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My Bellarine Bounty

Tuesday, 03 May 2016

I live in the peaceful town of Portarlington. With views of the You Yangs and Melbourne city in the distance, I love our little piece of undiscovered paradise on the Bellarine. Mind you, come holiday season, it isn’t as undiscovered as we think, when the population triples with visitors to the region.

I can't believe we have lived here for seven years now. It seems like yesterday we were living in the suburbs of Melbourne dreaming about a lifestyle out of the big smoke. Where has the time gone?

The best thing about those seven years, is that we have been able to witness the development and growth of The Bellarine as a “foodie” and tourist destination first hand. This has meant getting to know producers, trying the products before the greater population finds out about it and basically situated within 15 minutes to the likes of a goats cheese farm, olive orchards, wineries, hydroponic vegetables, berries, and best of all, the mussels and oysters that are farmed in the waters we see out of our own windows.

On top of all that, we are fortunate that a number of amazing restaurants and chefs have taken advantage of the produce available so we don’t even need to cook for ourselves if we don’t feel like it. I can ride my bike for 15 minutes and be at a cellar door attached to a fabulous restaurant to enjoy any day of the week. Lucky, don’t you think? I feel very fortunate.

Last weekend we took advantage of a sunny afternoon and went out for lunch at one of our favourite winery/restaurants, Terindah Estate. It wasn’t a special celebration but we just couldn’t help but start with oysters before 3 courses of deliciousness. Yes we also picked up some wine to take home for a rainy day.

Next we stopped at Drysdale Cheeses for a hit of creamy goats cheese goodness. They only open once a month so the timing was intentional. I’m still waiting patiently for their blue cheese to become available again but I won't pester the nannies too much. I was happy to go away with some garlic shev and pine needle infused yogurt in hand.

A stop at the The Buy Bellarine Produce Barn was also on the agenda. This is located at Bellarine Estate Winery which again is a handy stop over, and literally a 3 minutes drive from where we had lunch and picked up our cheese. You know when they say location, location, location. Our bounty included a fruit and almond granola from Adelia Fine Foods, some lemon infused olive oil and Spanish infused risotto rice from Wildings Pantry Essentials.

So, next time you come down this way bring your basket and perhaps an eski. Take a look at the Bellarine Taste Trail and map out your trip around to collect your own Bellarine Bounty!

Make sure you #bellarinetastetrail too ;)

Story by Connie Trathen for Visit Geelong Bellarine