After a week of isolation, pulling up a bar stool and having a chat sounds pretty appealing right about now.
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At the end of the working week, most of us would normally be thinking of sneaking down to our local for happy hour, scouring venues for Saturday sippers or planning a chilled out Sunday session - all the while eyeing off the traditional meat tray or chook raffle!
In an attempt to keep us socially occupied and connected to each other, pubs, vineyards and venues across Australia are getting creative to keep in touch with their regulars and provide an escape.
So crack open a beer, pop a bottle of wine or get your groove on - all in your lounge room, of course.
IT'S WINE TIME
If a weekend wine is your thing, can you imagine happy hour sharing a glass with a South Australian winemaker?
Unico Zelo co-founder and winemaker Brendan Carter is reaching out to those in isolation with a nightly happy hour - kicking off from 5pm SA time.
Brendan says his idea for a digital happy hour was born out of the feeling that right now "a sense of fun was really needed".
"All of our products have literally been crafted to prevent isolation, to bring people together, to make people laugh and enjoy each other's company."
Now at day 15, The Daily Happy Hour is attracting a large number of avid followers and acts as a trigger to down tools for the day, shut off and log off.
"I'm sitting at home, my husband or wife is there with me, they're also working from home and they're very tense because of the quick raft of changes and frustrations. We no longer have a trigger to say you know what 'let's just have a glass of wine and tell us about your day' - because we know all about their day already - we live in each other's pockets now."
The live-stream is interactive, featuring special guests and you can chat and ask questions while sipping your glass at home.
COVID-19 cooking hacks or guess the bottle are just some of the fun topics up for discussion.
"I'm basically everyone's favourite drinking buddy now."
Those keen to kick on can join the Applewood Distillery Bar live-stream from 6pm.
Tune into the Unico Zelo Daily Happy Hour via Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch.
PUB TRIVIA
Do you get all competitive over pub trivia? Do you accuse the next table across from you of cheating while downing a parmy?
The Greenroof Hotel, at Hamilton, staged Newcastle's biggest online trivia quiz recently, with plans underway for more nights to come.
In the meantime though, you can still pour a beverage, get the fryer out, like their Facebook page and give last week's quiz a crack.
The hotel's Greg Mathew said the first online quiz attracted a total of 300 teams. There were no prizes, the evening was all about social connection and lifting people's spirits.
"Our hotel, The Greenroof, is obviously quite active and connected to our locals. We always have a strong representation from our locals for our events," Greg said.
"Trivia was an easy one we thought to keep everyone at home and connected and still familiar with their local hotel.
"We ran it from isolation, our trivia host came in and ran it from the pub. It was on Facebook live and we had teams connecting via that.
"It was one thing that we identified that we could do, we acted on it and it went really well and we'll definitely be doing more - just good fun stuff for people."
PUB RAFFLES
And, the winner is ...
Raffles are a staple in hotels across the country and Tenambit's Regal Inn, near Maitland, has gone online with its ever-popular weekly draw.
People are being asked to tag their loved one, with names being randomly drawn online - it's completely free.
Results are announced via a live-stream from noon each Friday.
Regal Inn's Greg Mathew describes it as a bit of fun, while supporting the local community, helping out with a pack or a voucher and providing a sense of community.
"Obviously we have some stock and things that we'd like to give back to our community for those going through hard times," Greg said.
"Our raffles were a big thing and we thought we'd throw them online whilst people are at home doing the right thing."
If winning a meat tray is the name of the game for you, then The RUC at Turner in the ACT is the place to be - remotely of course.
For those in the nation's capital, five bucks per sleeve of tickets gets you into the game, with an entertaining live-streamed draw every Friday night from 7pm.
Held for the first time last week, participants enjoyed the friendly Facebook banter (via comments) while waiting for their name to be called out.
CLUBBING IN YOUR LOUNGE ROOM
There are not many people who can say they have visited Canberra and never been to iconic nightclub - Mooseheads.
The bar is firing up the DJ booth every Friday and Saturday night via Facebook to bring some fun and give the isolated the chance to party safely in the comfort of their own home.
Mooseheads will be live-streaming one of its resident DJs from Moose HQ between 10pm and 11pm.
Those dancing in their lounge rooms are encouraged to send through their shout-outs and requests on the night to the club's MC.
The bonus - you don't have to wait for a taxi to take you home.
WIND DOWN
For those who prefer the quieter things in life, the Avid Reader bookshop in Brisbane is hosting online bookclubs and launching its first-ever book party via zoom.
The party, the idea of bookstore co-owner, Fiona Stager, involves a half-hour of communal reading.
"It could be the most boring thing in the world," Fiona laughed.
"People can register, log on, I'll introduce everyone, maybe people can show everyone the book that they are reading and then I'll set a timer and we will sit there and read for a half hour," Fiona said.
"I know I am so stressed and so scrambled that my reading has lapsed a bit and I think a lot of people were the same. I was worried people were buying books but not necessarily reading them - all you've got to do is break the habit and sit and read.
"All the research shows that it's good for mindfulness, mental health."
COVID-19 isolation has prompted Fiona to take all of their book clubs online.
"It's just like a normal book club but in the comfort of your own home with a cup of tea or glass of wine.
"The feedback we've had is that people like to have something to look forward to, they like to have that schedule and that it is nothing about what is happening outside, no news, no crisis - we just talk about the book."
Visit the Avid Reader website to register.