Yesterday I travelled with friends to Otway Estate a gem hidden in the ranges between the Great Ocean Road and the hinterland near Colac. This vineyard, winery, brewery and restaurant is quite close to the Otway Fly where walking at treetop level gives you a bird’s-eye view of ancient rainforest. Comfortable cottage accommodation at the Otway Estate would be a good base for visiting the Fly and maybe even taking a trip into nearby Forrest for a platypus tour with Bruce of Otway Eco Tours.

Having a wheat allergy often means that I have to accept very average food at conferences like the one I attended yesterday. Not at Otway Estate. While I had informed them of my food issue it was wonderful to find that most of the food provided was light, tasty, creative and I could eat it. As dusk arrived we tasted the wines and beers made on-site along with more delicious mouthfuls while we digested the information of the many quality tourism speakers who had spoken during the day.

I can only suggest - take a trip off the main roads into the hills around Colac and Forrest -there is a feast for all senses and even one night spent here at Otway Estate could create unique memories for any visitor. With school holidays approaching this would make a great break for both parents and kids.

This little place, hidden behind the Shell Service Station just off the main road at 5 Diggers Parade, is a valuable find for anyone looking for something to tempt the taste buds in Anglesea.

Evening meals start at 6pm at this new restaurant only 15 minutes from Jan Juc along the Great Ocean Road in Anglesea. Locanda del Mare offers light Italian flavoured meals as well as really excellent pizzas, pasta and risottos. A special of the day like Pesce di Suppa seems most suitable for a cool autumn evening by the sea with a good balance between the rich tomato base and fresh seafood. Pancetta wrapped quail would have been my next choice. A crisp pizza with fresh toppings rapidly disappeared on the other side of the table. Creamy mushroom risotto and fresh green salad were worth the trip for my friend from Melbourne.

The warm vibe and the quality of our meal encouraged us to order some luscious desserts. An Adelaide Hills Rose accompanied all of our meals wonderfully.The hard surfaces do add to the noise level but the quick friendly service more than makes up for this and was excellent on the very busy holiday weekend night that we visited.

Take away service is also available. Phone: 03 5263 2904 And winter hours are related to custom so do ring if you are thinking of stopping for lunch.

George Biron famous along the coast for Sunnybrae Restaurant at Birregurra which has been in recess for seven years is coming out of retirement this Autumn 2008. We are lunching as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival on Sunday the 24th February. Let me tell you of the delights of the day and what you might be able to look forward to for future dining and in the cooking classes starting soon.

Torquay to Birregurra is a pleasant country drive along quiet back roads where the bite of the drought shows with dry grass and few stock. We are at the end of summer and this part of Victoria has had more rain than other areas of Victoria but is still dry. We pass through Birregurra - a little oasis with its eclectic range of shops - quality clothing, bookshop, amazing handbags and gifts and good coffee shop - on our way to the hidden gem of Sunnybrae. A nondescript farmhouse set in dry paddocks surrounded by scrubby trees and dry gardens. We arrive in time to view “the cattery” - the art studio of Diane co-owner of Sunnybrae and inspired artist. The studio is employed today as a second dining room. Diane is a talented collage artist whose works often with witty cats as subject add to the charm and quirkiness of Sunnybrae. The cook books from around the world lining the walls adds to the warm feeling of being at home with George and Dianne - place where food and the good life is central.

George Biron - owner/chef is passionate about local, seasonal produce. He grows much of the produce we eat today in the dry ground of his property carefully watered by large dams sunk to create a sustainable garden. To come to Sunnybrae is a pilgrimage to the earth and its produce.

The hand printed set menu is explained by the young waitress and we quickly start with the snapper on a bed of unusual green succulents rock samphire (spiky) and purslane (round leaves). Crisp greens complimenting the fresh white fish. The Gosling Riesling provides a flinty contrast.

