So what do a bunch of bloggers do when the food arrives at the table?
Pictures of course!
(In the photo: @stabilowl, @travelgirl, @quochuy, @ratticus, @phamished, @ohboy, @chrisdavidphoto)
The Day
Not really knowing what to expect I tried to convince Hubby to take the train. I don't drive which means he's always the designated driver, and we're going to the Bavarian Bier Cafe = shots paddle. We've never come here and not gotten a full paddle. But not being a fan of public transport and the Blue Mountains line not particularly reliable he insisted on driving down.
We left home at 12pm. Hubby said it would take about an hour and a half to get to Parramatta and he was spot on. Despite driving past several accidents on the road by 1:30pm we we're in our fave carpark within a short walk to the venue.
The Venue
It's been a long time since we've been here and most times were at night so I wasn't sure if this gorgeous mural was new or not.
It caught my eye straight away when we arrived filling me with awe. I stared at it and tried to get my head around it while I had my Midori and lemondade.
We were early which was good, it gave me time to get a drink in and relax before everyone arrived. I jumped on the #teamaustralia channel on PAL that morning and have been in touch with most of the attendees and knew who's coming. Not long after we arrived I got a message from @ratticus saying he was there.
I spotted him straight away even without his ponytail. And really you guys, ain't nothing like doing a big "HEEEYY" wave to an almost stranger across tables seating people, who looks over to you like you done gone nuts.
I gave Rat a big ole hug so happy to finally meet him in person and it wasn't long until we settled into our reserved table in the church (in front of the bar ~ like how I pictured it) and @Rustle flew out of Rat's backpack to give Aunty Arly some
Hugs.
And kisses.
Then straight to business.
While he was getting his drink on and Rat and Hubby were chatting I decided to look around the room and take in the details that made it so very special.
Like these stained glass windows. Two of the many that lined the walls.
The epic bar and how the high ceiling makes it look more epic. Let's also take the time to acknowledge the 2L beer tubes lining the counter.
@Rustle came in really handy being the most recognisable Steemian in the group and it didn't take long before the others found us.
The Slush Fund
If it had occurred to me to raise the slush fund earlier I would have promoted the meet up more in the first week. But thanks to the generosity of the kind people of Steemit and a big fat upvote from our @TeamAustralia witness @ausbitbank. I had a meet up post that was over $100 that I could cash out in time for the meet and allocate toward everyone's drinks for the afternoon.
So we got a couple of tubes
And of course shots! And hell yeh I took a video!
(And hell yeh I asked him to shake that cow bell one more time! 😁)
The plan was to get most of the alcohol out of the way before the food arrived so people had time to sober up.
Amazingly it went according to plan. I honestly thought we would need more drinks for the table when I saw the tubes almost empty but everyone was so sensible about it.
What did shock me was that they ran out of butterscotch schnapps. When they told me this, dead set, not even joking around, I was like "Whaaat?" and thought straight away, they need to get their Bavarian Card revoked 😳. That was until they gave us what butterscotch schnapps they had left for free and I thought awwww.
The Food
Once the shots were done and dusted, the talk went over to the food and we decided to order share platters for the table.
(Bloggers being bloggers. How adorable is @Phamished with her camera. She's on full pro blogger mode with that thing.)
I'm glad @ratticus and @phamished and co were organising the food otherwise I would have stuck to getting my pork plate and wouldn't have been able to try the sausages. I did say I wanted crackling and they were so awesome they made sure I got crackling, and it was delicious!
Everything I had was as I good as I remembered. The pork was moist, the crackling cracked, the sausages were new though. I had always gotten the pork tasting plate and this was the first time I tried their sausages and they we're juicy and tasty. I loved the spicy one in particular not sure what it was called. I was busy chatting to @stabilowl and Hubby was shovelling food on my plate making sure I eat.
Initially I thought perhaps we didn't have enough food but we ended up with a small amount of left overs which was great. I didn't want people to leave hungry.
The Meet Up
This is my first Steemit meet up and it's definitely not my last. I had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed spending time with everyone there, which is probably why I'm keen for my next meet up.
