In 1912, my great-grandfather William Schlipalius began making ice-cream in a small factory next to his home in Sorrento, one of Victoria's earliest seaside resort towns. Located on the southern tip of the Mornington Peninsula, about 105 kilometres south of Melbourne, Sorrento boomed as a tourist destination from the 1880s. Melburnians would catch paddle steamers across Port Phillip Bay to stay in guest houses and Sorrento's two grand hotels, The Continental and the Hotel Sorrento.
The Hotel Sorrento, built in 1872 high on a rise overlooking Port Phillip Bay, is the Mornington Peninsula's oldest tavern. The Mornington Peninsula is the traditional land of the Boon Wurrung (Bunurong) people, who hunted and camped across its more than 700 square kilometres for thousands of years.
In 1803, Sorrento became the site of Victoria's first European settlement when Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins established a British settlement comprising more than 400 people, the majority convicts, as well as marines and free settlers, at a place known as Sullivan Bay. The British had discovered Port Phillip Bay the previous year and were concerned that the French might try to establish colonies there and across Bass Strait, discovered five years earlier by Matthew Flinders, so they decided to stake their claim first.
Today, Sullivan Bay is a tranquil spot featuring thickets of twisted tea tree, a string of upmarket seaside houses, a pier, and boats bobbing picturesquely in aquamarine waters. However, a lack of fresh water, poor soil for growing food, and fear of the French and Aboriginals caused Collins' settlement to be abandoned after just seven months. The convict colony was moved across Bass Strait to establish Hobart.
In 1863, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, an Irish-born barrister and Melbourne-based MP who later became Victoria's premier, purchased land at a place called Point King. He named it Sorrento after the famous Italian resort overlooking the Bay of Naples and built a holiday house. Over ensuing years, more professionals did the same.
Sorrento Park, situated high above Port Phillip Bay opposite the Hotel Sorrento, was established in 1870. The park's exotic trees were supplied by German-born botanist Baron Ferdinand von Mueller (1825-1896), who arrived in Australia in 1847, was appointed Victoria's government botanist in 1853, and as its first director designed Melbourne's magnificent Royal Botanic Gardens.
Family folklore has it that my three times great-grandfather, Carl Gustave Schlipalius, born in Dresden, Germany, in 1824, travelled to Australia with von Mueller. Whether he did or not, Carl worked as foreman under the Baron at Melbourne's Botanic Gardens. It is thought that the family's connection with Sorrento was the result of Carl's travels there with von Mueller.
It was George Coppin, a comedian, actor and Victorian MP, who saw the tourism potential in Duffy's Sorrento. Coppin introduced a ferry service from Melbourne, built the imposing Continental Hotel in 1875, as well as a series of sea baths, and constructed a road — later adding a steam-powered tram — to connect the fledgling town to Sorrento Back Beach, an arc of golden sands set against dramatic cliffs popular for surfing and exploring rock pools at low tide.
Sorrento was a flourishing holiday destination by the time William Schlipalius started making ice-cream in 1912. He set up a kiosk at Sorrento Park and, with a pony and cart, also sold ice-cream along Sorrento Front Beach, which faces the calm waters of Port Phillip Bay. From the block next to his house, a few hundred metres from Sorrento Park, William made his Slip's Ice-cream, introducing exotic flavours — fresh fruit such as strawberries and peaches, and his signature plum pudding ice-cream — rarely seen before in Victoria.
My grandfather Roy told me that he, his father and brothers delivered plum pudding ice-cream to the Myer family's holiday mansion in nearby ultra-exclusive Portsea. Mrs Sidney Myer (Dame Margery Merlyn Baillieu Myer) of the Myer department store dynasty told Roy that William made the best ice-cream she had ever tasted. Dame Margery travelled overseas 144 times between 1919 and 1981, so I guess she had plenty of experience.
I remember as a wide-eyed child watching strawberry ice-cream being made at the family's shop — by this time Slip's Ice-cream business had moved to Sorrento's main street — and it was just that: fresh crushed strawberries mixed with vanilla ice-cream. It was incredible.
Visiting Sorrento Today
Visiting Sorrento last week, I checked into the Hotel Sorrento, staying in a heritage room in the 1870s section of the hotel. Historic it may be, but it lacks nothing in relation to 21st-century creature comforts: the large room features a luxurious king size bed, sitting room area, rain shower in the bathroom, and a deck overlooking the bay where I watched Searoad's Sorrento-Queenscliff ferry pass by.
From its origins as a seaside tavern, the Hotel Sorrento has been transformed into an oasis of fine accommodation — it was named 2025 best hotel in Victoria and best accommodation nationally — for its heritage and poolside rooms and sunset view suites with outdoor marble baths. The hotel also features a day spa, pool, gym, restaurant, Cantonese restaurant, rooftop terrace and several bars, including the elegant Lobby Bar.
Here, barman Owen Wemyss mixed me an Elderflower Rum Fizz — white rum, elderflower liqueur and lime prosecco — which is very good indeed. Wines on offer include local vintages including Rahona Valley Dromana sparkling wine and Portsea Estate syrah, and the bar menu includes fresh oysters and Oscietra caviar.
Dinner in the Dining Room focuses on modern Australian fare, with autumn menu choices including pumpkin and fetta arancini, house made fettucine with prawns, and Southern Ranges eye fillet.
The following morning, a stroll along the town's main thoroughfare, Ocean Beach Road, which is minutes from the hotel, reveals a string of upmarket boutiques, gourmet delis, cafes, galleries, gift shops and, of course, ice-creameries — but not Slip's, which sadly closed in 1974 after 62 years.
Although Sorrento remains a popular holiday destination, particularly during peak periods, it has retained much of its historic charm thanks to its remaining 19th-century limestone architecture. And it will never lose its main attraction as one of the few places in Australia that offers two different coastlines within minutes' drive of each other — the wild, windswept ocean of Sorrento Back Beach and the placid waters of Sorrento Front Beach, where William Schlipalius sold ice-cream all those years ago.
Rooms at the Hotel Sorrento start at $330 per double a night. hotelsorrento.com.au