The dining room buzzes with delighted diners ready to add to their memories of splendid country meals.
Panir a home-made cheese with wilted cucumber, the tiny taste of eel in its salty sauce are the light tastes opening the taste buds to the deeper flavours of the confit with fruit and the soothing haricot bean salad. The local pink wine spells summer in a glass marrying well with all tastes.

Slow cooked braised meats are a rare treat in these time poor days. This version with the orange sofrito creating a fresh zing over the soft gelatinous flesh joined by simple potatoes and fresh garden tomatoes satisfies both tongue and stomach. So much so that we need a walk in the fruit and vegie garden to refresh our palate before dessert.

These gardens display the drying remains of summer crops of carrots, parsnips, celery, lettuce, and the final tomatoes ripening. The new locquat tree looks a bit like an avocado tree to my son-in-law, the asparagus ferns rising high above the beds that will later produce for spring are a feathery mystery to my daughter; young fruit trees planted in lines include pomegranate, nectarine, plum, apricot, peach, pear, quince, walnut, and almond. Future harvests and meals will be come from this bounty.

Small full-flavoured, lightly poached fruit from the trees outside the windows on the plate with cool white buttermilk bavarois slippery like childhood junket with a truly adult glass of muddled peach and champagne - simple uncommon pleasures. Oh bliss!

Replete - our tea and coffee served in pots with the same generosity as every other part of the meal ends a day in the countryside just a few kilometres off the Great Ocean Road. Sunday lunches will be starting again this autumn - see George’s blog.

The Menu for Sunday 24 February 2008:
First starter- Portarlington Snapper with fennel, rock samphire and purslane
Accompanied by Gosling Creek Riesling
Shared starters -
Panir with cucumber, perilla and pepper
Wild rabbit and Western Plains Pork confit with spiced Morello cherries
Skipton Smoked Eel with Anchoide de Croze
Haricot Bean salad with a smokey mustard dressing
Accompanied by Farr Saignee 2006 Bannockburn

Main Course:
Grass-grazed yearling beef braised with red wine and orange sofrito.
Garlic potatoes
Tomato and Ruchetta salad
Accompanied by Innisfail Cabernet Merlot or Farr Rising Shiraz 2005

Dessert:
Buttermilk Bavarois with poached white nectarines and plums
Accompanied by a glass of Birillini
Finished by a Slice of Spice with Timor Coffee

As a practising artist myself I love to be inspired by other artists’ work, so I was thrilled to hear about “the littoral edge” - the inaugural Lorne Sculpture Exhibition on the shores of Louttit Bay on the Great Ocean Road.

The event was held over 2 weeks, including the long weekend of the Melbourne Cup which is on the first Tuesday in November.

Strolling in bright sunlight beside the water to enjoy the wonderful creativity and variety of shapes - shiny aluminium “car and caravan”, round dry stone “keep”, fibreglass figures hanging on a clothesline, shaped pieces of rusted steel - is hard to beat.

The open air bayside exhibition is the brainchild of Graeme Wilkie of Qdos Gallery, which itself is worth a visit as it is set amidst tall mountain ash and is a delightful venue for weddings, parties, and anything with a touch of modern art.

We turned our trip into a full day by next visiting the Fisherman’s Co-op to order fresh fish for dinner, and then strolling from the pier to the Surf Club for a brilliant seafood lunch at the iconic Lorne Pub overlooking the horseshoe-shaped bay.

The food and service is always good here, so we knew the scallops would be fresh and the fish local. On a fine day you can see all the way to the Split Point lighthouse as well as watching young surfers below practising in the short waves. Today was unusual in that there was a sea mist that hovered for most of the day, suffusing the air with mystery.

Further down the road on the same day a special event gave a large number of Porsche car drivers the freedom to drive the gorgeous winding road without traffic for three hours. What a treat! After the race they would enjoy a big night out in a huge marquee on the foreshore near the Surf Club.

I’d certainly recommend building this event into your itinerary for next year.

In my last post I promised to write next about dinner in my favourite restaurant. The Bellbrae Harvest is tucked away in the bush just 15 minutes from Torquay.

