I've been here 4 weeks now, and I'm very impressed with the responsible approach to alcohol in Australia. The legal blood-alcohol limit for driving is a mere .05, and they're serious about enforcing it (for comparison; in Canada it's .08). That means that drinking just one pint of beer (or "schooner" as it's called here in upside-down land) will prevent most people from driving for an hour or so. Australians get around this inconvenience by ensuring that a 5-minute walk in any direction will lead to a bar or liquor store (often side-by-side). The ground is literally thick with them. I've driven through many a small, hot, drought-parched town and not seen a single church or even a town hall, but you can bet that there's a "bottle shop" smack dab in the centre of town. They're even open on New Year's Day.
And the names! Here's a photo of one of my favourite chains: the "Liquor Smart" company. Heck, you'd feel dumb if you didn't drink.
Last night I stayed at the "Sleepy Lagoon Hotel Motel" in the morgue-like seaside town of Tin Can Bay. The bottle shop that was built into the side of this small motel was part of the "LiquorWise" chain. Isn't that an oxymoron? Is it really wise to drink one's face off? Or do they mean that one will become wise by guzzling their beer?
To test this hypothesis, I drank half a bottle of Jameson's Irish Whiskey and sure enough, found myself to be an expert on many subjects, regaling the shoeless old fishermen at the bar with a cornucopia of little-know facts until it was 9 PM and time for bed. Sleepy Lagoon indeed.
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