We arose earlyish and Mr Smart settled on the couch to do some writing while I showered and ate breakfast. I had a serve of Uncle Toby's creamy honey flavoured oats, topped with a generous spoonful of Dairy Farmer's Thick & Creamy orchard peaches and mango 98% fat free yoghurt and accompanied by a 250ml nudie space chimp juice. That sounds really unappetising and kind of gross but it's one of my favourite juices.Mr Smart mentioned Captain America's, an American-styled hamburger joint in Ferntree Gully that we pass on the way to the thousand steps walk. We've often talked about going as it's somewhere I've enjoyed before, particularly for their onion rings - a snackable that Mr Smart is very fond of, but we've never gotten around to it. As today was the day for our monthly walk, Mr Smart suggested we go there for lunch afterwards. Sure it means effectively wiping out the good the walk does us... but it's still a better choice than going to lunch without doing the walk!
We drove to the walk but as we approached the entry to the car park at 10:28am we were greeted by blockades manned by police, and signage stating that the car park would be closed until 10:30am. Unfortunately there was not really any place to stop and wait for those two minutes so we had to drive on to avoid being rear-ended. All along the down side of the hill there were parked cars. Weekly joggers and runners determined to do their normal run regardless of car park closures. I wonder why none of them thought just to keep driving and start at the top for a change because that's what we did.
We went down the Kokoda trail which is definitely the roughest of the options. I nearly fell flat on my arse on a slippery step, thank goodness for handrails! When we got to the bottom we could see that the car park had been closed to allow for the ceremonial opening of the new Kokoda memorial. We didn't want to approach is as things seemed to still be quite formal, and as Mr Smart said "This is their day" so we left our service men and women in peace and went to start the long walk back up the Lyrebird track with legs already jelly.
Before we got there, on a tree directly above the track there was a cheeky kookaburra. He was perched with bum stuck out, preparing perhaps, to sully walkers at a moments notice. We veered to the other side of the track to avoid such a possibility.
The walk up while hellish, was satisfying. Mr Smart always pauses with me for water or to catch my breath and we can talk once the track incline reduces a little towards the top. The other great thing about doing the uphill last was knowing that when we got to the top it really was over! My legs of course don't see it that way and have not functioned fully for the remainder of the day. According to Mr Smart's runtastic app we did 4.15km, from the car and back, in 1 hour 23 minutes! Not bad when you consider that's over 400m elevation.
We got back to the car at noon and headed straight off for lunch at Captain America's. It's a cool kind of place. There are jokes and puns all over the walls and it's American in a very Aussie way. It's laid back and likes to laugh at itself and they give their tips to support the CFA which is a nice touch given that they are situated in a relatively bushfire prone area.
We were first to arrive for lunch that day so we had our pick of the tables and booths. We chose a booth by the window so we could watch the world go by. I ordered a Pineapple Fanta Float (a Spider to Aussies) and I thought their trick of weighting the straw down with a knotted Allen's Snake was pretty clever. For my lunch I ordered the hot dog. The menu describes it as "A third of a metre of frankfurt served in a roll topped with onion, bacon, mushrooms, American mustard, and grilled cheese, served with chips" It was enormous. It made me laugh that they described it as 'a third of a metre' when the Americans' cling so tenaciously to their imperial measurements. Surely they should've said 'foot'?
A large group of people celebrating a birthday were next to arrive and among them was a real life loud-mouthed American woman. She explained that root beer was 'like sarsaparilla only it tastes real good' and then she asked about their chilli sauce. The waitress described it as 'a bit like sweet chilli sauce but with a kick' so the woman declined and ordered something else instead. What an American expects from chilli sauce is more like a Tex-Mex version of Sambal Oelek.
I am a pretty tolerant person and I accept 'to each their own' as long as no one's getting hurt, but seriously.. why travel if all you are going to do is seek out the nearest approximation to 'the food back home'? If you're not willing to get out there and try new things, then perhaps traveling is not for you? One of the coolest things an American tourist ever told me was that until they traveled they had no idea how small and misguided America really was and what she'd been missing out on. That's the way to travel, with your heart, eyes and mind open.
After an enjoyable lunch (and Mr Smart agreed that their onion rings are great), we headed back to my place and watched Season 1, Episode 7 of Spartacus. I'm slowly getting through it! It can be a teensy bit on the violent side so sometimes I'm slow to watch the next episode, but it's a great show so I know I'll finish it eventually. With Spartacus watching done for the day, Mr Smart headed home for the day to get ready for the week ahead and I did the same.
I got some laundry brought in and a new load hung out, I made myself another homemade KFC Twister for dinner and had a 26g Curly Wurly bar for dessert, and then I blogged, and blogged and blogged and blogged. I tried desperately to finish this one too but as it neared 1:00am I knew I needed sleep more than you guys needed another blog. But it's done now! So I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the day.
Jess
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