Just getting there is a treat. As we drive from Torquay to the restaurant, it seems there couldn’t possibly be anything out here in the bush … until we nearly miss the sign (again) and enter the quiet sanctuary overlooking the duck pond.

We are here today with a group of friends after a special tasting and tour of Brown Magpie Wines - one of our new local wineries that is winning prizes for its Pinot Noir.

We watch the tiny native blue wrens flitting amongst the grass looking for insects as the sun shines through the gum trees. The waiter is friendly, knows the food and is disarmingly relaxed. It’s difficult to choose because everything sounds and looks wonderful. But finally we come to a decision and our efforts are well rewarded.

I decide on two first courses:

1. Zucchini flowers stuffed with buffalo mozzarella on vine-ripened tomatoes and black olive tapenade dressing, and
2. Spicy quail with baba ganoush and an orange, mint and date salad.

As there are 12 of us, we expect to wait for our meals, but everything comes at a nice pace and we’re more than satisfied. Next time the family visits us from Melbourne we plan to come here for one of their bucolic, leisurely Sunday brunches.

Last Sunday we joined our granddaughters and their parents for a casual lunch. The café scene easily seduces Tim, but it takes a family visit to remind me to relax and enjoy it.

Tim’s favourite for a morning coffee is Mejavo’s, which is a café cum deli that faces the north for sun and has a friendly long table, as does the Sandbah Café (see Extras).

We chose the Sandbah for our Sunday lunch. Any warm day you will find crowds flowing onto the footpath at this iconic Torquay café in Gilbert Street. There is room outside for the many dog owners to tether their dogs with a bowl of water, bike riders to hitch their bikes, and elders travelling in motorised carts to find space.

The girls wanted only chippies! Their mum and dad had a veggie burger and a wrap. Tim had fish and chips and I had a really fresh salad with lamb.

Our lunch reminded me that sitting in the sun, watching people stroll by is one my greatest pleasures in life - second only to a meal in my favourite restaurant. I will post about that next time.

The second of our two-day Great Ocean Road return trip sees us leave the Twelve Apostles after a morning of photo stops, followed by an hour’s delay while we search fruitlessly for a lost earring!

So by the time we drive back to Apollo Bay and up into the hills to Forrest, it’s a late lunch for us. What we do know now is that in winter the one place you can grab a warm bite to eat after 2pm is La Bimba.

We have arranged to chat with Bruce Jackson at Otway Eco Tours on our way home. I have seen platypus at Healesville Sanctuary in the Dandenongs on the other side of Melbourne, but never in the wild.

So, here we are sitting on Bruce’s porch in Forrest, chatting about the wonderful wildlife that he regularly shows people in the area around his home.

Bruce and his family moved from Melbourne via Torquay – as a keen surfer he still visits Torquay often. He has a degree in biological science and chooses to utilise his knowledge by showing people the secret lives of our native animals.

While we’re with Bruce, we get to see both a male and female bowerbird – a thrill for me as I am mad about birds and didn’t even know that bowerbirds are common in the Otways. Bruce says we were particularly lucky to see the male as he is quite shy and there are fewer males around.

We make plans to return to Forrest with our family in the summer to paddle along Lake Elizabeth and see the platypus.

Around 4pm we’re on the road again, in an attempt to reach Birregurra before the shops close. There are two shops I particularly want to visit: Chez Georgie and Mr Ted and The Birregurra Bower. Don’t worry boys, there is a good café and a bookshop too!

This is real country driving and it’s essential to follow the map and the signs carefully. This tiny town once had one of the most famous country restaurants run by George Biron at Sunnybrae – one of our favourite haunts. George only runs occasional events now, and we always try to book because his style of cooking relates so strongly to place, so the food is always fresh and beautifully presented. Get in touch with us for more information if this sounds like your kind of thing.

An hour and a half of clothes and handbag shopping later, I am very happy and Tim has been engagingly entertained by another George, the dress shop owner’s husband, with good coffee and chat.

