Today is Australia day! Well, technically in a few hours, because of the whole time difference, but better early than late right?
In case you wanted a bit of a history lesson, Australia Day is celebrated annually on 26 January. It marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, and the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at that site by Governor Arthur Phillip. So there you have it.
Australia Day modern day means this: day off from work and playing two up at the local pub. But for poor little old expat Kristen, it means being sad and missing home. Instead of being sad, I thought I would talk about some irreplaceable products, things that I can't get here or haven't found a suitable American replacement. Inspired by Erin's post here.
Golden Gaytimes.
The best ice cream of all time. If you ever go to Australia, you simply must try one. It's all crumbly and honeycomby and amazing. Trust.
Gumption.
Gumption is like a multi purpose amazing cleaner. I used to love it, but I have a feeling I'd love it a lot more now that I have a house to clean. Seriously, it's the best. Next time I go, I am buying a bunch and bringing it back.
McDonalds Sausage McMuffins.
The very first thing I ate when I touched down in Oz in 2014 was a sausage mcmuffin from maccas. Sausage in general is different at home, but you'd think the mcdonalds one would taste the same in both countries. It looks the same, it smells the same, it does not taste the same. It is my favourite thing on the menu and I'd eat one every day if I could.
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| maccas i get mine without cheese, ew. |
Allens lollies.
Oh man, I miss me some Allens lollies. There is absolutely no substitute
in the US. I've tried all of them. Nope. Give me some allens. Strawberries and creams, red frogs, pineapples, snakes alive.. man oh man that's my childhood right there. Erin sent me some in her care package and I don't think I've ever eaten lollies as quickly as I ate those.
Caramel buds and freckles.
I have found chocolates here that are similar to freckles (on the right) but I haven't found any to replace caramel buds. So good.
Twisties.
Twisties are so hard to explain. They are kind of like cheetos, only not. I used to only eat cheese flavoured twisties when I was sick, for some reason they were all I could keep down. But I'll eat them any old time now. They also come in a chicken flavour which is probably as weird as it sounds but holy moly they are amazing. I could eat twisties every day.
Tasty toobs.
I remember these from my childhood, then they stopped making them, then they brought them back again, then they stopped them again. They were tangy and tomatoey. Bye toobs, I will forever miss you. Sad face.
Cheese and bacon balls.
Also kind of like cheetos but not. Interestingly, they are made by cheetos. This is going to sound super weird, but I love to let them go stale, they get super crunchy and amazing. Problem is, now when my mum sends me some, I can never wait long enough for them to go stale.
Salad Dressing.
I used to eat way more salads at home. The only dressing I like here is ranch, and that's way too fatty to eat all the time. At home, I ate french and italian, and the US has both of these but they taste completely and utterly ridiculously different.
Thickened cream.
It's cream. But it's thick. It's not the same as heavy cream. I swear, it's not the same. I don't even know how to explain thickened cream but I miss it so very very much.
Milo.
It's like nesquick only not. Only really not. Ohmagerd it's amazing. It's great on ice cream too. This seriously never even lasts a day when I get some.
Chomp.
Mmmmm chomps. It's a chocolate bar with wafers and caramels and goodness.
Killer pythons.
This is the closest I ever got to something 'deadly'. Ha. It's this huge snake. It sounds weird, but no. It's fabulous. Apparently they made them smaller, but when I was a kid, they were huge and only like 50 cents.
Freddo frogs and caramello koalas.
You all have girl scout cookies, we have these guys. Most fundraising type things, people sell chocolates and it's almost always these (or it was when I was a kid). But you can buy them everywhere else as well, so they aren't rare or anything. The freddos also come in white chocolate and a strawberry flavour. At christmas they make a magical elves flavour which might be my absolute favourites.
Curly wurlys.
I found some of these in Dublin and brought some back. Ooooh I was a happy girl for like 24 hours, because that's how long 15 of them lasted. They actually used to sell these at Epcot, but of course something happened and they stopped selling them and I was absolutely devastated when we went in November (I might have cried).
Tampons.
Yeah, shit just got weird in here. I can only find one brand that sells applicator-less tampons here. At home, you struggle to find the applicator ones. Seriously, such a weird thing to miss, but there you go.
Meat pies.
I don't even love meat, but good god give me a meat pie every day of my life and I'm sorted. I miss these most because there is nowhere I can get something remotely similar, and if I do find somewhere online they want to charge me like $100 for what used to cost $2.
Sara Lee Chocolate Cake.
You all have Sara Lee. They even have chocolate cake. But it's not the same. This is the most amazing cake in the world, and I don't even like cake. You can buy it in big slabs and it basically used to be at every single birthday party that I ever went to. Sigh. I found it on amazon, which is totally weird. $120 for 4 cakes, totally reasonable. I love it with thickened cream, so it's probably for the best that I can't get it here, because it would be sad without the cream.
Takeaway fish & chips.
One of the biggest things I miss is the ability to grab some fish and chips (or lets be real, just chips) from the charcoal chicken shop (I know, it's weird) and have that for lunch. There really is just no comparable option here. Well, not in KY.
Chicken salt.
Yeah.... that does sound weird, doesn't it? But it's heaven in a salt shaker, trust me. Goes great on chips (as in fries).
Lucas' Papaw.
Rash? Papaw. Burn? Papaw. Tattoo? Papaw. Chapped lips? Papaw. Stung by something? Papaw. Pimple? Papaw. Seriously, anything, and Lucas' papaw has you covered.
Kraft blue box cheese.
If there was a number one thing I miss most of all, it would be this cheese. It's so weird because I don't even like cheese (at least, compared to most people). But there is nothing like this in the US. I don't even know how to describe it. It's light. It's gotta be packed full of bad stuff because it sits on the shelf at home, how weird is that? You put it in the fridge when you get home, but still. Shelf at the store. My favourite way to have it was in a salad (chopped in squares), slices on toast and grated on pasta. Tears of joy were shed when we went back home and I shoved it in my gob. KC didn't like it, weirdo.
The funny thing is, if I lived at home, I'd probably eat all of the foods on this list like once a year. But the simple fact that I can't get them easily is what makes you want it more. Out of sight, always on the mind - that's how the saying goes, right?
Anyway, happy Australia Day!
What would you miss if you moved to a different country?
