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The London Tim Tam Adventure

Thursday, April 12th, 2007

You may not know this, but I fell in love when I was in New Zealand.  His name is Tim Tam.  My Danish friend Camilla introduced me to him.  He was always there to provide his wonderful double-coat chocolate comfort when I needed it, which was just often enough to give me a layer of pudge (though I’m sure the pub-crawls didn’t help much with that either).

The “world’s most irrisistable cookie,” or excuse me, “the world’s most irrisistable biscuit,” is how they know him.  He was born in Australia.  His primary ingredient is sugar.  And, lucky for me, he’s imported to London.  It had been almost six months since I was able to down a whole box of Tim Tams in one sitting. I was studying in London (this was back in July), and I had heard tell that there were a few Australian enclaves in the heart of the city. Where were they?

I had a chance to ask that question when a speaker, whose name I can no longer recall (it’s been another eight months since this happened), came to speak at our travel writing class. He talked about American communities in Hampstead, so I figured maybe he knew of a few Australian ones.

“Try Kensington,” he told me.

So I set out one day on the Circle line to High Street and found my way into the beautiful whitewashed Kensington neighborhoods. There was no sign of any Australian shops, though I did find a grocery story that sold American food like tacos and salsa and Oreos. So I stopped in a boutique to ask the women there if they knew anything about any Australian shops.

“Oh, are you looking for things from home?” She hadn’t catch my American accent.

“Um, yes.”

“Well, you might try your embassy. They might be able to tell you where you can buy things from Australia.”

“Thank you,” I replied, excited that I had been mistaken for an Aussie.

I thought about phoning the Australian embassy and starting with a “G’day, mate,” but decided they’d be able to tell. Luckily a Kiwi friend of mine clued me in to a Kiwi coffee house somewhere in Covent Garden.

“Yes, on Berwick Street,” he pointed on a map, and I was able to navigate the winding streets until I found Flat White Espresso Bar. They were closing for the afternoon.

“Do you have any Tim Tams?”

“No. Sometimes we have them on Waitangi Day or when the All Blacks play. But we don’t have them now.”

“Are there any stores around? Like stores that sell Kiwi or Australian food?”

“You can try the New Zealand House on Haymarket, and I think there’s an Australian store on Maiden Lane.”

It was several days before I had the chance to walk to Haymarket. I had a friend along for the adventure. Little did we know the New Zealand House was the embassy. They directed us to a Kiwi store around the corner. Of course, hailing from Australia, Tim Tams were not available at the Kiwi store.

I asked the woman behind the counter, “do you have any Tim Tams?”

“No, Tim Tams are Australian!”

“I know that!”

We left and headed for Maiden Lane. We stopped in a bookstore to ask directions, but no one seemed to know where Maiden Lane was. As we walked down one street, I overheard two guys talking behind us, or should I say two blokes?

“Those guys have Australian accents,” I whispered to my friend.

“Do you think they’re going to the Australian store?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe we should follow them. Here, I’ll open my notebook like we’re stopping to look at it and we’ll let them pass.” She opened her notebook.

“Hey, do you know if there’s an Australian store around here?” I blurted at them as they passed.

“I think there’s one on Maiden Lane, one street over,” one of the blokes pointed.

“Thank you!!!”

In two minutes, we were savoring Double-coat Tim Tams outside the Australian-Kiwi-South African-Canadian store on Maiden Lane. I fell in love all over again, and my friend fell in love for the first time.

South Island Part VI: Oamaru and Dunedin Stories and Visuals

Friday, January 20th, 2006

This is the last of the South Island stories and photographs in this series (hopefully there will be more someday). I hope you enjoy. [read on]

South Island Part V: Te Anau Stories and Visuals

Sunday, January 15th, 2006
NEWS: I am back in New York City. I have bought my tickets to Paris and back from Stockholm, so I'm definitely going to be in Europe from May 11 till August 29! But where? I don't yet know. So I ... [Continue reading this entry]

South Island Part IV: Milford Sound Stories and Visuals

Tuesday, January 10th, 2006
The bus from Queenstown to Milford Sound via Te Anau left from the i-site at a brutal hour in the morning. Luckily my sleep schedule had adapted itself to the Intercity bus schedule and so I wasn't too terribly groggy. ... [Continue reading this entry]

South Island Part III: Queenstown Stories and VISUALS

Monday, December 26th, 2005
Bus drivers, Museums, Bungy, and a scenic bike-ride I had a good way to go in the Atomic Shuttle before reaching my next destination, Queenstown. The ride was full, and the Japanese and Korean girls I had ridden with to Hokitika ... [Continue reading this entry]

South Island Part II: Arthur’s Pass, Hokitika, Fox Glacier Stories and VISUALS

Tuesday, December 13th, 2005
It's been a while since I last updated, and things are getting all out of order, but I'm doing my best to put up the last of the photos and stories (there are about 6 posts worth left to publish). So, ... [Continue reading this entry]

South Island Part I: Christchurch VISUALS

Saturday, November 26th, 2005
Still in Wellington... A pic of a manhole cover as I promised my mum I'd take one. The cover itself was too heavy to bring home. Early birthday events, complete with the buck-toothed, jack-o-lantern tomato. [Continue reading this entry]

Sydney VISUALS

Thursday, November 24th, 2005
Here are some pictures of a city I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life in. And if I did, I would have plenty of work as a psychologist judging by the number of people I saw on the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Last days in Sydney, and first day in Bangkok

Saturday, November 12th, 2005
Camilla left Sydney for Fiji on Wednesday, and I went off to Bondi Beach. I lay out under the sun, the one I was telling you about that is so strong it just goes right through you leaving no shadow, ... [Continue reading this entry]

More days in Sydney

Thursday, November 10th, 2005
I think in my last post on Australia, I forgot to mention that I cried for about 2 minutes when the plane took off from Christchurch. I have to say, thank you New Zealand, I learned so much from you. So ... [Continue reading this entry]