Chopper On Tour

Thanksgiving....The Hunter Valley and The Aussie Reptile Park

Dear All,

It's been a while I know but I've been busy with the Wing Chun and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so there's been very little to report other than having no skin on my knuckles and bringing sweating to a whole new level.

So for those of you that don't know (ie; almost everyone) it was thanksgiving the other week and seeing that most of my mates out here are septic tanks then I thought I would join them for their thanksgiving dinner at the hugely famous 'Ribs and Rumps' restaurant in Manly. Now bear in mind folks that I am sure that most of you have been to a good steak restaurant, yeah I have too, but this is a world class one! Almost any celebrity coming to Sydney has been here... Now they don't just do steaks they do something here called the 'Man o War' which is basically a 'have a go if you think you're hard enough' challenge. It's a $60 steak which weighs in at 1 kilo (yes, 1 kilo) and you get a shite load of fries with it too and yes I think you've got the idea, you have to eat the bastard... Well, I thought that I was hard enough, and guess what... I was, I nailed that bastard in sub 15 minutes accompanied by cheers and gasps of shock across the restaurant as people looked on in awe at the monster that is Chopper. Believe me folks this is no mean feat, this is a 35 ounce (weight) steak, whats more a rump steak with no fat whatsoever!!!! Anyway, I now have almost legendary status here when it comes to food consumption.

And....last week I headed out to the Hunter Valley with 2 mates of mine, Dave and Paul from Buffallo, New York, for a days wine tasting and general mischief. I rolled by Dave and Paul's Monday morning and we made it pretty smoothly to our accommodation in Abermain by about 1.30pm. Our hotel was class, 'The Abermain Hotel' was a really homely, friendly place with it's own bar and genuine 3 armed locals to boot. We asked the lady at reception about getting on a last minute half-day wine tour and winthin minutes she had it in the bag, having organised where we were to meet the rest of the tour with a taxi already en route to take us there... rock and roll. So the three of us where chuffed as hell with our room, 15 quid each for the night.

Said taxi arrived and we were at the Tower Estate Wines, part owned by none other than Rick Stein. Here we took a unique approach to the wine tasting by starting at the top of the list of available wines and naturally finishing at the bottom. Bottle of Verdelho in hand off we went to the mighty and very highly regarded Pepper Tree Wines the same wine tasting tactics were adopted here by which stage a general feeling of well-being was being experienced by all.... Next stop Ivanhoe Wines an old favourite of mine having been here before in April, unsurprisingly nothing had changed and the wine, as before, got me drunk. We then managed to persuade our tour girl to take us for some cheese tasting at the McGuigan Cellars the cheese here is totally awesome, it's so strong that it actually numbs your whole mouth, not to everyone's taste but judging by the sudden 5pm rush, the port tasting next door certainly was.

We then decided that as we were only hammered we would go to The Potters Brewery and get totally tanked, and so we did getting fully stuck into the beers brewed on site and then when we'd nailed them it was back to good old Carlton Draught - my current number one Aussie tipple. By 9pm we got a call from the hotel asking about our whereabouts as they were locking up at 10pm... ok slight logistical problem, but sure enough a solution was only just around the corner as the barman offered us a free lift back to the hotel (instead of a $50 cab ride) what a bargain! So we got back to the hotel just in time for some Bundaburgs and Coke and general tomfoolery and drunkness with some of the hairy locals, then some pool with Dave and off to bed.

Tuesday morning off we set for the Australian Reptile Park. Now I had been told before that this was not really worth the visit (err Pierra?) but this place rocks!! waaaaaaaaay better than Sydney Zoo, and this is why....They have everything Australian here and more, and you can actually see and more often than not touch, rather than the Zoo where all the animals are dying from heatstroke and lack of water. We went to a spider talk where they brought out funnel webs, red backs and huntsmen and showed us what to do when bitten (other than fall to the ground and soil yourself while frothing at the mouth).. We then held a boa constrictor and I held a shingleback skink which was so cool, oh yeah and a baby american alligator. We then fed the free roaming kangaroos, lots of fun, although I did get mauled by their fleas. All in all a great couple of days out, and if you go to Sydney get yo' ass to the Reptile Park.

posted by Ed Beesley @ 4:11 AM