A couple of beers I haven't seen for ages are Lamot and Grolsch with that distinctive flip-top.

I remember back in the 70s, consuming copious amounts of Lamot in the 'Rising Sun', Spa Hill and walking home in a straight line was nigh on impossible !

Edited by Willo (10 Nov 2017 9.41am)

When I used to frequent the 'Rising Sun' 'Mine host' was a chap whom I think was called Dennis and I think his wife was Canadian.

Yes I have been in the Ref&Whistle which was adorned in Palace colours and the Conquering Hero but never set foot in the Reform Tavern, not too far from the Rising Sun.

Edited by Willo (10 Nov 2017 10.25am)

When i lived over in Aus me and a few mates went on the castlemaine brewery tour.
The tour guide was doing his best to keep us engaged, as we were just trying to get to the tasting room for the freebies, when we got to the part of the tour where the beer was put in barrels there was some of the old wooden ones stacked up. The guide ask the assembled group 'why do you think they used to put XXXX on the barrels?' I piped up 'because your'e not allowed to write s*it on there'. Needless to say I wasn't very popular with my colleagues when we only got a short visit to the tasting room.

The Exchange rate is not that good at the moment.

A few years ago I met some Australians in the UK who were working over here and commented how cheap it was to buy beers etc in our supermarkets compared to in Australia.

But in Australia they have a number of BYO (Bring Your Own) restaurants.

Edited by Willo (10 Nov 2017 11.14am)

Changed a lot in 20 years since I went. Three dollars to the pound then. We lived like Kings even on a budget.

Big chest and massive boobs

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I was also in Australia some 20 years ago and recall the excellent exchange rate.I think at the moment it is around 1.6 or 1.7 Australian dollars to the Pound.