Prawn picnic for Australia Day

We decided to indulge in seafood for Australia Day and headed down to Wellington Point for some top stuff from Bayside Seafood. Andrew Mirosch, Executive Chef at Restaurant Lurleen's, Sirromet, loves the seafood from this place and now I know why. Walk in and you can smell that deliciously fishy, salty aroma that comes only with good quality, fresh seafood.

For just $20 we had enough cleaned sand crabs and prawns for two big sambos each. The shop had a good range of different prawns and bugs but was low on fish as you would expect on a public holiday afternoon in a store that specialises in fresh seafood.

The store is well stocked with sauces to go with your seafood and I also grabbed a lemon and some drinks. The only thing missing was a salad selection, which would have been handy.

We grabbed loaf of bread to go with my picnic pack which included butter, a pepper grinder and a bottle of Sirromet's 820 Above Verdelho, a nice light wine to compliment the seafood.

Our plan was to enjoy a sea view at Wellington Point while we peeled prawns and shelled the crabs. Thanks to the local council, our plan quickly fell apart when we saw the very large no dogs allowed sign - not fair!

However we left the area to the large family groups and headed for a quiet spot, which we found without too much difficulty. We enjoyed a water (more mudflat as the tide was out) view with our trusty canine companion and listened to the Hottest 100 on Triple J.

I'm going to have a bash here at those who do not not control their dogs in public and are the reason why the majority of canine best friends and their owners are discriminated against. Not cool!

We spent the journey back home trying to get the perfect photo of the latest Australia Day gimmick - flags that attach to the roof of your car. In the fine Australian tradition, I understand they were give aways from bottle shops if you spent more than $30....

Find Bayside Seafood at 360 Main Road, Wellington Point. ph +61 7 3207 2530.