Mentally prepped for a very wet run, following the deluge
throughout Saturday and during the night, remarkably, the skies remained clear this
morning. The trio were reunited with a 5:45 am departure from Highgate Hill. We
retraced some familiar territory. Highgate Hill is aptly named and our run
commenced with the roller coaster of Laura Street. The short sharp climb from Gloucester
Street is yet to feel anything but a grind. We then descended towards the river
and the run alongside Kangaroo point cliffs up to the Story Bridge. There was a
number of hills this morning (I thought I should mention this to account for the
slowish splits – no race pace yet!) . There is divided opinion in our group about the section from Story Bridge and along the floating board walk through NewFarm. Caitlyn is staunchly opposed, as she feels it is a flat and tedious plod, while Bronwyn and I enjoy the freedom of running out on the river, free of undulations. We turned left and wove back through the streets of NewFarm keeping the river on our left. As you approach the bridge, there is a picturesque elevated spot with a view back towards the Southern side of the river. It is far preferable running north to south on the Story Bridge with the longer easier descent.
If you are looking for a hardy stair climb, there is a set of stairs, adjacent to the Story Bridge Hotel, offering multiple flights onto the walkway of the bridge. We took the right direction on these stairs and dropped down to the Kangaroo Point Park and meandered riverside through the Docklands. At this section, you must ascend again and it is a deceptive climb up O’Connell Street with a left turn down to Mowbray Park. I remind myself that Queenstown is likely to have a few hills so should embrace these opportunities. We wound our way from Mowbray Park through East Brisbane, more small hills, and popped out onto Stanley Street East at Woolloongabba. There are some beautiful old homes tucked away in East Brisbane delivering some welcome distractions as we approached our café destination.
The trio was expanded at breakfast this morning with the
welcome addition of supporters to combine for a belated birthday celebration.
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| Corn and haloumi fritters |
Foxy Bean is an appealing looking café with plenty of
seating options including a covered courtyard lined with attractive planter
boxes and rustic bar tables and stools. There is a diverse and interesting breakfast
menu. There was a collective sigh around
the table with my suggestion I might try the bircher muesli. It seemed the
group had actually been reading the blog, however, unanimously appealed for a
little more variety in my breakfast choices. I acquiesced for the benefit and interest of
my readers and ordered corn and haloumi fritters and sour cream topped with avocado
salsa. A tempting looking dish, however, looks can be deceptive. It was bland
with little mention of haloumi or anything other than the flavour of corn. Bronwyn had the same dish as myself and
Caitlyn continued in her theme of avocado (it seems she intends to try every
breakfast derivation on avocado around Brisbane).
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| Crushed avocado |
Her Crushed avocado meal came
on sourdough with crumbled feta and slow roasted tomatoes sprinkled with house-made
dukkah. Normally quite agreeable, Caitlyn found the dish quite salty, her tomatoes
being the highlight. The stand out dishes around the table appeared to be the Bushman’s
Benedict with chipotle braised beef cheeks and pork savoury mince poached eggs,
béarnaise and sourdough and the French Brioant Toast; with a delicious whipped
lemon ricotta with vanilla maple syrup and mulled strawberries. The tea and
coffee drinkers declared their brews excellent. The Foxy Bean offers friendly
service and reasonable prices with change from $20.00 for a meal and hot drink.
Happy belated birthday Clara!
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| French Brioant toast |
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