L & L Australian Adventures: The Nash Box

The first time I probably heard about The Nash Box was on one of the first couple of dates Luke and I went on over 7 years ago! In the past when he has talked about his experience in Australia, The Nash Box is always brought up. I’ll explain The Nash Box in a minute.

Luke and three of his good friends decided to study abroad in Australia their senior year at K State. They believed they were going to be living in Melbourne but ended up about an hour away in Geelong at Deacon University. I have always loved hearing Michael and Luke discuss their adventures over here and Melissa and I always asked when they were going to take us on a vacation over. I guess Luke took that comment a little too far, didn’t he?! ;) Actually, when I’ve asked him in the past, he assumed we would make a trip to Australia in many, many years from now so it’s pretty crazy that we would end up living here 10 years after he had his first Australian Adventure. The adventures of course, are quite different. 10 years ago the dollar was what Luke refers to as “everything was basically half price.” Living the college lifestyle is also much different than being grownups over here now. But I continue to ask him questions daily about what is was like when they were here.

We rented a car and drove into Geelong. Luke’s eyes lit up when we got to a familiar area and he was the one talking nonstop this time! J All of the stories and names started coming together for me and it was so cool to finally see it all in person. We briefly walked around and then went immediately to The National Hotel. I’ve probably mentioned it before but most pubs are called “hotels” and if you see a place that says “Hotel” it might only be a pub or it might be a pub and a hotel. Anyway, this place reminded me, smell and all, of my favorite little college bar in Baldwin City, the Salt Mine. It was obvious that this was a place where the locals had been hanging out for years and there was no need for much upkeep because everyone still loved it.

At first we were worried they weren’t serving lunch but when we went inside we found out they were. We went to the back bar area and the chef came out to take our order. We told him Luke’s story of living there and how his friends ordered a Nash Box off the menu several times a week. He mentioned that the chef Luke referred to was a little Asian woman who always used too much spice and that he doesn’t cook the same way. We took our chances and ordered our noodles “hot” and hoped for some good spice. When Luke and his friends talked about ordering the Nash Box “hot” they said they would just guzzle water the whole time because it was so spicy. For those of you who love spicy food like me, it’s that awesome spicy flavor that burns your whole mouth but you can’t stop eating it because it is so good! This is what I was looking forward to experiencing though it wasn’t quite as excruciating as planned. Luke said that it was just as good as he remembered it although we didn’t get the spice we were looking for. It didn’t matter to me though- I was just so excited to finally experience this and I thought it was excellent!

We walked around after lunch and Luke showed me all the places he used to go to. The golf stores, bars, restaurants, book stores, the building they lived in, the bakery below that kept them smelling fresh bread early every morning. We even walked around to the back of their building so he could show me where they would climb up the fire escape to get in sometimes. One of the ladders was down and we noticed an open door several stories up but we decided not to chance it though I bet it would have made a good blog!!! Next we made it to the Carlton Hotel which was a pub they frequented for dancing, drinking, and a good time! I can only imagine the stories from here that I haven’t heard!! We walked down to the Geelong waterfront and took some fun pictures. When we decided to drive out of town, Luke drove me by the university and then another little bar they visited often called The Ponds Hotel. Hmmm…no wonder he loved it over here!

We made it!!