Being an expatriate Pom, my knowledge of what goes on on Anzac Day was shaky at best. I had some sort of conception that two-up was some game with coins, but I didn't quite think it could reach the sort of fever-pitched mayhem which I saw this year at the Dry Dock and the
Exchange.
Likewise, being a Pommie my knowledge of the back-street geography of Balmain is shaky at best, and I was surprised to run into the Dry Dock just down the hill from the Wiliam Wallace, thus joining up two parts of my mental map that I thought were a good mile or so apart, however, I digress.
Two Up. The Dry Dock gave me my first taste of this game, likewise for my (Australian) brother-in-law, who'd never been before. It showed. we lost about forty bucks before giving up!
The Dry Dock is a good little local, though today we only make it inot the wedged back bar, where the high ceiling makes two-up possible. A small courtyard adjoins here, and there's a lot of bar space, which of course was at a premium as the day heated up. Looking through into the front bar gives the impression of a TAB/Pokies bar, but why go there when it's so boisterous in the back? Locals are knocking back beer and wine and waving money around with wild abandon, bets while we were there made it above the $50 mark, and I've got no doubt they would have gone higher after we moved on. It's a strange little ritual, I thought over a pint of Cooper's Red. But very, very Australian
review by: Jason