Which local?

Children are messy creatures. Give them an ice-cream and they try to eat the whole thing in one go. This results in the face covered with ice-cream messiness all adults prefer to see on other children's faces. Now here I am experiencing a similar problem. The post Christmas excess diet has started and if I wish to have a sly Ice-cream (Licorice flavour my current fave) then I eat it round the corner from the flat. Unfortunately the sun is so hot that the ice-cream starts melting as soon as I step out of the shop. I don't want ice-cream running down my hand so I attempt to eat the whole thing at once. Clearly as an adult I will clean myself up when finished but during the ice-cream eating phase of the operation I manage to get the stuff all over my face, just like our little messy children. This poses two major questions;

How do I possibly keep the ice-creams a secret?

And how the hell do I get Ice-cream behind my ear when I eat?

Any way onto more serious questions. Which is our local pub?

There are two choices. The Republica and the Espy. Each has it's own charms.

First the Republica.

This bar is certainly the nearest of the two. It is situated on the beach just meters from the sand. They sell beer and food. The pizza's look the best of any Pizza we have seen being served in Australia. The staff are friendly and they even have hanging wicker chairs to lounge around in, although these are usually filled with ice cream covered sprogs at the weekend. Sometimes they have live music on a Sunday afternoon. Chilled laid-back and on the edge of the ocean. A perfect Bar.

Then the Espy. Again this also serves beer, slightly cheaper than Republica and they do jugs of VB for a reasonable $14. The decor can only be described as Student Bar style. The plaster on the roofs has seen better days and the walls are adorned with posters advertising the bands that play the Espy. And play they do, the Espy is a music venue extraordinaire! Bands on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. there are several stages and most of them are free so we can drop into watch one band and if they are rubbish just change rooms for something different. The music is rock, which is great, and the clientele range from surf bunnies to bikers. All the bikers call in on their shiny Harley's. This is great if you like Harley's but not so great as they drive past our flat whilst we are watching a DVD. The noise is somewhat louder than an average bike. That's time to abandon Texas Chain Saw massacre and go to the pub.

So which is our local? They each have a special charm and suit a different kind of mood. one is great for relaxing and eating, one is good for rocking out and having a party nite. As I asked the question I am going to have to answer it I guess. I suppose on reflection the ESPY gets the nod. After all the staff have started greeting me with the ever friendly

"Mate, do you know you have ice-cream on your forehead?"

Weird fact: In Australia you can buy celery BY THE STICK!!! Yes indeed, one stick of celery at a time. Mad!

Next week we are going to take a chartered Fishing trip out into the bay. Should be great fun, we can eat what we catch on a BBQ on the boat. So we will stock the Esky with VB and head to the open waters. Should be a blast, I hope to have a picture of me having captured a big fat fish. And then another of me fat afetr eating said fish.

Here is a picture of Moira on her new toy. She has a shiny new bike (Pink and Black) and helmet.