MENS CHAT – INAUGRAL OUTING :

THE BOB HAWKE BEER & LEISURE CENTRE

Mens Chat was founded by Chris Milner back in December 2021 and has been meeting twice monthly, at the Community Centre on the first and third Tuesdays since commencing. The members getting together regularly now for an informal chat number around 8-10 and more, each fortnight.

After a very successful Christmas lunch gathering at the Oaks in December last year, it was decided that the Mens Chat would “get mobile” and would try to meet socially, a number of times, out of the Community Centre.

Evan Dillner cheerfully took on the role of planning a number of events. The first being early last month, with a short Metro ride across town for lunch at the delightfully named Lucky Prawn Restaurant, located in the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre at Marrickville.

The group met at Crows Nest Metro Station and were soon (16 minutes) stepping onto the station platform at Sydenham, where it was a short walk to the chosen venue.

Prior to heading into lunch, a brief stop was made at the recycled timber supplier, “Among The Trees” where an inspection of the available timbers was made and noted for future craft projects (timber cutting boards, etc) and then onto The Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre and 1980’s retro Chinese restaurant.

This is an independent craft brewery and takes its name from its namesake Bob Hawke.

The founders arranged to meet with the ex-Prime Minister. Sitting in his kitchen, in his home in Northbridge they pitched their proposal to him. As the story goes, about 15 minutes into the pitch, Bob stopped them and asked:

“Tell me boys, and I want an honest answer, why is this going to work?”

“With due respect Mr Hawke, this has to work, we’ve not only quit our jobs, but we also told our boss you’ve already said ‘yes’.”

To which Bob smiled and said:

“Well, I’d be a bum if I said no then, wouldn’t I”?

The Chinese lunch shared by the group was fabulous and was washed down by one or two of the craft beers (purely for research purpose) after which the group retraced their tracks by to Crows Nest via the Metro.

General consensus: 10/10

Resolution: Next trip… watch this space!