Goat cheeses from the Bellarine

Whilst in Melbourne for a four-day-weekend, my host and I packed a lot in. One of which was a visit to Drysdale Cheeses on the Bellarine Peninsula of Port Phillip Bay, between Geelong and Portarlington. My friend went into the tasting rooms, but being a country girl at heart, I headed straight for the goats.

There were about 30 of them in this close enclosure, the vast majority of which were in calf ready for a spring drop. The milk production at the moment is miniscule, for obvious reasons. The cheesery sells primarily to restaurants, and from the cellar-door. Is that a term that can be used for a cheesery? I love goat cheese, especially embedded within a beetroot and rocket salad, sprinkled with walnuts, and sweet corn niblets sliced from the cob. A good day's drive from Melbourne is to do the bay anti-clockwise. Go down to Drysdale and chat with the goats, take the Queenscliff-Sorrento ferry across the heads of Port Phillip Bay, and visit the Redhill Goat Cheesery on t'other side as you make your return to the big smoke.