it's funny sometimes what we enjoy- and it's a bummer it's hard to get some particular things. Reminds me of how great the plain old dark chocolate candy bars were in Mahajanga, and nothing compares to that here.    oh well, i'm going to have to look for that Cookie Monster ice cream- it sure sounded good!

Kimberly

Oh but you have Milo! It costs me a fortune to get that here! It is my special treat that I have on chilly nights. (Add a bit of Cake Vodka and it's even better!)

Why does it cost a fortune?  Where do you have to purchase it from.  I found it on amazon. 

Julie

It is just more expensive than what it is in Australia.

i'd mail you some, but it would probably melt along the way. soon it will be cold enough here to store our ice cream outside. that's okay with me, i love celebrating all 4 seasons!

I'd love it if ice cream could be mailed, but yeah, I don't think that would work somehow.

But hey, I'm currently satisfying my ice-cream quota by eating fruit-flavoured yogurt pops. And brownie with custard. (Well, I've got to have a chocolate quota filled too!)

Milo is sort of like Ovaltine but much better!

It's interesting that you say that: we also have Ovaltine here - and though I did used to prefer the Ovaltine lozenges to the drink mix - and I don't think they're that much different. I guess Ovaltine is more malty in taste, whereas Milo is more chocolatey.

Of the two, I'd probably choose Milo though.

The thing is though that for every 'speciality' item that is Australian, there's about 10-20 items from the US that are just impossible to find here. ... Fortunately, that's not quite the case: there's a USA Foods store about an hour's drive away, where you can buy American items. Candy corn, Hershey's (blech... Cadbury's is so much better!), pop tarts, cans of soda, cereals... etc. It's nice to go there on occasion as a bit of a treat.

Why does it cost a fortune?  Where do you have to purchase it from.  I found it on amazon. 

Julie

I'd say expense is all about shipping. It's the same reason getting stuff from America costs me heaps. Even my shadow puppets cost about $20 to send to the US, and they're light. Now imagine you're shipping niche items that are heavy - ie. cans of Milo - and your market base is small.

This is why a small tub of Ben & Jerry's will cost $10. Or why pop tarts will cost $15. I know of three places that sell Ben & Jerry's (there were more a while back, but it seems it's not as profitable as they originally thought), one is the USA Foods store, the other is a speciality foods store, the third is my local green grocer. Three stores in about half of Melbourne. (Not that I've looked closely for more locations)

Funnily enough, shipping can cost half as much if you choose to send things via ship instead of air mail. It just gets there three months later...

We have American foodstores, too. Or they have an "international specialities" shop in mayor stores. BBQ- Sauce, there is nothing like it here. (Hardly ever found anything Australian, though. Except the Fosters- Bar, maybe. And Macadamias, of course). But I really, really missed my choclate in my year in Canada. (Marabou is great, but it is Swedish and quite expensive).

I honestly don't know of much food that is 'Australian'. Outside of a few chocolate/biscuit things and beer that is. Most of our food is really just a 'melting pot' anyway, because there's so many different cultures from past migrations. Lots of European foods of course, but also Asian, and the more recent Americanisation with fast food.

I think I eat more sushi than typical 'Aussie' food

Sometimes melting pots are much more interesting. I used to know a sushi cook. I am not really into fish and he made sushi with feta cheese (the Asians would find that very revolting if I get that right)- I loved it.

LJ, I found Milo here for those in the USA  $5.99 shipping. www.efooddepot.com/products/nestle/3069/nestle_chocolate_malt_beverage_milk_%28milo%29__hypen__1_dot_5_kgs.html