Our final leg home is in the dark and takes us another 45 minutes.

Along with some special purchases, we have brought back to Torquay a fresh appreciation of the wonderful area we are privileged to live in. This is why we have chosen to devote ourselves to showing visitors the real experience of the Great Ocean Road, not just a fleeting view of the sights from the window of a bus.

While this is a great two-day tour, it really isn’t long enough. If you are coming a long distance to see this wonderful region, we advise staying an extra day or two. Start out with us in Torquay and take your time exploring the region with day trips out of Torquay, or a 2-4-day tour of the road, returning to Torquay for a few more days of R&R at the end.

If you can spare no more than a day, you could drive from Torquay to Apollo Bay and fly over the Apostles before driving back. But staying a while is far more preferable. We can help with bookings for accommodation, meals and tours - just get in touch to discuss your requirements with us.

Still on the first of our two-day trip along the Great Ocean Road, we’re an hour out of Lorne driving west.

The most wonderful vistas have continually begged us to stop and take yet another photo of the most fabulous beaches, but we have pressed on to our lunch destination.

We have a very soft spot for the brilliant fresh food served in the spectacular Chris’s Beacon Point Restaurant up the hill at Skenes Creek. Impossible to drive past here without sampling something – and the view is to die for too.

Today I have blue eye fillet on mash with red wine jus. Mmmmmm! Tim has calamari with blue cheese and walnut dressing and a Greek salad.

This restaurant was rebuilt after being totally destroyed by a bushfire four years ago. The refurbishment has ensured that every diner has access to that spectacular view, yet they have managed to maintain the warm feeling of a Greek taverna that it has always had.

Chris is 70 now, having migrated from Greece as a young man, and he still pops into the restaurant every day. The next party of diners arrives as we leave. Any weekend and all summer this place is packed to the rafters day and night.

There are cottages right outside the door if you don’t want to drive after your delicious meal. (Contact us for more information.) We, however, are on a mission and must press on – without dessert.

Skene’s Creek is only 6 km from Apollo Bay, which we slip through today, but is worth a stop for the beach, the pub and La Bimba – a warmly welcoming café. And if you have very little time, this is where you can catch a plane for “flightseeing” over the Twelve Apostles with Apollo Bay Aviation.

We want to see how far we can comfortably travel today. Can we get to the end of the road, or even to Warrnambool or Port Fairy?

By the way, if you’re intending to drive to Warrnambool in winter, call ahead (1800 637 725) to find out if the southern right whales are swimming off Logan’s Beach. You can often see them just 100 metres offshore – a real treat.

Our drive now covers the wettest area of the state of Victoria, where rainfall is normally measured in feet rather than inches! And yes, it’s raining – and everything is green. Cows graze in the valleys, and eucalypts, ferns, beech and wattle line the roads, which are single lane with double lines frequently reminding us not to pass. There are plenty of rest stops so you can pull in and appreciate the scenery.

We pass signs for Mait’s Rest Forest Walk, which gives you easy access to wonderful temperate rainforest, Cape Otway Lighthouse and Johanna Beach (often used as an alternative to Bells Beach for the Easter Surf Pro Competition). These would all be worthwhile diversions with time to spare. Not for us today.

Pine plantations surround us as we head over the hills to Port Campbell. Gibson’s Steps provide our first opportunity to view the rocky outcrops that this coast is famous for – the Twelve Apostles – and it’s easy to see why everyone gets excited about them. Their naturally sculpted beauty is magnetic.

But once again, because of our mission, we decide to savour the Apostles on the way back, and instead we cruise past each outcrop to the “end of the road” at Allansford, and Cheese World – a free museum devoted to the dairy industry!

It takes us an extra hour of driving, including a stop to allow milking cows to cross the road, and it’s really only worth doing this last stretch if you have a particular interest in dairying or want to buy some delicious cheeses and chocolates for the return journey – as we do!

Next post: Overnight stop and The Twelve Apostles