Even though we went over 2 hours it still felt like there was not enough time to talk to everyone. I know I missed conversations down the other end of the table, and a conversation about Diablo.
I did manage to sit down with @quochuy and hear his thoughts and ideas in real time. I have to say I'm really impressed with his projects and his efforts to help the Vietnamese and Australian communities. So much so that I voted for his witness.
We may not have had Steemit signage (I'll be rectifying that for the next meet up) but we were Steemians through and through as the conversation went from crypto, "Where does the money come from?", #promo-steem, witness transactions (thanks @quochuy our witness in attendance), #dlive (thanks to our local dlive celeb @travelgirl) to the all important question "What colour lambos do we want?"
We all parted ways soon after we finished our meal. Hubby and I walked the short stroll to the carpark while the others headed towards the train station.
We arrived home close to 7pm with a tired little cockatoo. Poor little fella, he's had a big day and a wee bit to drink so I tucked him in bed.
And he's still in bed! How much did he have to drink?!
The Meet Up Bug
I'm pretty sure I caught the meet up bug. I am actually trying to organise the @TeamAustralia Christmas Party right now.
If you want a great Christmas Party venue, you need to make a move quick! This I learned from my office days.
I want exclusive venue hire for the night, with good food, plenty of drinks, a dance floor, a DJ and in a great location.
When I say great location I mean something that would look fabulous in everyone's blogs no matter which angle or where on site the photos are taken.
I already have a place picked out and may need about 80 people to make it happen. Current price per head is $145AUD but I'm hoping we can raise funds for it so we can lower price per head or maybe completely fund it with Steemit.
If you're interested in coming to the @TeamAustralia Christmas Party in Sydney leave a comment!
If you've never been to a Steemit meet up before you need to attend one. Only Steemians know the Steemian life and it's so comforting to be around people who can truly relate. It's also great to be not the only person taking photos of the food.
When I saw everyone taking photos instead of eating I thought "These are my people." and y'all are.
Thanks for coming to the meet up @stabilowl, @travelgirl, @quochuy, @ratticus, @phamished, @ohboy and @chrisdavidphoto and making my first meet awesome.
Special thanks to you Rat for getting the meet up ball rolling, helping with the organising and bringing @Rustle out to see me for cuddle. Much appreciated mate.
HUGE thanks Hubby for driving me around and looking after me so I could mingle. You're the best ❤
Last but not the least, thank you Bavarian Bier Cafe, Parramatta for your hospitality. You didn't disappoint.
If you're reading this wondering if you should make the Bavarian Bier Cafe, Parra your venue. The answer is Yes.
I'm going to go see if @Rustle is up yet. Might have to make a strong cup of coffee and wave it in his face to see if he'll wake up.
Happy Monday Steemit!
🍺 Arly
Thanks for getting me home safe, Aunty Arly.
I had lots of fun with all my new friends. (I don't remember so well, but the photos help).
Looks so fun!! I really enjoyed my first Steemit meetup too (adelaide). Lovin this community!
Noooooooooooooo. Echtes Bier und Schnitzel. Upvote and resteem. Greetings from Bavaria!
I'm happy seeing you enjoying mommy!!! its a beautiful restaurant and all the foods are delectable.. you guys are awesome too...!! have a blessed Monday!
Thanks so much Jez! I hope you had an awesome Monday!
Thanks Arly, it's been lovely to meet you and the rest of the gang! I would be interested in the Christmas Party, especially if @choogirl would be going :), but then again, I need to make sure I am not going overseas for holiday first
How's @Rustle coping with the cold up in the mountains?
Thanks so much for coming! I'm hoping @choogirl could come! That would be amazing!
Let me know your dates. I'm thinking Dec 15 for the Christmas Party. It gives us a full week before Christmas.
He's doin alright. Still in bed all tucked in. It's been a remarkably warm autumn up here, or it could be my house.
Y'all looked like you had a great time! Look at the little birdie getting some drink on too. Haha. Also adore the shot of @phamished taking shots of her food, I also adore her she is super awesome. Love this post darling! Thanks for sharing.
It was a great afternoon love! Wish you were there! I didn't know @phamished til the weekend and yes shes totally adorable! Thats the good thing about meet ups, you get to meet new people, people you dont usually hang out with on the platform.
