Things I love about Australia - part 2

Carrying on from my post about what I like about Australia -

• The chips 

Oh. My. Word. Tiny little carbohydrate bombs made of heaven and rapturous wonderment. Almost every single take-away joint does an amazing packet of chips. I'm not sure what it is ;  my current working hypothesis is that Australians, through their own love of carbs, and fats have evolved a distinct set of genes that allows them to instinctively cook a perfect batch of chips time,  after time, after time.

Not crisps , like Simba Chips, or Willards , or Smiths - but the hot chips in packets with a smattering of just the right amount of Salt or Aromat ( although Aromat is called Chicken Salt here in Australia - go figure) .

Macca's french fries be damned, the home made jobbies are the best I have ever tasted without fail.

• Melbourne has awesome food and awesome coffee 

I've been up north to Sydney, they have better weather. I've been up to the Gold Coast , and they have better beaches ( and better hooligans too apparently , but I'll leave that story for another post) . I've been to Canberra , and it has...  erm .... it's own Capital Territory. 

What none of them have is brilliant, awesome, amazing, food served from alleys. Oh sorry , "Laneways". Jokes aside - the food is generally top notch. And in my book , top notch means it tastes amazing, isn't 80 % carbs and fillers,  doesn't have overly complicated plating arrangements going on ( slap it on the plate and bring it to my table , my tummy doesn't care if the carrots were pressed, mashed or blended  ... really ) - and comes with a reasonable ambiance and reasonable bill. Melbourne takes the cake on this one. 

• Electricity and Gas Retail 

Ok look. I know I've whined about this before , but this one is bit of a bug bear with me. And it's a double edged sword really. Because when things are going pear-shaped , it's hard not to think that you would be better off with an Eskom running the joint, and no choices . But ... on the other hand Darren* ..... when things are going pear shaped , it's really nice to know that you can stop doing business with the point of painful contact, and find someone else to supply you with your Gas and Electricity. And having gone through a saga of my own, I can attest to the fact that the Energy Ombudsman for Victoria , is a well outfitted and smoothly oiled machine. Which leads me onto my next point 

• Ombudsman thingys that actually work, and who instill fear into their relevant area that they oversee 

Nothing worse in South Africa than threatening to go to the Ombudsman , and being laughed out the building. Not so here. Reputation is everything , and talking about complaining to the Ombudsman in and of itself makes a retailer cringe , never mind actually sitting down to go through the process of complaining. I love the fact that people are not afraid to complain. And that those complaints actually effect a change.

• My cat 

I left my cat behind in South Africa. I just couldn't bear the thoughtof putting him through quarantine, he just barely made it to the vet and back ( we lived a 5 minute drive away from the vet) he was so stressed. 

So once we had settled into our house - I went and bought myself a cat. Hamish is an inside cat, and is a Singapura. Both are a first for me , since I've never had a cat that I've had to keep inside the house, and I've only ever had moggies. 

He is adorable, cheeky , full of attitude , and completely attached to me. And I love it. 

other notes and references 

* does anyone remember Darren Scott and Naas Botha on SuperSport?