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Borrowed last year’s Good Food Guide from work for a few days. Have to take it back tomorrow so I thought I’d note down the Geelong cafes and restaurants that it mentions. One day we’ll get around them all.

• Athelstane House, Hobson St, Queenscliff
• At the Heads, Barwon Heads Jetty
• Bazil’s Too, Highton Village
• Cremorne Hotel, Pakington St, Newtown
• Finnigans Place, Rippleside Park, Drumcondra
• Julian’s Restaurant, Bellarine Estate Winery, Portarlington
• Katialo Restaurant, Newcombe St, Portarlington
• Kelp Cafe, Lonsdale Rd, Point Lonsdale
• Kilgour Estate Winery, McAdams Lane, Bellarine
• Oakdene & Vineyards Restaurant, Grubb Rd, Wallington
• The Ol’ Duke, Newcombe St, Portarlington
• Pettavel Winery, Pettavel Rd, Waurn Ponds
• The Queenscliff Hotel, Gellibrand St, Queenscliff
• Scorched, The Esplanade, Torquay
• 2 Faces, Malop St, Geelong
• Vue Grand Hotel, Hesse St, Queenscliff
• Banc, Malop St, Geelong
• Barwon Orange, Hitchcock Ave, Barwon Heads
• The Beach House, Eastern Beach, Geelong
• Cucina One 12, High St, Belmont
• Fishermen’s Pier, Corio Bay, Geelong
• Guiseppe’s Cafe, Pakington St, Geelong West (we’ve already been here)
• Growlers Torquay, The Esplanade, Torquay
• Harry’s, The Esplanade Hotel, Queenscliff
• The Pear Tree, Gilbert St, Torquay
• Port Pier Cafe, Portarlington foreshore
• Signature, Hitchcock Ave, Barwon Heads
• The Wine Pit, Hitchcock Ave, Barwon Heads
• Scotchmans Hill Winery, Drysdale

That should keep us busy for a while. Not sure if the Good Food Guide works off paid listings (like the Beautiful Bed and Breakfast books) but who cares. This lot is a good start.

After everyone left today (see previous post) Jayne and I went for a lazy drive to Portarlington for a browse through the Coastal Traders second hand shop and a quick coffee at The Ol’ Duke. On the way back we spotted some simple benches at a place in Moolap - they were just what we’ve been after for the garden.

They’re pretty rough at the moment - I got a handful of splinters putting them in the car - but once we’ve sanded them back they’ll be great.

They’re nice and simple, almost Japanese in their style and form. They’re recycled timber from what looks like an old pier or something. We bought two and they look so good we’ll go back next week for the last two if they’re still there.

We still need a table and chairs but I think we’ve decided to make one out of railway sleepers. Might be a bit ambitious but if you don’t aim high you stay low.

Just had a great weekend with Adrian, Nat, Jon, Hannah, Brittany, Matt, Jackie, Olly, Toby, Lenny and Fred. (Three of those are dogs. Which is which?)

We all enjoyed some good food and wine (including some excellent pancakes this morning), some dodgy Singstar singalongs, plenty of lazing around reading the paper, a few rounds of Tiger Woods golf, many many runs of SSX snowboarding and a beach walk with the dogs on Saturday arvo.

Eight adults, one near teenager, a two and a bit year old and four dogs all stayed over on Friday night. Lucky the house is a good size.

Here are some pics.

Hope we do it again soon.

My boss is considering a golden retriever for his family and asked me about Max today. Talk about opening the floodgates - I could sing Max’s praises for hours.

He’s very much a part of our little family and although he has his moments (two nights ago being one example) he’s an amazing dog and we’re proud of how he’s turned out.

So, for posterity, this post is all about him.

He was born on June 9, 2004 at Whylaway Goldens Kennels in Little River to mum Rockgrove Country Miss (Georgia) and dad Crowlee Flying Scotsman (Lister). We picked him up on August 4 and spent part of our honeymoon waking up at 2.30am every morning to take him outside for quick-quicks.

