Ang and I decided to duck out for dinner at a local restaurant in Newtown tonight. While we were waiting to order, the two people we were sitting next too offered us a beer. I was a bit taken aback, and asked why and they said “we just want to chat”.
The couple were from Kansas, Missouri, USA. The gent was a military pilot who is training to fly B2 bombers. The lass was a journo working for a magazine covering social trends, particularly in rural areas.
We had a lovely conversation that ranged from touristy things to politics to the environment (of course) and many stops in between. It was a lovely, unexpected, evening.
And we had one of those moments where you realise that tourists sometimes get to know your local area better than you do. The beer they offered was a James Squire Pilsner. It was a nice drop, and we asked why they chose it: “it’s a local beer apparently”. Then we realised it was brewed in Camperdown – just down the road from where we live.
Neither Ang nor I are beer drinkers, but we’ve taken a shine to Amstel. This presents an ethical dilemma. Amstel is an imported beer, and we were concerned about the eco-footprint of the product. Yes, we’re that eco-geeky.
Given we’re so far enjoying the James Squire – and you can’t get a much smaller footprint than “imported from just down the road” – we might have just found our new beer.
So thanks to two yanks who are in Newtown for one night we’ve been introduced to our new favourite beer from just down the road…
Tonight has been full of unexpected moments – I mean how often does that sort of thing happen? Makes you realise it’s fun to be alive. Thanks to J and B, our friends for this evening. Hope you have a great time on the Great Barrier Reef!