peninsula, can make a great dish for two.
Find your favourite beach, not in any national parks or environmental sensitive areas of course; there are many ocean beaches within 30-45 mins drive of our cottages. Pardon us as we won’t mention nor promote a particular spot here to avoid it becoming a troubled hotspot.
All you need is just whatever you can hold with your bare hands. You don’t need a bucket, esky, nothing. Catch them, put them in a bag, put some sea water from the same beach. When you’re back at the cottage, put them in a bowl and insert a metal spoon or fork. Our cottages are well equipped with cutleries and kitchen tools. Leave them in the room overnight, the pipis will spit the sand out onto the bottom of the bowl, rather than in your mouth!
Don’t forget your favourite white wine, I would pair with a light oak Chardonnay from the Mornington Peninsula, and fresh dill of course!
Ingredients:
live pipis in the shell, cleaned
2 tablespoons olive oil
half onion, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
100 ml dry white wine
pinch of sugar
250 g spaghettini or other long, thin pasta
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill and parsley
dash of lemon juice
Method:
Tip the pipis into a large saucepan, heat over medium heat and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook for 5 minutes. Discard any that have not opened. Strain the liquid into a bowl and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wide shallow saucepan or deep frying pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Pour the wine into the pan and allow to bubble for a couple of minutes. Add the sugar and the cooking juices from the pipis. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook at a steady simmer, and allow the sauce to thicken. Place a large saucepan of salted water on to boil for the pasta.
Add the pipis to the sauce and gently heat through. Cook the pasta for 4–5 minutes, or until al dente, drain and return to the pan. Stir the fresh dill and parsley into the sauce, season and pour over the pasta. Toss together and serve in large warm bowls.
