The taste and smells of memories

I've been thinking about how external things trigger memories a fair bit lately tipped off by a few different things.

I have a terrible memory, I have nothing but a handful of vague recollections from before I came to Australia and I only remember bits and pieces from my childhood after that but occasionally things will trigger a memory so strong that I remember exactly what it felt like.

In the last couple of weeks I've had a couple of strange experiences:

The first was a pair of things, my friends Kami and Tabi went to San Diego Zoo, and in the same weekend we went to Baskin Robbins and I had a taste of the rainbow sherbet ice cream. My 6th birthday cake was made of that ice cream and was literally the only good thing about my birthday, which also included a trip to the Zoo with my father and step-mother. The photos and the taste of the ice cream took me right back to that time.

Last week I decided I wanted to clean my computer so I bought some dust cleaner, now while I didn't sniff it on purpose (I saw that episode of Intervention, damn) I did accidentally catch a whiff of it and it nearly floored me. It smelt exactly like the gas mask that they used to put me under for an operation I had when I was about 7 or so. For a split second it felt like I was there again, looking up at the mask coming down towards me, seeing the Drs & nurses, I could feel the mask the cold of the room. It was the most bizarre thing ever.

Now before you go kill yourselves the last one is actually a happy memory. I bought some lemonade icy-poles, for those of you who don't know its a water based ice block that tastes kind of like sprite, its the kind of thing you get on a school picnic or camp. The feeling I had when I ate that was not a specific memory it was more like a feeling of fondness for summer. It tasted like end of year picnics, girl guide meets and birthday parties with slip and slides.

Anyway, that's all for the nostalgia. Have you had any similar memory triggering experiences?