About Australian Animals and the Animalistic Devouring of Deep Fried Mars Bars!

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I've petted a kangaroo. I've tickled a Wombat's belly. I've seen a koala bear close up. It doesn't get much more Australian than that, does it? Okay, so I didn't actually go to the bush and hunt them down to pet and coo at them... I chose the much more convenient option and went to Taronga Zoo with its lovely views over Sydney's skyline and harbour. The journey up there still took a while and although I didn't have to fight my way there with a machete it was still quite some trip. If you've ever tried to drive across Sydney in rush hour you know what I mean...! Thankfully my friend Scott was driving and I dozed off in the passenger seat, oops.
Looking at animals can be soo exhausting, you've no idea! ;)

Scott and I had planned on going to the Zoo for about a week and when I woke up that day and saw the overcast sky and drizzling rain I had my doubts but I was coinvinced that the weather would hold up and in the end it actually did. Maybe it was actually a good thing it wasn't roastingly hot that day because we walked around the whole zoo for a few hours and the temperature was much more comfortable this way. Only the grey clouds spoilt the aforementioned views a bit but I guess you can't have anything. Just like the platypuses I really wanted to see... I simply couldn't see any for the life of me! They must have been hiding upstairs, yes that's right, the platypuses had an upstairs! Don't ask, I don't know either!

We went to the reptile section first and although I'm not too keen on snakes and certainly find Komodo dragons extremely creepy I do like lizzards. Those funny little things, I wouldn't mind having one - aswell as a few meerkats please, they're adorable! Then it was onto the usual suspects, tigers, lions, elephants ( there was a baby one, so cute! ), zebras, gorillas, penguins and my beloved chimpanzees. There were also many, many birds around, native and foreign and quite loud! We watched giraffes being fed and learned they can kill a lion simply by kicking them with their hooves! Who'd have known giraffes were that bad-ass?!

The zoo is nice and green and the views are obviously a big plus but I prefer Hanover Zoo in Germany which has bigger compounds and is generally made up with a lot more love for detail. There really isn't that much to see were it not for the Australian section with the animal encounter where you can get up close and personal with typical Australian animals. I really enjoyed that part. Thinking about it I might have actually petted a wallaby and not a kangaroo but then again who really knows? They do look very alike.

Unfortunately you could not get as close to the koalas as I would have liked to if you didn't want to pay even more extra which I thought was quite bold! They obviously want to exploit tourists, not nice! Anyway, I was happy to tickle a wombat instead which made the adorable little fella turn on his back and play dead. Maybe he was camera-shy...

The sky safari is also a very nice attraction as it takes you up above the zoo in a cable car going along the whole lenghth of the zoo with great views over Sydney's skyline and the different animals. We went on it twice because we only went half the way each time being too lazy to walk back up the hill to the exit... Told you all that walking, looking and petting was tiring!

The next day was perfect for the beach weather-wise. Perfect temperature, not too hot, not too cold with a little refreshing breeze and blue skies. Ahhh, bliss. Why can't it be like that everyday, isn't this what Australia is supposed to be like all the time?!

As you know I was meant to go surfing at Bondi Beach for the first time and too be perfectly honest I was a little bit relieved when I was told the tide was up too high and there weren't any good waves so that my lesson was cancelled. Yep, I admit I had got a tiny bit scared what with all that getting whacked in the head by your board, swallowing half the sea and potentially being stripped of my bikini by the waves. I'm not that much of an exhibitionist after all... Therefeore I was more than happy to climb about the rocks trying to catch crabs, examining sea shells and actually trying to eat seaweed. Ekk. Not good. We couldn't actually go swimming there except for in a great little rock pool that was like a lovely natural bath tub, because there were blue jelly fish and who likes to get stung, eh? Besides I was afraid to get stabbed by the spears of two James Bond-ish looking divers hunting for fish...

Albeit not actually having surfed I felt like I definitely still deserved the deep fried Mars bar in batter I had promised myself and had been looking forward to all day. Yes, I do indeed measure time and fun in food, judge me as you like.

I know some people, ah let's make that most people ( even fellow foodies, how scandalous! ) find the thought of a deep fried chocolate bar quite gross but jaysus do they get it wrong. Oh so wrong. To be honest I never had any doubts whatsoever that it would be brilliant. A friend had told me he used to go to the very shop everyday he spent at the beach as a child and he would buy different chocolate bars at the convenience store (cheaper!) and make them fry them. It was a thrilling experiment every time to see whether it would work or not. It always did except for the Cabury Flake... the flake in the name should have given them a clue, duh!

Excitedly I waited for my treat and it was handed to me with a grinning "Enjoy, love!". Hmmm, just the look of it! Golden, hot and crisp scrumptiousness dusted with icing sugar. I expectantly stabbed my fork into the crunchy batter and revealed the molten chocolatey centre... What a beauty! How can anybody not understand the pure of naughty pleasure of a treat like this?

The batter was just the perfect shade of gold, not greasy at all and perfectly crisp on the outside making for a great difference in texture to the ooey-gooey centre of chocolate-caramel goodness. The people at the shop have absolutely perfected the deep-frying of these babies! The hotness of the bar ensured that I had to take my time eating it and not chowing it down as I might have otherwise, allowing me to pleasurably savour every single bite... Oh. My. Gooooooooooooooood!

As they use the same batter they would for fish it wasn't sweet but a little sweetness was added by the icing sugar on top. I thought the batter balanced the sweetness of the Mars bar just right and gave a great taste all-over. It didn't really taste like a Mars bar anymore because it was melted on the inside which took the generic chocolate bar to a whole new dimension. I think I will never be able to look at a Mars bar the same way again. From now on it's only deep-fried delights for me!

With every bite more molten chocolate and caramel deliciousness was oozing out and I used my fingers to wipe up every single last drop of it. This was not the time or place to think of manners, this was about dirty, longing and pure enjoyment - I could only just about stop myself from licking the paper! I think my eyes might have rolled back in my head out of foodtastic pleasure.

When my plate was finally and sadly empty I couldn't help but wish my yummy delight had been about 5 times its size. Which should be illegal because it would be lethal. Seriously. Then again who cares about clotted arteries, it would have been a joyful way of going!

I will have to go again, that's for sure. I wouldn't be able to leave Australia without having had another one of those sinful treats. I'm an addict now. Yes I am and I'm proud of it. If you've any sense at all I advise you try a Mars Delight the first opportunity you get!

Needing to know how these death-by-chocolates were made I stayed to watch how the chocolate bars were being unwrapped, tossed in flour and dipped it batter. This process was repeated and then the battered bars were chucked into the deep fat fryer for a few seconds to pre-fry them before they were stored in the fridge until they get their final fry when they're freshly made to order. That means I have to take back my previous statement that I had doubts about them not being fresh. I'm very happy to admit I was wrong!

Unfortunately the pictures don't entirely transport the oooey-gooeyness of it all and made me aware of the limits of my little digital camera which is a real shame. I miss my great camera at home!