An Australian Diet

Jill's Journal: My husband is a classic Good Samaritan, forever helping others in need, particularly when those others are foreign tourists trying to park a rental RV or needing hook-up help or internet assistance. (It seems a huge number of Australians in particular and even Europeans rent RVs in America for their “holidays,” or what we call vacation).

One such Australian group Rob helped a few days ago showed up on our doorstep with a very large bag of groceries. They were on their way to the airport, heading back home to Australia, and wanted to leave their unused groceries with us as a thank you for Rob’s help. The items included everything from a toaster to cookies to milk, but some were things they’d brought with them in their suitcases to America and didn’t want to bring back. Australian Coco Pops were one such item. Green tea was another. But the oddest? Vegemite. We’d heard of this Australian staple before; it’s a food paste used on sandwiches, toast, and the like. Although it’s wildly popular in Australia and we really wanted to be game and try it, our American sensibilities were offended the instant it came out of the tube. Let’s just say the smell alone isn’t of roses!

I kiddingly offered the girls a Vegemite sandwich with a topping of sardines (also from the Australian goodie bag) and Coco Pops for dessert. They unanimously agreed they’d rather go hungry. Forget Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or Atkins or any other popular diets. Perhaps an Australian one is what America has been waiting for?