THREE YEARS

This week my husband and I went on a mini-break down the Great Ocean Road in celebration of our third wedding anniversary. The secondary focus of this adventure was, of course, food.

The food actually began in Colac, where we stopped on the way at Safers to stock up on delectables. (At this point, I must get something off my chest: I am ashamed and disappointed to confess that while we were there I bought some Easter eggs. Disgraceful, I know, but the impulse-buyer in me couldn't say no to the strategically positioned, rare Red Tulip chocolate at the checkout. I’m sorry I let the Easter-Does-Not-Begin-In-January Brigade down.... but it was worth it.)

Home base was the gorgeous Daysy Hill Cottages at Port Campbell and we dined in the evening at Nico’s Italian restaurant in the main street. We sat in their little Mediterranean-style courtyard and had fresh pasta and local seafood. Don't have a clue what to call half the seafood in my spaghetti marinara (mussels? scallops?), but whatever those slimy little things things were, it was all very fresh and delish.

We went out for a hot breakfast in the morning at 12 Rocks Café which overlooks the Port Campbell Foreshore where I had the best eggs Benedict with proper creamy hollandaise, not that watery instant stuff you get sometimes.

In the afternoon we headed to the most delightful and surprising stop on our trip, Farmhouse Cheese in Timboon (incidentally, Timboon is where my parents met). It was indeed a farmhouse, surrounded by rose gardens and willows, with picnic tables scattered around.
Inside the sales part, charmingly called 'the Mousetrap', you're able to sample and buy a number of local wines and products like honeys and preserves, and of course, cheeses.

You can order a tasting platter along with tea/coffee and then seat yourself at a picnic table in the garden. When our plate was brought out to us, instead of the 10 little samples and a labeling card we were expecting, we were practically served a picnic.

This is the $13 tasting plate for one:


We then realised why the guy had advised us not to get the plate for two unless we were really hungry - we couldn't even get through this one, but they give you a plate to take home any cheese you don't eat (we ended up buying some of their gourmet feta and some smoked cheddar as well, just to be greedy). And so we spent a glorious afternoon picnicking in the garden to our hearts content, and I would recommend it to anyone out that way.

We'd read a feature in the paper the day before about the 10 best ice creameries in Victoria, and seeing as Timboon Fine Ice Cream was one of them, we thought we'd be idiots not to stop by. What we found in Timboon, after some confusion, was actually a distillery and cafe with this little sign out the front. Inside we located one measly freezer of about eight flavours. Boring. And then we ate it and we weren't bored anymore - the Turkish Delight was divine, and Apple Pie - you could taste apples and cinnamon and pastry... t'was mighty fine ice cream indeed. Apparently they sell it at selected stores throughout Victoria, so you don’t have to go to Timboon to get it.

And so ended our gastronomic mini-break adventures, but as amazing as all the food was, the part of the mini-break I most looked forward to was entirely non-food-related, and that was going down to the beach at Peterborough. I thought he was right when we first hung out on that beach with friends in 2002, and I knew he was right by the time we got engaged there a couple of years later. And now, back on the same beach three years down the track, while I've known he's right for ages, over these past three years I've been realising why.

The steps to the beach have now been closed off and partially dismantled, but we made our way down there anyhow. Years ago, he'd carved our initials, large and deep, high into one of the sandstone cliffs. Luckily the tide was low, leaving us a narrow walkway of wet sand to reach a familiar rocky cove, but when I looked up, there was nothing but a craggy, sandy cliff. I searched the face of the cliff in vain.
"Are you sure we're in the right spot?"
"Yeah".....
"Wait, isn't it around those rocks...?"
"This is it hon"....
Inscription had been completely worn away by the wind and weather, and I felt a sinking disappointment that it wasn't there anymore. I stared up at the cliff for a some moments more. Behind me, he was standing on top of a mound of rocks and was looking out to sea - living, breathing, real as could be. I turned my back to the cliff and began making my way up the rocks to join him.