Just needed to pop to the Supermarket yesterday to grab a few things…as you do. Our “Woolies” here on the station is a little different from your average supermarket….. there are no check-outs, no crowds, no trolleys, you don’t even need your wallet.
Did you know we live 5 hours from town, in the middle of nowhere? If you didn’t then you must be new around here – so a very warm welcome to you, thanks a million for joining us. Our closest Supermarket is 460km away and in a different state and time zone, so we can’t really just pop to the corner store for a carton of milk and a loaf of bread. When we do shop it is in bulk quantities and normally through a wholesaler in town – Mt Isa. The order usually arrives at the station on 2 or 3 chep pallets after Mr Chardy has sent one of our trucks down the dusty road to collect it. No big deal… just what we have to do. It is called outback living. Right?
So a trip to our pantry “Station Supermarket” looks like this:
Grab your shopping bags, lets hit the shops… no need for lipstick, make up or fancy footwear and you can even take the dog.
So, I sneak out of the house, ensuring the kids don’t hear or ask where I am going, because then the 3 year old will want to come and it will be a major operation…where are your shoes, get your hat, put some clothes on blah blah blah. Just so much easier if I sneak over by myself, and a whole lot quicker. I trot myself over to the “Butcher Shop” aka – our freezer cold room / fridge cold room. Now, just so you have a clear picture in your head, this is less than 100m from my house. So don’t panic, the kids will be ok.
Need some cheese – we’ve got it, loads of it. A pizza base I hear you ask, why of course – millions of them. Oh and what about a cheeky hash brown, fire up the deep fryer we have tonnes of those “fancy restaurant buffet type” little morsels. This is the Freezer Cold Room, where we store all of the beef once it has been broken down, cut up, bagged or turned into sausages or mince. We always have oodles of bread on hand which, mind you, comes all the way from the Cloncurry Bakery (only about 7 hours drive from here). We receive bread, fruit & veg each Wednesday on the Mail Plane. If we need frozen or cold goods this also comes out on the plane. We are very lucky that we have this weekly convenience.
Our eggs also come with the Fruit & Veg order. We order these by the carton, where a carton = 15 dozen. And see that white tub there, that is full of corned beef, soaking in brine. This is our fridge cold room. These are just outside the Station Kitchen, not my house, just so we are clear.
Our potatoes and onions come in 20kg bags. Never short of a spud that’s for sure. We store them in big garbage bins in the cold room.
I fill my 2kg gravy tub from this 7.5kg bucket. Gravy anyone. I do like my gravy.
This is the shed where our dry stores are kept. It also stores lots of other junk. So, drum roll please – this is WOOLWORTHS! Do you think we should have a sign made for it? The white mark on the roller door is from our terrible bore water, it marks everything.
Here we have the leaning tower of toilet paper! My biggest fear is running out of dunny paper, so I normally have a minimum of 6 cartons on hand (where a carton = 12 x 4 packets inside).
Powdered & UHT Milk
Flour, sugar, breadcrumbs and rice all come in big bags, 15kg or 25kg…. bloody heavy let me tell you! And don’t get me started on those weavils. Here is a very dodgy photo – I could hardy see what I was taking a photo of, bit dark in there – no lights or power to that shed – sounds truly hillbilly doesn’t it.
Back home to unpack my groceries. The whole ordeal is over and done with in less than 15 minutes – and that is for a big grocery shop!
And look Mrs Savvy B and DD – you have inspired me and I have even rolled the bags up and put them away….can you believe it?
Now tell me. Do you shop locally, online, order in bulk and have it delivered by the pallet? I know there are many of you out there who shop exactly the same way as I do.
How far away is your local supermarket? 2 minutes? 10 minutes? 3 hours? 5 hours? or even 8 hours?
Is there something in particular about Outback Station Life that you would love to hear about? Sometimes when you live up here it all seems a little boring and mundane, so things that I just do may seem too boring to write about, but these are often the stories you love to hear, so please tell me – what do you want to know?
What is one question you would like to ask me?
