Once Bitten

There are no snakes in New Zealand, but there are a million insects that bite and it seems that I have been a very welcome addition to their diet here at Abel Tasman. Consuming large quantities of vitamin B is supposed to stop them biting. Many years ago Rosie and I were in the Phillippines, which is also home to a zillion biting bugs. We had heard that Marmite was the perfect defence if eaten in sufficient quantities. A large glass jar of Marmite was therefore packed (along with the traveling iron, which Rosie insisted must be taken) and carried all the way to the remote and mosquito infected island of Palawan. I had had only one Marmite sandwich when unfortunately I dropped the pot on the floor of our hotel so was never able to prove the theory.
Here in New Zealand things could be different. Learning of my punctured condition and my fondness of the famous black yeast spread, Ferg the neighbour offered a pot of New Zealand Marmite. That there could be a ew Zealand variety of Marmite was a surprise. It comes in a round plastic jar, nothing like the UK shape, and has a quite different consistency. This morning I spread my first slice of bread (the making of toast at the bach is a very complex operation that results in what is locally know as propane toast, more akin to bread seared with a blowlamp) with the New Zealand Marmite and took a bite. To a devote Marmite eater, it was a major disappointment. New Zealand Marmite is quite different from English Marmite. It is sweet, with the consistency of roofing tar, having a curious deep brown colour. It is not Marmite as we know it. Fortunately, the current set of visitors (David, Scilla and Reuben) had brought a jar of Vegemite with them. Serious Marmite eaters usually scorn Vegemite but after the very disappointing New Zealand Marmite experience (it still makes me shudder), it seemed worth a try. I can now vouch for the fact that whilst Vegemite is not the same as UK Marmite, it is a half decent substitute. However, I have yet to find out whether or not it protects me from the bugs, which are a notorious feature of the New Zealand West coast where I shall be tomorrow.