Yet another glorious night on Sydney Harbour. Plenty of maritime activity, including the re-emergence of the floating glass-house – captured in our photo. It is the least visually appealing vessel afloat since the floating roof-tile – aka the Imperial Peking Afloat – but from a passengers point of view, at least you can always see out.
BotF discussion was dominated by the news of the Storm. As a died in the wool Manly fan, Charlie was cock-a-hoop. As a Bears fan, I’m hopeful that they’ll kick out the Storm and replace them with the North (of) Sydney Bears. It’s quite a remarkable decision by the NRL and I agree with most of the punishment except for stripping them of all points for this season. Phil Gould’s solution of enabling to compete once they are under the cap is the right one.
After the ferry, it was off to the Boilerhouse for a taste test. This is a seriously good restaurant. Both dishes we had were sensational, and dessert – creme brulee – was terrific. It is such a great venue for a restaurant and the perspective of Sydney Harbour from North Head and Quarantine Beach is so different. Definitely a date night venue.
The missus then dropped me off at the Artichoke (check out the BotF Bar Review map for location). The attraction was that the Blue Tongue Lizards were performing. Unfortunately for the Lizards, the crowd was sparse, but fortunately for me I had an unimpeded view and it was practically a private performance. If you like your blues, then you should take the opportunity to check out what Mikkal, Graeme, David and Robert can do. 2 guitars, 1 Mandolin and a Harmonica deliver on an eclectic combination of covers and originals. A really mellow evening – and I’ll ensure that the Lizards give me plenty of notice of when their next gig is on at the Artichoke – because it is worth going.
I don’t know whether the Artichoke really qualifies as a bar, but I was able to order beers without eating and therefore it goes on the map with an empty schooner.
Blue Tongue Lizards
back of the ferry 