Magnum Force

Ego Caramel is nothing but pure decadence. Creamy vanilla ice cream coated in two layers of Streets Magnum milk chocolate encasing a thick caramel sauce. It's supreme indulgence.

Streets' Magnum web site

OK, I don't normally run ads for high-calorie products in this blog, but the Magnum Ego Caramel ice cream bar has taken on a life of its own during this trip.

Unbeknownst to LK and me, our friend Jaki is an addict - a true chocolate addict. And if you have to be an addict, chocolate is a socially acceptable addiction to have. You can purchase your drug of choice at every grocery store, service station and news stands. Then it's perfectly acceptable to fulfill your cravings in full public view. No one grimaces and thinks to themselves that you're a weak, shameful person. Most just wish you'd share your chocolate with them.

Now Miss Jaki has grown very fond of the Streets Magnum ice cream bars during her stay here. In particular she has never met an Ego Caramel Bar that she hasn't liked. I should add that she is very disappointed that she has yet to meet a live kangaroo during her holiday (she won't let me count a dead wallaby we saw by the roadside), but I am pretty sure the Ego Caramel has gone a long way to assuaging that.

I can also add that she has given the Australian version of Snickers bars a thumbs up. In fact, she was quite upset that she forgot and left one in the freezer when we left the Barossa Valley.

We had a 5-hour layover in Sydney on our way to Christchurch yesterday, so LK and I decided to do what anyone would. We had everyone jump in a taxi at the airport and went to the northshore for lunch at Lee's Fortuna Court.

We had been so flat-out during Robert and Jaki's week in Sydney that we hadn't taken them to one of our favorite restaurants, and we really wanted them to have a chance to try the lamb pancakes and shantung chicken. To celebrate our imminent trip to New Zealand, we had a Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc to wash it down. (OK, two if you must be precise.)

And at the end, Jaki learned something she had never suspected. Kit Kat candy bars are apparently Asian in origin and an appropriate dessert at a Chinese restaurant. At least, LK and I have always assumed that's why Stan gives them out at the end of the meal.

Robert and I didn't want our Kit Kats, and you can easily guess who scooped them off the table and put them in her purse. Frankly, I think she was even a bit annoyed that LK did eat hers, but Jaki couldn't figure out a way to get her to change her mind.

I will write a little about Christchurch in the next post, but for now it is enough to add that as we walked down the street today Jaki wondered aloud if they sell Magnum bars over here. That reminds me of the famous line Clint Eastwood used in - what else - Magnum Force: "You have to ask yourself, Do I feel lucky? Well, do you?"

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PS A few days ago I promised to upload the video LK made of Hobart and the Derwent River as seen from Mt Nelson Signal Station. This is it: