Part — 3 Around the world in 18 days

I really recommend you read part 1 first…then part 2…  it does not guarantee that any of my mindless ramblings will make more sense but it’s worth a shot!

Maybe you still don’t like being told what to do. Here is a quick recap: Trip to Munich and Berlin to tour castles and explore beers in the name of work.  Then a weekend stop in Bangkok see close friends and family. Beers, food, and fun.

In Part – 2 we left Bangkok after buying shorts, testing the rear shocks on small local motorcycles, and inspecting the libation vessels carefully. After a quick stop in Sydney to do the customs thing (and hit my airport sushi place for breakfast) a triumphant return to what has become a second home. Canberra, ACT.

The team has been coming here for so long that we have old friends here. One is a large (doughy and personality), former Australian Navy, mick bastard named Kierran. Great guy, but terrible person, just like the rest of us, so we have been accepted as one of his own; and

he as one of ours. We mercilessly poke fun at each other and no slip goes unnoticed… very much like brothers or shipmates. I met Kierran a few years back when The Commonwealth of Australia invited us to demonstrate some technology with his company. Now we never miss an opportunity to hang out, BBQ, and get on the piss. His wife allows one night kitchen pass per trip to this endeavor…. it usually means 24hrs though if you take into account recovery. No trip to Canberra is right without him.

I get picked up at the airport and deposited to the hotel.  Relief (!) to be back in the Crown Plaza…clothes hung, toiletries into the bathroom, AC on high, laundry ready for pick up…stomach talking to me. Time to find some food.  Being familiar with the Canberra City Center we head to King O’Malley’s for some lunch. I even found an American beer which is special because the import of some of our craft brews has been fairly difficult in years past. This week being Craft Beer Week in Canberra … someone must have made an effort to get this one through.

O’Malley’s does OZ style pub food which typically includes fries (chips) and chicken Parmesan or schnitzel. To be honest those are the only things we order there besides beers. Not that there is anything wrong with other menu items just these items are so good there is no need to order anything else. Just a word of caution… the magpies are beggars!

Let us agree to skip all the work related happenings and just insert some of the random photos from around the city here.

This makes you think… which way is up in space, really?

One of our mates name is Jake so we grabbed this guy in a bar for a pic…

New pub (back then) with good food and better bartenders.

Coopers. Brewed in the bottle so there is yeast sludge in every bottle. Roll the bottle to mix before opening.

Rainy day shot from the hotel room.

Cool sign.

I laughed at the thought of a krill with a cape…

BBQ at a mates house… cool ideal for raising a sail shade when you have no post.

Breakie while waiting on laundry.

Interesting sign in the courtyard of the mall.

They do not have real Mexicans in Australia so importing burrito rolling technology must be expensive.

Hopscotch is was a new offering to one of the up and coming neighborhoods in Canberra. We were directed to this gastro-pub by our favorite Canadian/Australian bartender from Transit Bar a few years ago. He now works there. A random stumble into the pub this last trip resulted in a really special treat. Beer paired dinner. There was only one open table left and for the low low price of $40AUD we had five pints and three course meal. Fantastic!

Introduction of one of the courses and the story behind the beer.

Spachcock.

I thought spachcock must refer to the kind of bird (old rooster perhaps?) but upon further research it seems to refer to the way it is cooked. I have butterflied a bird and grilled it before… (brick chicken) but this one seemed to be fried. Never let it be said that the Aussies are normal (we love them for that!) but whatever the situation … this bird was delicious.

Thank goodness for Canberra Beer Week. I am extremely happy to see that the beers ‘down unda’ are improving from my first trips to OZ in the mid-nineties. At one time there were really only four or five brands of beer and all were akin to Budweiser.

There are a lot of things to do in Canberra if you are looking for touristy stuff. Those have been done many times over on other trips. Here are a few of my favorites with my old pictures.

Australian War Memorial

Hike and walk to Telstra Tower

Maybe hop over to Adelaide to see Mount Lofty and Cleland Wildlife Park

On your way in and out of OZ maybe you could get a day pass for Sydney to hit some of the sites there as well… but that is a whole other story…

After the 18-days had wrapped up, work missions completed, friends visited, beers slowly and occasionally savored… it was really a relief to be home. We had packed so much into 18 days, circumnavigated the globe, visited the castles of Bavaria, seen the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall, romped around Bangkok, and caught up with old friends for Beer week in Australia. What a trip!

Only a couple of days rest to repack then it was off to AZ for Thanksgiving then TX for deer hunt…

If you made it this far then you are the only one!!! Congratulations!!!

Thanks for reading. Share, like, send beer!

Cheers!