Our Aussi Philosophy – Give it a Try!

Selecting the Perfect Kangaroo Steak

So as we make our way down here, we have developed a “Give it a Try” philosophy that is at the very least keeping things entertaining. A few things we have tried (all the healthy things of course):

- Kangaroo & Lamb Steak BBQ – All about the ‘barbie’ here!  Kangaroo was similar to steak, but slightly different – "surprisingly tender and succulent and f***ing delicious" (to use DS's words). DK is still working out the best way to cook it. Lamb steaks on the BBQ - Awesome! We've never BBQ'd it before and lamb is a fav of the DK & the AM.

- Beer – Been trying to discover our favs! I’m in the VB camp, DK is staying stong with XXXX Gold (AKA barbwire) and DS has become a fan of St. Arnou Pale. Although, not to worry, we are continuing research on this so we will be fully prepared for visitors in true Aussi style.

- Wine – This is another one that goes hand in hand with the beer scene here. Been trying some good Shiraz and Cab blends as well as a few of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Our favorite so far is the Evans and Tate, but again the research continues (yes, a tough job, but we are on it!).

- Potato chips – Still working on this one (we really don't eat a lot of chips, but fun to try new flavors). Corn chips are harder to come by, so there goes AM’s chips and salsa fix. They can (and have been) found, but are a little expensive and so far, only in the big grocery stores. We did discover that the BBQ flavor is really some sort of curry – umm interesting, but we're not big fans!

- Candy –  DK’s fav taste test experience and he did it up with a smorgasbord of chocolate fun.  Picnic (sorta bland chocolate covered wafer thing), Chokito (with crunchy balls - decent), Summer Roll (weird combo – imagine inside nugat and caramel and outside chocolate and coconut – it was like crossing an almond joy and snickers) and Dinosaur Gummies (not quite right- the orange is best).  All in all, I think we’d all take a snickers bar or gummy smurfs over this lot, but again, we’ll keep researching!

- Fast food – We saw a sign that looked suspiciously like Burger King, only to be named Hungry Jack… No 'royalty' hamburgers allowed here – the BK has been rebranded the HJ, but not to worry the Whopper can still be found.  In light of the “try anything” mentality, DK ordered the “Aussi Burger” which came complete with a fried egg and a beet. Yup, I said a beet! All the burgers here come with one.  DK thinks you should stick with the regular Whopper unless you really like eggs and beets on your burger. Another common fast food place is the Red Rooster, which DS has found to be his fav – OR NOT… but I’ll let him tell you all about that – basically after his stories, DK and I have decided not to bother trying that one.

- Fruit – Love the pineapple, kiwi, and mini bananas that we now get to enjoy. On a side note - got some tangerine looking things and they were soooo not awesome! Very earthy and weird. So bad, they are still sitting in the fruit bowl…  

Other random things –   

- I saw the most awesome sign (see photo) in the campus bathroom during orientation. Having lived in China, I can truly appreciate the need for this! Ha! We are at a school with a large international program, so perhaps this is necessary... Our work is cut out for us as we continue explore our new home. Not everything is of the unhealthy variety either – those just seem to be the most entertaining! We'll keep up the research and keep you posted.