Fancy a trip down under for the Christmas Party? 😘
Naw thanks @topkpop and @bearone you guys are awesome!
Hahaha I felt like such a loser with my camera but I didn’t want to risk my phone cameras crappy photos! We needed to memorialise my first Steemit meet up haha
That's reflecting as an healthy and fun meetup too, i really liked how you said, means when bloggers gather on table then first action is capturing pictures. And the food stuff also reflecting as cool and definitely i think that you'll had an amazing time and thanks for sharing the video and post. Wishing you an great day. Stay blessed. 🙂
Ohh we had a great time! Thanks for stopping by!
Great to hear that and welcome. 🙂
Another awesome write up Arly. Love that photo of @rustle tucked in. Lol!
Colour me interested for the Chirstmas meet-up.
I'm keen, but I could be anywhere by then. I'll be with you all in spirit :)
Lol he's a little cutie isn't he?
YAS 👑👑! Come on downnn Choo!!
Wow looks like you guys had an awesome time, nice to see such an brilliant group of Aussie steemians hanging out - not to mention I am a fan of old Rustle too, great pics <3
We did hun! We did! Wish yous were there! ❤ Thank you. I reckon next time we do a karaoke meet up 😀
Great write up, love how you guys got the shots out the way first hahaha; good thinking.
Also loving the photo of @rustle tucked into bed hehehe Great to see he was well looked after.
Hahah #TeamAustralia mate, that's how we roll 😉
@rustle is a darling he truly is, I dont know how I'll be able to send him off for his next trip.
Auntie Arly's been really kind.
I hope you will spent good time in this meetup, your food are so good and meetup location is very beautiful. your shots are very beautiful, i am appreciate your work, and i hope you will share more life enjoying and helpful post on steemit community.
Thank you @mafzaal92
Enjoy the meal together, you are lucky @bearone all my friends in steemit help you, that's what we expect, I also expect all friends in steemit help me, hope steemit friends all good,
Thank you
I think I'm going home this year so won't be able to do a Christmas steemup. Sounds like fun though XD Current meetup also looked like it was loads of fun, time to plan the next one? :D
Aww spew Ry! It was fun wish you were there 🤗
Wow another Meetup post!
And more cool photos to share.
The Xmas party is a great idea and I will confirm with you ASAP.
Thanks for the witness vote, I appreciate!
Yep the last one for out meet up. Im all out of photos 😁
You're welcome! Thanks for coming!
I hope you can make it to the Christmas Party!
Great to see and read about your first meet-up and what a way to have it - beer and German food brings people together. Okay, it might be tough for those who are vegan and dislike beer. 😜
Good to see that TeamAustralia really embraces connecting Steemians! To more meet-ups and a Steemit Christmas Party is not a bad idea at all 😉 Too bad we're not in Australia
I was a vego up til a few months ago and was mindful about that. They had vegetarian options in form of custom salads and wraps. We were all carnivores at the table though. And I'm not a beer drinker, I had a glass of wine 😁
You guys are welcome to come and join us!
Thanks for the invite! Would love to see Australia again - last and only time was Darwin in 1999 when Sam was 8. He still remembers the trip. But there is so much more to Australia. Looks like we'll be having Christmas in Thailand. We should organise something for the community here. 😊
This looks like a tonne of fun. Us in Brisbane really need to get off our asses and organise a Brisbane meetup sometime soon as well.
Ya yous do! You're all welcome to the Christmas Party. Can see you all in a bus roadtripping to Sydney ;)
Great job Arly. Good venue, good food, good drinks and most importantly good Steemians. You ticked all the boxes mate, well done :)
Cheers @buggedout! So happy the venue worked out!
Looks like you had a really good time there. The sausages look incredibly delicious, I wanna eat one too now...
We had a great time and yeh they were delicious! 👌
Picture! Picture! It's too early for the Christmas party! LOL
(feeling excited!) Hehehe...
Sama kayo!!
Gusto ko yan! SIge I will try to save money to meet you all! Promise!
Thank you for your continued support of SteemSilverGold
Great write up Arly and was nice meeting you and everyone from the community that made it.