Beer SpecTAPular

Our friends Susara and Anton are visiting from Pretoria, and we have been sharing a whole range of different Melbourne experiences. Last night was the start of a beer festival and the opening event was the 'Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular', a celebration of craft beers and brewers. There were beers on tap from 60 microbreweries in Australia and New Zealand, and food from a number of Melbourne restaurants.

Susara and I are not madly keen on beer but we kept Smuts and Anton company -- and besides, it was held at the Royal Exhibition Building. It's a lovely building. It was built in 1880 during the gold rush (yes, Melbourne had one too). Now it's one of the world's oldest remaining exhibition pavilions and has World Heritage listing. As you can see from the photos below, it's very pretty both outside and inside.

There was a live jazz band and a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night!