St Marks

We have a touch of sophistication in the heart of Drysdale now with the opening of a wine bar.  There are numerous places to do this sort of thing but they are all wineries requiring a country drive, however this is right in town.  The decor consists of many photos from the owners parents and grand parents who started the Hoyts cinema chain. I thought the best one was a photo with Shirley Temple in 1937.  Friday night there was a run on the wines and being a long weekend could not get a delivery however we snagged the last bottle of champagne.  We also got a grazing platter which kept three of us well fed for $25 each.  This is a good option for an hour or so to get a drink without sitting in the pub over the road.

Just a few family photos with the likes of Doris Day, Glen Ford and Robert Wagner.

Sunday Oneday Paella

 1st Sunday of the month is paella day at the Oneday estate.  Since we have moved here, 77 1st Sundays of the month have gone passed without trying the huge dish they cook up of seafood paella. The last time I saw a dish this big was on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. It also helps that we are in perfect sunshine here while further North seems to be covered in snow.  There was also some art to see on the premises which was not making much of an impression especially with a $3000 price tag. 

Wilbur

 Ol 55 came to RMIT in 1975, that was the first time I saw Wilbur Wilde. He was 20 years old, the same age as me. It was a free concert to the students and that got me hooked.  Everyone else will have a familiarity with Wilbur thru 'Hey Hey it's Saturday' and that went on for years. Then in an unlikely encounter, he started hanging around Collendina caravan park. It turns out he was getting on friendly terms with Joan's daughter Cate who owned the van park. She came back from a UN job in Afghanistan and started working around the park.  They have since broken up. But last night at OneDay Estate, Wilbur and the Troublemakers were playing. He came up to us for a 10 min chat mainly because we were hanging around where the band were setting up.  We went thru the Collendina history and he was happy to reminisce. The OneDay Estate has been on our list to try and have now made it there when Laura bought me some Christmas tickets. The highlight was Ol' 55's Rockin Christmas.

Mt Duneed

 The wineries around here have a lot in common, Mt Duneed is a more famous one on top of a hill that also hosts large concerts like Elton John for example.  The inside is like an aircraft hanger and you would swear the vats are lined up like rocket ships ready to take off.  We had a bottle of champers with crusty salmon to start, then slow cooked lamb and barramundi for the mains. I finished off with a cappuccino and decided to skip on the dessert.  There were about 25 customers with seating for 150 while we were there so plenty of full table service to go round.   A good place to go and very easy to get to as the Geelong bypass takes you right to their front door.

A happy place

ground control

over a barrel