The real reason we came to Australia . . . for the candy!

Sadly, most of America’s supermarkets harbor only a small fraction of the vast diversity of candy that exists on our planet. Lucky for me, Australian supermarkets are a veritable rainforest of chocolate treats. Even candy brands that are staples in American stores seem to have come to Australia and evolved into a dizzying array of new and exciting varieties. Just to give you a sense of it, here’s a photo of the candy aisle at the Woolworths grocery store just a few blocks from our apartment. As you can see, there is an ENTIRE AISLE devoted to showcasing the cornucopia of candy available here. [Note: I felt like a bit of a creeper taking photos in the candy aisle of a grocery store.]

One of the things I was looking forward to most about coming to Australia for my sabbatical (apart from working with great colleagues and doing exciting science) was being able to once again have access to one of my favorite candy bars in the world, Cadbury “Snack”. I first encountered this delightful delicacy when we were in the Peace Corps in Papua New Guinea back in the late 1990s. It is basically chocolate filled with great stuff like strawberry cream, orange cream, caramel, and Turkish delight (not even sure what Turkish delight is exactly, but it is good). I have never been able to find it since we left this part of the world in 1999. Now I can pick some up on way home from the bus stop any afternoon I like! Life is good. [I ended up purchasing this particular specimen, purely for research purposes, of course.]

In addition to the fabulous Cadbury Snack, there are a whole bunch of other crazy varieties of Cadbury chocolate bars available here that I have yet to try.  As you can see, some of these varieties are sold out–so they must be good. For the most part, the only Cadbury chocolate bars we have access to in America (or at least at the Hannaford stores in New Hampshire) are the plain milk and dark chocolate varieties and “Fruit & Nut”–BORING!

Even good old Nestle makes KitKat varieties here in Australia (and likely Europe, too) that you can’t get in America. These new “Mint 2 Ways KitKats” are our current favorite things. This is a particularly giant version. Smaller versions are available–but who would want a smaller version? America, you are missing out!

In short, if you appreciate having access to a wide diversity of great chocolate bars filled with all kinds of exciting stuff, Australia is the place to be. I’m definitely going to have to pace myself. . . .