Lakes and Volcanoes

The rounded folds of the Red Rock rise from the green flats of the dairy country below. Its summit is crowned by a mound of great red rocks - the reason for the name of this volcanic scoria cone made from ochre-coloured stone. From the lookout on the summit, the view is outstanding. The great freshwater lakes, Colac and Corangamite, shimmer gold in the early summer sun. The landscape to the west is marked by dormant volcanoes, some looking like silent, kneeling elephants. Among the fields of gold and pale green are dotted little settlements, the lanes lined with hawthorn, the paddocks marked out by dry stone walls, and houses in the villages huddled together around pubs and old bluestone churches.

Corangamite Lake Road, Alvie

Babil Turkish Restaurant

Restaurateur Serdar Basoglu was born in the town of Buharkent in the Aegean region of Western Turkey. “Colac reminded me of my small town, the community, the people.” Serdar had a Turkish restaurant near Baker Street in London’s Marylebone district. After a career in supermarket retail, he wanted to return to looking after people again.

Babil at Oddfellows fills the old hall with its towering wooden ceiling. Bentwood chairs sit at bare wooden tables and fine glassware. The menu is an eclectic mix of dishes from across Turkey. Expect to start with saganaki – a dish Turkish in origin. A hot slice of sheep and cows milk cheese shallow fried and crisped on the outside and soft inside. Move on to a dolma biber – capsicum stuffed with rice cooked with onion, garlic and tomato, redolent of cinnamon. Always consider the mantil - Turkey’s answer to ravioli. Little flat dumplings of pasta filled with minced lamb flavoured with cumin amongst other spices. It is slathered in a reduced tomato sauce seasoned with dried mint and a little whack of paprika. With walnuts for crunch and garlic yoghurt for a cooling touch, this is the go-to dish. Look out for the small selection of Turkish wines and ask what seafood is on the menu.

43 Gellibrand Street, Colac, Tue-Sat 10am-10pm, Sun 10am 9pm, (03) 5231 4414

Beechy Rail Trail

This 46km bike trail travels through rich, undulating dairy country to the start of the Otway Ranges rainforest. It is steep in parts and there are several sections that follow local roads and not a dedicated off-road trail. V/Line train services with luggage carriages suitable for bikes depart Southern Cross for Warrnambool, stopping at Colac several times a day.

railtrails.org.au