Na zdorovje
In case you’ve been living under a rock five times harder than concrete, you may not know that Todd Russell and Brant Webb have just escaped their goldmine cavity after 14 days out of circulation.
An earth tremor began their troubles back on Anzac Day – April 25. One mate, Larry Knight, was crushed in the collapse, while Brant and Todd relied on a tele-handler’s cage and leached water to eke. And now the two are out. And the best way to celebrate this miner-miracle in Beaconsfield? Vodka.
Yep, Tasmanians have a habit of selling ice to Eskimos. If the crafty buggers aren’t selling wasabi to the Japanese (true) or tulips to the Dutch (as God is my witness), a bloke in Beauty Point, just upriver from the mine, is concocting vodka for Vladivostok (I swear).
This latest chutzpah industry has emerged a few zigzag kilometres from the scene of the men’s escape. Philip Ridyard, the creator of Strait Vodka, reckons the Russians are in raptures about the purity of Tassie spring water, blended with the island’s own wheat-grain alcohol. So raptured the Ruskies have ordered 35,000 litres per annum.
Early days, but Ridyard has plans of throwing open the distillery doors and giving passers-by a chance to sample the spirit – with gin and fruit liqueurs on the horizon. Perhaps even ouzo for our friends in the Hellespont.
Let us know if you have any more info – or drop-in details – about this vodka enterprise and we’ll post them on site. And to Messrs Webb and Russell: a vocal, local ‘cheers’ ( or ‘na zdorovje’ as the Muscovites say).