Things I Miss About Australia 2: January

I know exactly what you're doing.

You're starting to wake up early again, restless from the heat.
And you're lightly sweating as you brace the trains
In the brilliant sun that you don't appreciate til winter.
Your head swims over jokes and stupid behavior
From yesterday afternoon at the pub that turned into last night.

The office is half full, and I'd be joking and lazing
Feeling sorry for the two people who look busy.
We'd complain how no one is sending us any emails
Except those we are jealous of, those still away
In Byron Bay, Nelson Bay or is it Jervis Bay?

There'd be afteroons where we'd all look at eachother
and we know what's on eachother's minds
So we all decide to leave early, grabbing the day by the balls
Living that day for an extra hour and a half
Before the working year really starts and turns it all to shit.

There'd be those friends who'll surprise us by being at the beach
The one time a year they interlope into Bondi
With beach towels and swimmers we never knew they owned
While my real Bondi friends will ridicule those same interlopers
With a smile, a tan and a demeanor that comes from being truly Bondi

The rest of us will stay in our brick and concrete suburbs
Opening windows and doors wide, damn the risk of the fly invasion
And talk about which Big Day Out Sideshow we're all excited about
And see a band at the Hopetoun, first on before the sun has even set
And we'll drink out the back and discuss what we did for New Years

Even those who never go out, we'll see them once or twice.
Their young kids hit the parks and their young fathers hit the bars
And the girls will wander in, still in their summer crop tops
Even the ones that don't have the great bodies
Are offering their freckled arms and cleavage to the sun.

And soon those girls will be wearing unrevealing coats
Towels and swimmers will be put back in the bottom of wardrobes
Sleepy people will return in station wagons or discount airlines
And the working days will drift late and the billiant sun will set
And you'll curl up in your cold quilt and wait for January.

Things I miss about Australia. Part 1

1. Tim Tams


I used to have a filing cabinet. It was, however, 2006, and I for one was racing head first into a paperless society. I'm trying to think of what was in it. Some manuals I was given from someone who did part of my job once. Older documents that was left from the person who once owned the filing cabinet, Lots and lots of those manilla folder like things that held the paper.

One day I had the brilliant, brilliant idea to chuck most of it out, put all the folders into the top drawer of the filing cabinet, and put snacks into the bottom drawer. And it was usually Tim Tams. If you are not Australian, you might not know them. They are a chocolate wafer biscuit with a chocolate cream centre all in a chocolate coating. They are yum.

Every now and again, you could get Tim Tams for $1.99, on special. Much better than when I had a craving and I bought a pack from the petrol station on Enmore road for $4.50. My favourite was the double coat chocolate ones.

I remember once, on Sunrise, there was some controversy about Tim Tams. I think it had to do with the number of Tim Tams in a pack, and how the double coat ones were two less than normal ones. Well, someone who worked for Arnotts wrote in to Sunrise and told us all it was cos the double coat ones were just plain thicker and less fit in a pack.

I remember when in high school, a bunch of us used to have video nights. This was before we had girlfriends. It was a grand tradition. We'd all go to someone's house, get lots and lots of videos we would not get through, have pizza and snacks. The older we got, the harder these nights got to organise. I saw lots of great films cos we would often take a punt on things. But anyway, I remember one time, and I still remember this clearly, we introduced Demi to drinking milk through a Tim Tam. I remember his look of hesitation when he started, and the look of joy on his face when the milk hit. It also works with tea but the Tim Tam self destructs quite quickly.

(If you somehow have access to Tim Tams but have not tried to drink milk, tea or coffee through it, here's what you do: Get a Tim Tam. Get yourself a beverage. Now, bite the tiniest bit off both ends so the wafer shows through. Just a tiny bit. Basically, circumcise the biscuit with your teeth. Just do it. You'll thank me. Then, holding the middle of the Tim Tam, use the now open ended Tim Tam as a straw. This only works once so be prepared to scarf down the Tim Tam and also it could get a bit messy, so have tissues ready.)

So I'm missing Tim Tams. Especially the Double Coat. And the caramel centre. The White chocolate ones are ok. I usually love white chocolate but the scientists at Arnotts are yet tp crack the code on that one. And the original is also great.

Marianne tells me I can get Tim Tams at Tesco and it wont cost too much. I'm going to go check it out tomorrow.

Danny
London