Geelong stay

We headed down to Geelong last Thursday, ready for some good times with sister Ros, and Pete, in their beautiful part of the world.

Ros always plans some wonderful adventures for us, usually involving scenic day trips around the beautiful and scenic Bellarine Peninsula and great wining and dining experiences.

On Friday we headed down to the historic harbour village of Queenscliff, at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. It wasn't our first visit to Queenscliff (we'd caught the car ferry from there to Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula a few years back) but we always enjoy a stroll around its Victorian era town centre, a visit to its interesting museum and a return visit to the excellent Saltbush Fine Foods Cafe for lunch.

Yes Ella, there is a Vinnies in Queenscliff!!

We celebrated the end of Pete's working week that night at the quirky Elephant & Castle Pub in East Geelong. Rob was ecstatic because the best seafood linguine he's ever eaten was on the menu that night (even better than Barzura's he said!).

The owner of the Elephant & Castle is a former mayor of Geelong, Darryn Lyons. A photographer himself, his amazing photographic collection (and other quirky collectables) is a real feature of the Pub's decor.

We start every day in Geelong with a long walk along the nearby Barwon River. Saturday morning we were rewarded with this amazing sight, as the sun rose in the eastern sky.

On Saturday we headed south east again from Geelong, past the very film worthy (thank you Sea Change) Barwon Heads, and along the southern coast to Ocean Grove - looking out to windy old Bass Strait.

Our destination was Point Lonsdale, so we could do the scenic walk along the foreshore to the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse.

But first we had to find  65 Glaneuse Road in Point Lonsdale, the historic holiday home ("Ballara") and gardens of Australia's second Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, built in 1907. It is still owned by Deakin's descendants but is under imminent threat of sale, demolition and subsequent subdivision. There are petitions underway for its emergency heritage listing. 

We found the house but it was well hidden by the bush garden which was extensive (and WILD) - it would be worth a staggering amount now in real estate terms (unfortunately for its heritage potential!)

View to the beach from the Lighthouse .....

From our vantage point it was great to watch the steady stream of loaded container ships forging their way out of Port Phillip Bay into the steady swells (today at least) of Bass Strait.

... and this clear sighting of the Spirit of Tasmania making its way south to Tassie.

We enjoyed lunch at the wonderful bakery at Portarligton on the northernmost tip of the Bellarine Peninsula before doing some extensive shopping at the legendary Jenkins & Son Fresh Fish. We had the most wonderful seafood feast that night back at Highton: SA oysters, Queensland prawns and locally smoked salmon (and some rye sourdough from the Portarlington Bakery). 

We took one more long walk along the Barwon on Sunday morning, over the historic Monier Arch Bridge at Fryansford .......

before joining Erin and John and the young ones for lunch at del Rios Winery & Restaurant near Anakie on the Geelong-Ballan Road - our first outing to the country north of Geelong.

We loved the chance to catch up with Erin & John and the kids, and over the weekend have extended conversations with Joel & Kay & the kids in London (via Facetime) and celebrate Davey's big win at the TWIPY Awards in Dallas - so many things happening with the extended family at the moment!

We love our stays with Ros & Pete in Geelong, and can't wait for the next one!

Night at Bennelong

Josh and Jody and the girls joined us in Coogee on Saturday - ready to foresake Canberra's 110th birthday celebrations in order to enjoy the long weekend in Sydney. We met up in Paddington, did over the markets and the VERY interesting shopping opportunities along that end of Oxford Street before heading back to Coogee for the afternoon.

Saturday night we were all excited about our long-held booking for a celebratory dinner at Bennelong, Peter Gilmore's iconic restaurant under the sails of the Sydney Opera House - a first time experience for Josh, Jody and the girls.

The night started early with pre dinner drinks overlooking the harbour at the open-air Opera Bar. 

I loved the way Abi and Ella chose their pink lemonades to match their outfits.

This whole space has such a sense of occasion!!!

I so enjoyed seeing the girls handle the formality of service and the refined menu at Bennelong with such grown up aplomb. Abi was particularly impressed with the mocktail menu - complete with edible rose petals. She also homed in on the hand reared Blackmore Wagyu beef dish on the mains menu and did us all proud with the way she relished every mouthful.

Jody's sashimi scallop with oyster cream entree was the prettiest looking dish of the night (and very delicious).

It was a magical night - and we all loved being together experiencing this amazing place, the exquisite food and attentive, skilled service, all while overlooking one of the world's most beautiful cityscapes. It was brilliant!

Our dinner was also a celebration of Joshy's January birthday - a wonderful reason to pull out all the stops for this occasion ......

The floor manager noted our inexpert attempts to take some group shots at the end of the night - and took over from us. He did such a superb job (I think he's done it many times before)!

Sunday we spent in Coogee, enjoying a long breakfast together at the Crowne Plaza, followed by a swim and beach time, a bit more shopping for the girls along Coogee Bay Road, and a long late lunch at the Coogee Bay Hotel - a pretty standard day in Coogee for the young ones.

We ended off the day with a walk up to the Spot at Randwick ready for a light but delicious meal at LaSen, an old favourite Vietnamese restaurant on Avoca Street. 

We had such a happy, memorable time together this long weekend - all the more special because it's been so hard to plan and do things like this for the last few years!

Back in Sydney

We're lucky we missed Sydney's heatwave early this week. When we got to Coogee yesterday afternoon conditions were perfect... as only Coogee can be .........

As usual we celebrated our good fortune with a welcome drink at the Coogee Bay Hotel.

The Coogee Bay Hotel may not be the best hotel on Sydney's eastern beaches - but you would have to go a long way to beat this bar room view - and those salty breezes coming straight off the Pacific Ocean through the open windows.

Today we tackled a new (for us) harbour walk. This was the rather spectacular view near the start of the walk at Rose Bay (at the bottom of Bayview Hill Road).

We were in seriously opulent real estate (and elite private school) territory as we approached the start of the Hermitage Foreshore Trail.

There were stunning harbour views all along this walk - and picturesque little beaches. This was Queen's Beach in Vaucluse ........

Past Hermit Beach with its lines of kayaks and tinnies parked in waiting for the locals' harbour adventures, and then on to beautiful Milk Beach.

Milk Beach is overlooked by the heritage listed Strickland House.

We kept on walking, past Milk Beach to Shark Beach in Nielsens Bay, 

then around Vaucluse Bay, and across the Parsley Bay Bridge .......

Parsley Bay had the clearest water ... just beautiful .....

We walked all the way then to busy Watsons Bay ..... just in time for lunch ....

The Watsons Bay Hotel was crowded today. Friday lunch at this iconic pub is obviously a thing with the lucky locals.

Our walk took us around 2 hours with all our lookout stops. we found it stunningly beautiful and a walk we'll probably do again. It's hard to believe that in all the years we've been coming to Sydney we've never found it before.