Archive for year: 2016
Hollister Brewing Company
What’s on tap? Actually there are about 15 beers that HBC pours and they are probably all good (haven’t had them all). Then there are the fries, served in duck fat they are unique and tasty. After that it’s all downhill. If you want a burger go to Chili’s next door. It’s across from the Home Depot, but don’t get their slogans confused with HBC. ‘More Doing’ doesn’t translate to ‘More Dining’, ‘Let’s Do This’ should be ‘Let’s Not Do This’ for HBC, and ‘You Can Do It, We Can Help’ at HD translates to ‘You Can Eat It, We Can Hope’ at the Hollister Brewing Company. Actually, on second thought just skip the place altogether and go to Chili’s for the beer too.
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Flinders Station (the glass of beer)
On my first night out in Melbourne I took the street car along St. Kilda to the Flinders Station to explore a bit of the city of Melbourne. You must realize that I was forewarned that Australians may not take kindly to those of us from across the pond, however, a must read is my post related to Ozzie’s and All-Stars. At any rate, this thought was completely out of my mind until I stepped up to the bar and ordered a ‘glass of beer’. Upon arrival I noticed those drinking to both my left and right obviously had larger beers. Ordering another glass, the notion began to cross my mind… but what exactly I should do about it was the real question. Calling out the bartender wouldn’t be the smartest play, so maybe the best plan is to just drink up my losses, go on about my day and not return to this bar again.
At some point shortly after, during my stay in Oz, at some bar or restaurant, the light shined, an epiphany some might call it, a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience. Although it’s not very intuitive if someone needs to tell you. However the knowledge was gained, it was about as simple as basic arithmetic: a glass was smaller in size and contains 10 fl oz while a pint (which every adult was ordering) was a larger size beer starting at 15 fl oz, with the imperial pint holding 20 fl oz. — okay, I’m an idiot.
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The Twelve Apostles
The Great Ocean Road, between Torquay and Allansford, Victoria, Australia is what I compare Route 1 along the California coast to. The list of things to see and do is only limited by the time one has to explore everything along this route. But time changes everything and this is sadly true with the 12 Apostles. I don’t know how many are now left, they were just limestone stacks shooting up from the water to create an amazing view. Only so much constant pounding of the ocean could they withstand I would guess is the reason for their demise.
London Bridge has also collapsed since my visit. No not the one in London which is now in Arizona and not the one in the song, which is now has lyrics that more accurately reflect the one located along the Great Ocean Road, Port Campbell National Park.
Grampians National Park
The Grampians (Aboriginal name Gariwerd) are a series of five spectacular sandstone ridges located only 3 hours north of Melbourne. Hiking to the Pinnacle Lookout is probably the most sought out attraction, as well as a number of mountain climbing routes that are available. While this isn’t a post related to a bar and the road to get to Halls Gap, the base from where to hike, is not a backroad, there is one attraction that warrants a drink or two… the Nerve Test.
I suggest not to indulge before taking the test, and my word of advice would be to probably not take this test at all. There have been some tragic results over time and the park states that when they get a call regarding a fall, the team goes out in ‘recovery’ mode. Anything below a passing grade in this ‘test’ can probably be considered fatal.
So of course Andrew took the challenge…
Now he looks quite comfortable and he kind of crawled more than walked out step by step — but he did it and he was the only one in our group to try it. He is not praying for the ability to turn around, he is just looking over the edge.
Here’s someone else’s photo of the rock formation. It is a steep drop below and somewhat surprising that it is still accessible. But maybe that’s partly because of the history and tradition as this seems to be a test people like to take dating at least back in 1947. I’m sure this has been going on long before that and probably many Aboriginal tribesmen (and tribeswomen too) calmly walked out to that last stone and enjoyed the view.
