Geelong Time

It's been almost 5 months since we last travelled down the Hume Highway to Geelong to catch up with Ros and Pete. In that time Pete has recovered well from his second immunotherapy treatment (and its devastating impact) and, at the moment, has no evident symptoms of the various cancers he's been under treatment for, for the past decade or so. So, life is good for Pete for the time being, thankfully.

Last Friday Ros and I took the train from Geelong into Melbourne CBD for a leisurely day of shopping, browsing and lunching together. We enjoyed exploring the lively laneways and Melbourne's character filled arcades and a delicious lunch at "Journal" on Flinders Lane, just outside Melbourne's glorious city library.

Our vote for best shop of the day went to the Alpha 60 Chapter House concept store (we think it is in one of the spaces that would have been part of St Paul's Cathedral at one stage or other). Isn't it just beautiful?

Our walk through the gorgeous Cathedral Arcade was a first for me, although when I found the Flinders Lane gallery up on its first floor I realised I must have passed by here at some stage or other.

The historic Block Arcade never fails to impress ......

We walked up as far as Drewery Lane in the afternoon, a very cool, gritty corner of Melbourne between Little Lonsdale and Lonsdale Streets.

Friday night Ros booked us in for dinner at the Wool Store in Geelong's trendy Newtown precinct. We loved this refined dining experience with bold, smoky flavours a feature of every dish. We are always so impressed with the foodie scene in this city!!

We set out on Saturday morning for our favourite early morning ritual in Geelong..

... a walk/ ride along the river and coffee, pretzels and a pastry at the wonderful Born and Bread.

Sunday dawned cloudy and quite cool. Pete took us on a drive from Bell's (Beach) to Barwon (Heads), stopping to admire the rolling waves and hundreds of surfers off the beaches along the way.

It was a drive with a purpose of course - and we enjoyed our lunch at the Barwon Heads Hotel in between rain showers.

Back at Highton we made quite a thing of finding just the right home for a few of Maxie's sculptures in Ros's beautiful garden. These pieces needed a new home now that Rod's Minda Place house has been sold and we've moved everything out. We think these pieces look perfect here in the garden with Ros and Pete.

We were lucky to get a visit from John and Erin and the kids on Sunday afternoon - all looking happy and fit and full of plans for the end of year.

Another treat was being part of the regular Sunday evening chat with London Joel and Kay and Vincent and Jazzy. They're due to arrive in Australia in just 5 weeks, another exciting and slightly alarming sign of how quickly we are all hurtling towards Christmas and the end of the year. But of course it will be so exciting to see them here!

Our three day stays in Geelong are always wonderful. This one was one of the best!