Update, 23 September 2026: The Balnarring market date and venue described below could not be confirmed from a current primary source. This dated pick is retained as historical context; do not use it to plan a future market visit. Emu Plains Market is a separate Balnarring event with its own organiser schedule.
Drink: Crittenden Estate, Dromana
Crittenden Estate has been making wine in Dromana since 1982, but the conversation worth having right now is about what Rollo Crittenden has been doing with skin-contact and amphora-aged whites since he took over winemaking. These are not experiments in the hobbyist sense. The 2025 amphora-fermented Friulano spent eight months on skins and reads like something from the Friuli hills, not a Peninsula cellar door. September is the right moment to visit because the new vintage has just arrived and the team are still in the mood to pull bottles that aren’t formally on the tasting menu.
The cellar door sits in a converted woolshed-style building above a lake, and the tasting room is low-key enough that you can actually hold a conversation. Don’t rush through the Los Hermanos range - the Tempranillo and Sangiovese are doing things the Pinot-dominated Peninsula mostly ignores.
Allow ninety minutes. Crittenden Estate is at 25 Harrisons Road, Dromana. Book ahead via crittendenestate.com.au, especially on Sundays.
Pair it with lunch at Small Stone Pantry on your way back through Dromana.
Walk: Bushrangers Bay Track, Cape Schanck
The Bushrangers Bay Track is at its most direct best in the first two weeks of September, before the school-holiday crowds arrive and while the coastal heath is still doing what it does after a wet August. This week that means paper daisies and purple guinea flowers crowding the clifftop sections between the lighthouse car park and the Bushrangers Bay descent, and the bass-note smell of damp ti-tree giving way to salt air as you drop to the beach.
The track runs about 5.5 kilometres return from the Cape Schanck Lighthouse car park. The first kilometre is broad and easy; the bay descent is steep and rocky and genuinely requires good shoes. At low tide, the rock platforms below the bay are accessible, and the basalt columns on the southern headland are worth the scramble. Check tide times before you leave - Parks Victoria’s site has them.
Allow two to three hours return. Trailhead at Cape Schanck Road, Cape Schanck, near the lighthouse car park. No booking required.
Afterwards, drive eight minutes to Boneo Road and stop at the Cape Schanck kiosk near the lighthouse for a coffee.
Discovery: Balnarring Farmers Market, Balnarring
The Balnarring Farmers Market runs on the third Saturday of each month, and September’s edition - 19 September - is the one to target. The winter stall holders have been quietly reliable all year, but September is the hinge month when the spring producers start showing up: first strawberries from local growers, raspberry runners, and the early-season brassica harvest from the farms between Balnarring and Merricks. This is not a curated artisan market. It is a proper farmers market, meaning the people selling the produce grew it, and the conversations are more useful than the price tags.
Regulars know to arrive before 9am for the best of the cut-flower stalls - the first spring ranunculus go fast - and to check who is selling eggs, because supply genuinely fluctuates week to week. The free-range meat stalls from the Western Port hinterland are the steadiest draw.
The market runs 8am to 12:30pm at Balnarring Recreation Reserve, Coolart Road, Balnarring. Third Saturday monthly. No booking required.
Pair a visit with a mid-morning stop at Balnarring Bakehouse for coffee and a sausage roll before the drive home.
This Week at a Glance
Crittenden Estate 25 Harrisons Road, Dromana Open daily 10am–5pm Book ahead: crittendenestate.com.au
Bushrangers Bay Track Trailhead: Cape Schanck Road, Cape Schanck (lighthouse car park) 2–3 hours return, 5.5km No booking required; check tide times at parks.vic.gov.au
Balnarring Farmers Market Balnarring Recreation Reserve, Coolart Road, Balnarring Third Saturday monthly - next: 19 September 2026, 8am–12:30pm No booking required
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Questions readers actually ask
FAQ
When is Crittenden Estate cellar door open?
Crittenden Estate is at 25 Harrisons Road, Dromana. The cellar door is open daily 10am–5pm. Check crittendenestate.com.au for tasting session availability and to book ahead.
Where does the Bushrangers Bay Track start?
The main trailhead is at Cape Schanck Road, Cape Schanck, near the Cape Schanck Lighthouse car park. Allow 2–3 hours return for the full clifftop loop. No booking required; Parks Victoria trail notes are at parks.vic.gov.au.
When is the Balnarring Farmers Market on and what's there in September?
This 7 September 2026 pick described an unverified market date that has passed. We cannot confirm the current Balnarring Village Green market schedule from a primary source; do not use this archived pick to plan a visit.
