Gluttony

Well inadvertently today has been about food!

I blame it on the fact that I went for a swim this morning, which psychologically gave me the green light to eat as much as I wanted. Also on the news today was a piece about how the 2,500 calories per day guidance for men is out of date and how it should be more like 3,000. Well I guess I might have exceeded that!

First off, after my swim I went to Retro Cafe in Salamanca Place and had the 'sourdough stack' – this was some big chunks of sourdough toast topped with a couple of poached eggs, wilted spinach, a grilled tomato and salsa. It was just the job!

After my breakfast I did part of the LP walking tour of Battery Point. A bit of a waste of time in my opinion – I don't need anymore pictures of old Australian houses!

It was now approaching midday, so almost time for a beer! After my failure yesterday, I tried again with the Cascade Brewery visitor centre. Rather than walk, I drove and this time I was successful! I bought a few bits and bobs from the shop ad tried a couple of beers – Cascade Green (carbon neutral and very crisp) and Cascade First Harvest (quite 'hoppy'). The visitor and gardens were pretty cool really.

Suitably refreshed, I jumped in my car and thought I'd drive out to Sandy Bay (before anyone thinks I was probably 'under the influence' I'd like to point out I only had half a pint of each beer). There didn't appear to be anything at Sandy Bay apart from a casino. Oh well, not a totally wasted trip as I picked up some provisions from Coles.

Time for lunch. I wasn't too far from Battery Point so it didn't take long to park outside Jackman & McRoss. According to the LP Guide it's a 'local institution' (or maybe it's a 'lively neighbourhood cafe' – I can't remember). Anyway it does good food. I had a Venison and Blackcurrant Pie with Salad. The pie was awesome – really meaty and the blackcurrants really added to the flavour. On my way out I got a chocolate and hazelnut brownie to eat later.

I had planned to have a 'flashy' seafood meal tonight, but I was rapidly re-thinking my plans. For a start I'm not sure how hungry I'd be later!

The weather had changed from a nice sunny, warm morning, to a cold drizzly afternoon. I sought shelter in a coffee shop and surreptitiously ate my brownie (really good).

By now the weather had changed again – the sky had brightened up and the sun was threatening to come out. I thought I'd better 'walk off' some of the food I'd eaten, so I went up to the Queens Domain, an area of parkland just North of my hotel. I ended up walking most of the Soldier's Memorial Walk – this is a walk which takes you past the 510 trees that were planted in 1918 to commemorate Tasmanian soldiers killed in WWI. Each tree commemorates an individual soldier and has a plaque which has information about the soldier and where and how they died.

I ended up in North Hobart and walked the few kms back to my hotel, picking up some beer from the bottle shop on the way.

After my longish walk, my appetite was starting to make a reappearance. However, I couldn't face a formal meal. So I went for a curry!

In my walk through North Hobart I'd picked up a menu for a restaurant called Annapurna. It looked good and I knew they had another restaurant in Salamanca Place. So that's where I ended up going. I had Fish Amritsari to start (sort of like tandoori fish) and then Goan prawn curry. Both were really good. In fact the curry was excellent, and the prawns were just so big and juicy!

After all I've eaten today I definitely think I need to get down to the Aquatic Centre in the morning!