Garden delights

ANY recommendation on a café doing good things — whether new or not — is welcomed.

So I was thrilled to visit not one, but two great local spots in the past week. The first followed a chilly mid-morning stroll (one of the few) along our city’s waterfront.

A friend had mentioned the renovated café space found in the Geelong Botanic Garden was well worth a look and given my freezing hands (and a serious need for caffeine) I couldn’t think of a better time to visit.

Where You Meet (or WYM, as they brand themselves) is a delightful spot serving quality beans (from Honeybird coffee), brilliant wraps and toasties, and an assortment of tasty La Madre sweet treats. And they have a liquor licence! Yes, you can expect tap beer, local wines or shaken cocktails if your morning walk through the gardens proves to be more stressful than you expect. Or if, you know, you just feel like a non-caffeinated morning pick-me-up (like me). I can vouch for the $7 mulled wine.

The second, and by no means less exciting, was found when grabbing coffee another early morning, this time before boarding a train to the Melbourne big smoke. Vim Coffee Bar is a reasonably new outlet that backs onto the rear car park of the South Geelong Train Station. The vibe is welcoming and the service is quick: an obvious necessity given the masses that hurriedly queue before their daily morning commute.

The place isn’t about just receiving that quick early coffee hit though: the coffee here is seriously worth the visit, even if the trek to Melbourne isn’t the main reason you’re in the area.

A huge round of applause needs to head the way of Lethbridge Wines this week, after learningit has received one of the top gongs from probably the most well-known wine awards platforms here in Australia. The origins of the Wine Companion Awards can be traced back to James Halliday — one of our country’s most recognised, oldest wine critics — who founded the publication (which later went on to become an annual awards celebration) way back in the mid-nineties. Today, these coveted accolades hold about as much weight in the eyes of Australian consumers and wine trade folk as gold medals go for athletes in the Olympics. Well, at least for most. Anyway, Lethbridge received the Wildcard award at this year’s ceremony for its non vintage Yellow wine (in reference to the wine’s colour). The aged, multi vintage single vineyard savagnin (SA-VIN-YAN) beat more than 7,000 other national entrants to claim this title. The Wildcard award recognises a category of wines that don’t fit necessarily into more traditional groups (eg like shiraz, or sparkling wine) but rather encompasses those alternative styles and/or minority varieties that still remain a highlight. Want to get your hands on one? Try the winery website or ask your favourite local wine merchant.

Like myself, you may be genuinely curious about how the Geelong council plans to run its Little Malop Street market in the mall area between the streets of Yarra and Moorabool. They’ve indicated these will be (loosely) based off Hobart’s Salamanca Market. These markets are almost world renowned, having steadily built their reputation and attraction for over 50 years. When you visit these, you’re greeted with cobble stoned roads, a historic waterfront view and over 350 stalls. Now, I’m not against council dreaming big — and I sincerely hope they achieve these ideas — but I’ve also heard nothing about the serious investment, infrastructure and planning needed to really make a go of this. Yes, it’s no secret it would be great to see this rather dead space activated, but let us hope CoGG has seriously thought about what’s required, with a long-term vision to encourage both locals and visitors alike, to continually want to visit (weekly). We’ll find out within the next few weeks, we’re told. In the meantime, I can whole hardly recommend another inner city market which happens every first and third Sunday of the month: the South Geelong Farmers Market. It has almost everything you’d want to enjoy from a small community gathering, including a large (and good) range of local produce from Geelong, Bellarine and Surf Coast stall holders.

Finally, I was amazed a couple of weeks back when I witnessed the ultimate of Friday night pub raffles. Forget the ol’ fresh veggie pack or mixed meat tray, offered here was a jackpotted amount of 28 slabs — yes, that’s 672 bottles — for one lucky ticket holder. The Geelong & District Angling Club has been raising funds through regular Friday night festivities at the Petrel Hotel for ages, but this particular night had the crowd heaving with wallets open and lips licking. Sure, it’s not uncommon for a slab or two given away in the name of local fundraising, but 28 of them? Well, if you drank roughly two beers a day (which is probably more than many) you’d be set every day for the next year. Let’s hope the winner has a big fridge.

Jokes aside, it’s actually an amazing show of community support for a club that not only promotes sustainable fishing and fish protection, but is also believed to be the oldest fishing society in Australia, established in 1866. How good is that?