It was a true circumnavigation of the river this morning. The cooler autumn conditions make for a preferable
time of year to exercise outside. I read
an article this week about last year’s Queenstown marathon where some runners
were taken off the course with hypothermia after an Antarctic cold front hit
the course. A Brisbane winter is not
really going to prepare our trio for Antarctic weather but, a small concession
was practicing running with a jacket
wrapped around our waists this morning.
As an interim trial, we have all registered for the Jetty to Jetty Half Marathon on July 19th.
My online running plan tells me I am ahead of schedule with my current distance,
so I intend to stay at the 10-15km length for a little while and consolidate. I certainly don’t want to peak too early, after
all, it really is all about the food.
Our run wove through some back streets down to the West End
ferry terminal where we joined the river pathway. We passed the Brisbane road runners club. I
did call out a greeting to a local running identity, but Jon was in the zone
this morning!
The West End river loop is a great running addition to the city
loop and for someone with poor directional sense it is comforting using the
river as a guide. We continued through
to South Bank and onwards past the Kangaroo Point Cliffs and onto the Story Bridge.
If you have not already established
this, be warned that the Story Bridge from south to north feels longer and more
of a climb than the other direction. Given
we will be encountering hills in Queenstown; I tell myself this is all good physical
and mental training.
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| Benny |
The last quarter of the run was the familiar Eagle Street Pier
and Botanic Gardens with the finish line at the top of the Goodwill Bridge.
The objective this morning had been breakfast at Southbank
but 7:30am choices are limited and there seems to be a surcharge on meals in
this vicinity. Lucky for us, we walked
back up towards Highgate Hill and encountered the Lift Café Bakery near the
corner of Vulture Street and Gladstone Road.
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| Smashed avocado |
Lift’s all day menu reads like an elevator from Level 1 to
level 12. Prices are excellent with
level 10, Benny 2 Ways, at $13:50, as
the most expensive meal on the menu. Bronwyn ordered
the Benny with smoked salmon, house made hollandaise with sourdough spinach and
poached eggs. The meal was delicious and
plentiful. To her delight, Caitlyn’s
smashed avocado was on the menu at level 2 with sumac, dukkah, lemon and herbed
cream cheese. This was an equally
attractive dish to the Benny. I ordered
off the specials menu and had the healthy big breakfast at $15. It was a delicious array of organic
sourdough, pork sausage, 2 poached eggs, roasted romas, spinach and mushrooms.
Highgate Hill’s Cafés each have a unique personality and
quirks to set them apart; they have certainly thrown down the gauntlet when it
comes to the breakfast experience.
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| Special healthy big breakfast |
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