Cosmic Bilby

[dreinecke]

I cannot wait for the time when I can afford to get to Australia and New Zealand to visit all of my slot friends. Years away to be sure, but on the bucket list. Rob, you have cracked me up for years.

"some ill-dressed, fat vagrant that got in on the picture...." that describes me and why I'm usually the one taking the pictures!

[FootScoot]

Never Foster's! That stuff will rust your stomach. Tastes too much like Bud. :) Maybe a nice Eumundi, Carbine Stout, or XXXX Gold, yummy. :)

[MoparGreg]

No Bilbys around my neck of the woods in Australia. But have seem alot of Wallabies, snakes & echidnas.

Im sure the Aussie slang is quite humorous to our friends in the US. Probably just as much as I find some of the American Tongue very funny. Now wheres that dead-orse, map of Tassie

[Cosmic Bilby]

...The Brits can be a chore to fathom, we call them "Guards" here in oz....

David, it could be a lot of fun for you! You will be able to get a cooks tour of our country from top to bottom I'd reckon :)

Footscoot, all QLD beer there!

My first wife actually worked for one of the people that kicked off the Eumundi brewery, a father and son, the son was a Dentist in Brisbane.

Laguna Bay Lager was the first one for the brews from there, we went up to the brewery after that got it running (was a small boutique one at that point, late '80's), really good set-up, very nice beer (particularly for summer!).

The Carbine Stout is a different proposition though. My first (and only) encounter with it was in a Queensland Rail marshaling yard in Brisbane (Pinkenba, right on the Brisbane River)....

....I was on the yard shunt as a young Fireman, we weren't busy, so I went for a wander around the yard looking at stuff, anyway I was walking past these old decrepit sheds that was the home of the yards points maintainer....

All of a sudden the old points maintainer pops out (a real old wizened up dude, looked all dirty and disheveled, some kind of old age Urchin).

He says, "Hey boy, come over here, I got something for you to try", always game and inquisitive I thought I'd check him out and see what the go was....

I go into his crappy looking tin shed and he produced a largie of stout out of his work bag, pours himself a drink and gives me the rest of the bottle...

To this day I dont know why he did this??? We just talked a bit of beer and work, all seemed good, I thanked him for his hospitality and went. A nice old bloke, used to see him about when I was working in the yard....

May have to reacquaint myself with Stout beer now I'm an old feller too :)

Gold is the Queenslanders beer of choice nowadays Footscoot, lower % alcohol content so you can stuff more in when you are out on the town!!!

[dreinecke]

Not much of a Foster's fan. I drink Corona and Sam Adams around the house, and one of about a dozen Colorado Microbrews from pilsners to darks when I'm feeling in the mood.

[Ember]

:lol: Fosters has got to be the best con that we Australians have perpetrated upon the world at large.

Rob (CB) I'll see anything Queensland has to offer and raise you a Perth brew or two. Dang, the West knows how to brew. And it seems like every road in Perth leads to a pub. Or maybe that was just me.

BTW: for those who don't know. There has been a push for the Bilby to replace the Easter Bunny down here. I'm sure by now every one knows what sort of a curse the rabbits have been in Australia. So, hopefully that means I can count on a visit from the Cosmic one bearing lots of chocolate goodies at Easter next year. :)

[Reslotted]

Fosters was originally marketed here as an aggresive drain cleaner.
The story goes goes that some random pom (englishman) picked it up here on holiday thinking it was some sort of colloquial Aussie drink. Took it back overseas and sold it as a beverage.
Honest!!!!

Emb's, when did you come over to Perth?
Stop telling everybody about the beer and the pubs otherwise the place will be full of mad slotcar racers drinking the place dry.
Actually not a bad Idea, just watchout for the dugites.

Robbo was a fireman on the railways hey? What a strange coincedence.
Only today one of the older guys at the railyard gave me 4 bottles of homebrew stout. That is actually true not like the lies I normally tell.
But drinking XXXX - Really Fellas?

[Ember]

Ted, I was over there for the better part of 2 weeks (well 10 days really). Departed for home last Friday. Spent most of my time lurking around Joondalup, but spent a couple of days in Freo and visited a friend's track in Yangebup. Went for the other half's Godson's wedding (to an American gal, what's more). Still working on drying out from the experience.

[ddyke]

Ted,

The three Australian neighbors I have are now in trouble! If I have the chocolate fudge kicked out of me I am holding you guys responsible! My vocabulary has expanded! We have two beer emporiums in town that import all sorts of stuff. I will ask for them to get a keg of your stuff. My favorite is Dogfish.

[Reslotted]

You'll be right Dan.
Nothing in this thread will get you a kicking from an Aussie.
Except maybe if you quote MoparGreg, Because a "Map of Tassie", has nothing to do with Cartography or the fair Island of Tasmania.
I don't even want to try and explain it.
Anyone else?

[Cosmic Bilby]

Dan's got neighbors from Australia!!!!!

What are they Millionaires Dan?????

How were they allowed to get over there????

I want to shift over there but for some reason the US government keeps knocking me back..... :P

Yes Ted, ten years three days in total, classed Fireman Cloncurry June 1986, Drivers Assistant (two man crewing re-structure) Inglewood 1987. I decided to take a voluntary retrenchment package just before I went to Drivers school.

Funny thing is I was looking to go over to Hamersley back then, a few of the guys I worked with went over (and no doubt are rolling around in rooms full of money, fine art, and slot cars)....Nearly a Sandgroper!

Yeah XXXX sucks, draino for the gut, I'm with David now, chilled Corona's with little slices of lemon or lime stuffed down their throats like the Ladies have :)

West Aussie beer Ember? I think I will need to explore this concept over Christmas!!!!

[Ember]

Rob if you're after a decent W'Aussie beer there are more than a few being shipped out of the big state of late.

Little Creatures Pale is still a favoured drop for me though I'm not overly keen on their mid-strength red Rogers. Spent a nice long lunch at the brewery before catching up with one of the local slotters who lived in Freo. Then spent the afternoon with him at the Sail & Anchor who are now selling their range to the smaller states. Staggered out of there in time to catch the train back to Perth at about 8:30.

The following day it was off to the Indian Ocean micro-brewery for lunch time tastings and food. Then decided to head into the Swan Valley to see how it compared to our favourite wine region. Finished up finding another brewery and a distillery, quite by accident I assure you.

I can honestly recommend some of the goodies from the Feral Brewery in Swan Valley, particularly their Hop Pig Pale and a very interesting smoked porter which tastes rather like barbecued ribs in a glass. And the distillery in the valley does a good rum, or at least His Lordship said it was good.

Of course anything from Malt Shovel is good, but it seems some of the James Squire range is now brewed in Melbourne.

Is it any wonder I've been in rehab since returning to Victoria?

[Cosmic Bilby]

Yes!!! :)

Well I don't drink much anymore, but I like a cold beer or two over Christmas, so I'll take my list (thank you Embs!) and see what I can track down in Toowoomba.

I'd love to get over to West Oz again to see what its like now. I went there on a trip with my parents in 1977 (the year Elvis died). Perth was a nice place from memory, I remember Freemantle as well, I reckon it may have change "a little" from then though :)

Should've gone over there in the 80's, could've had a bit part in that bloody "Red Dog" movie!!!

[Ember]

I think you may notice some changes since '77.

[Cosmic Bilby]

:)

Mmmm, currency going decimal????

....Ok, that was earlier wasn't it?....

:)