His pedigree name is Whylaway Second Wind. We named him Max for a number of reasons, the most prominent two being that Whylaway Second Wind is a mouthful when you’re telling him off and that Jayne and I first saw each other in Cafe Max at Falls Creek.

His pedigree includes one champion grandparent (Goldog Alpine Newsflash), five champion great-grandparents (Emlyngold Welcomstranger, Scanandamble Tucha Class, Alubyc Kiss Anda Promise, Jindabo Limited Edition, and Goldog Alpine Melanie), and one great-grandparent (Goldog Alpine Highland) who was an Australian champion. We never intended to show him, but knew that strong lineage would produce a good dog.

One of the first things he did when we got him home was trot off towards a teddy almost as big as he was, pick it up and bring it to us. We hadn’t even taught him anything yet and there he was, doing what retrievers are supposed to do. Here’s a picture.

He absolutely loves the water. You simply cannot keep him out of it. So we indulge him. There are worse places to walk him than the beach, after all.

He likes to shag his doona after dinner. (I can write that because although he’s clever, he hasn’t worked out how to use a computer to read websites yet.)

We’re going to try to train him to sit patiently in our boat (when we get one) so that he can come with us when we go fishing / cruising, but we don’t expect much success, to be honest. He’ll be straight over the side for a swim.

He loves our nieces and nephews Bailey, Olivia, Dayne, Hayden, Renae, Georgia and Lindsay, and I think they love him too. He hasn’t met Hannah, Nick or Ashlee properly yet. Here he is with Dayne at Christmas 2004.

He likes chasing birds and cats. Unfortunately he barks loudly when he’s chasing them, and he sometimes chases imaginary ones. This is a problem when we let him out at 10pm to go quick-quicks, as he also barks loudly at Alan, the local possum.

He sleeps on the couch. I think he spends more time on it than we do, actually.

I could go on, but I think that’ll do.

Good boy Maxy.

Thought we’d write a little something about the excellent wedding we went to last weekend up in Victoria’s magnificent north-east.

Our friends Kate and Damian were the couple of honour, and they put on a real show.

The venue was Lindenwarrah, which is right next to the Brown Brothers vineyard in Milawa, not to mention the Milawa Cheese Factory, Milawa Mustards and the King Valley vineyards such as John Gehrig, Woodpark, Pizzini and others.

We used to visit the region often, courtesy of our inviting ourselves up to stay with John and Bec when they lived in Wangaratta, but we realised this weekend that we haven’t been up for at least a year. (John and Bec moving to Melbourne 18 months ago probably has something to do with that).

Well, after just a day and a half up there we remembered just how much we love it. There’s something about the sky, the clean air, the lazy atmosphere. You can’t help but relax.

Back to the wedding. Judging by the smiles, the watery eyes and the tilted heads during the ceremony, you could tell that every one of the invitees loved Kate and Damian, and loved the fact that they were getting married.

The reception was even better. Speeches were given early (to rousing applause), and they set the evening alight. Everybody was ready for a party, and we had one.

Can’t not mention the food and wine - my Thai fishcakes entree was superb with the Pizzini Riesling, the aged eye fillet main with the 2001 Brown Brothers Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon was even superber (made that word up), and we all ate more dessert than you could shake an empty wine bottle at before we hit the dance floor en masse.

I should also mention the little joke played on me by matron of honour Bec and her cohorts.

At her and John’s wedding a few years ago I had a few glasses of red and by the end of the evening I was wearing Father Michael’s nametag and had a big gerbera sticking out of my shirt. Father Michael was the dude who married them. I thought I was great. Here I am.

I posed for that one, obviously. Nobody drinks champagne and beer at the same time.

Here’s a shot of my nametag from Kate and Damian’s wedding this weekend.

And here’s the reverse side.

I was the only guest this weekend with a double-sided nametag. Nice one Bec. You made me laugh.

Thanks Kate and Damian - we’ll see you soon.