Oh my goodness that was SO interesting!!! It’s so hard to get my mind around the logistics of where you live, it’s amazing. I love it so much, just keep sharing all those little mundane things that only someone in the outback has to do – LOVE IT. Love you! I live too close to the supermarket, eg I went at 8pm last night so I could buy some copha and white chocolate to make the kids Valentine’s treats for their school/kindy lunch. I am baking now, haven’t you heard? xxxx
Ha ha ha ha, you crack me up Em, I love that you popped to the shop to get Copha and white choc, that is hilarious…and you are baking in the early hours of the morning – who the hell are you???? Step away from the wooden spoon!!! I am scared for you. Thanks so much for your kind words, you are a champ. Good luck with the baking, still laughing. ha ha ha.
Wow, I could never be that organised. This month I was even caught out & had to duck to the shop (less than 1km away) to buy fem hygiene products….. Not one in the house, I even dug through a few old handbags!!
Ha ha ha ha, that is hilarious Manda!!!! Don’t worry, if I lived in town I am sure I would be just the same as you, I guess you just do what you have to….I have a list going at the moment for the things I will need to get next time I am in town….not sure when that will be…perhaps a month or so, but I do need a hair cut so may need a special trip in.
This is fascinating. What a different world it is for you out in the outback. I admire your organisational skills. I’d be terrified of running out of toilet paper too! Awesome post 🙂
So funny that you all think I am organised because I always feel like the most un-organised person in the world. Thanks so much for reading and saying hi Michelle.
Love this! I’m living a very suburban life, 3 supermarkets within 7 min drive from my house (15 min bike ride when I just need a few things!) In the next couple of years we plan to take the kids out of school for a year and do a lap of the country, might have to pop in to your woolies on the way through! 😉
O wow, trip around Australia, how exciting – I take my hat off too you, not sure I could do it….but gee it sounds like fun. Thanks for saying hi Jess.
Just stumbled on your blog, great fun reading. I spent a few weeks out on Wave Hill station NT and it certainly was an eye opener. Not sure I could do it permanently. Hats off to you. Look forward to reading more.
Wow, Wave Hill Station is seriously remote!!!! Thanks for reading Kellie, great to have you around.
Any tips for Meal Planning for your circumstances? Do you have a weekly or even monthly menu plan that you work from?
Hi Linda, I did actually do a meal plan this week, but usually when I do one I don’t actually stick to it, so it is no use. When I was doing the Station Cooking I would look in the freezer cold room before the day ended, and find something that tickled my fancy to cook the next day and get it out to defrost. I think the key is to just ensure you have plenty of everything and then you don’t really need to have a plan as such. We do have to be organised with the fruit and veg as we order that a week in advance. So as one order is arriving you have to be thinking about what you need to order for the following week, bit tricky.
You really have a knack for writing – love reading your posts! I love hearing about your outback station life too. Sounds so fabulous but I suppose the grass is always greener right?! I’m curious about the weavil situation….what do you do about that?
Oh thanks Megan, so lovely of you. Yes, the grass is definitely always greener on the other side…. as for the weevils…. it is only since we have been getting the flour in the bags (we used to get it in buckets which was much better) – I find if you put the flour straight into the cold room it keeps better and doesn’t get the weevils. I have just been sifting the flour and then chucking the weevils out that are left in the sifter, god that sounds gross doesn’t it, ha ha ha.
I hate weevils so keep flour in the freezer.. it doesn’t freeze
Really interesting post. So fascinating.
Thanks JP!! 🙂
I LOVE these posts Chards. I was wondering what you did about fruit and veg. Eons ago when I worked on an Island, all our supplies came in by barge in the middle of the night (so as not to disturb the guests). By the end of the week, the milk (which came in bladders inside of milk crates) had a distinctly cold-room taint. Is all your milk powdered or UHT? (Just getting an idea of what to expect when I pop round for a visit!) 😀 xx
I love that brand of Gravy so much and I can only buy it in these tiny packets down here! But I won’t complain because by some freak chance Woolies deliver out here! And the delivery man brings all the bags in and puts them on the bench (I’ve been going to tell him which shelf to put it on in the pantry and fridge but don’t want to push the friendship)! This post is such an amazing insight into Station life! Definitely need to share it far and wide!!
OMG, that is so impressive that they deliver to your gorgeous farm….he probably only delivers because it is such a pretty drive, ha ha ha. And how fantastic that he even brings that bags in and pops them on your bench. Shall I send you down 2kg of Maggi gravy? ha ha ha.
I’m hopeless, I zip into the shops for an onion if I need it! Quite fascinating how you have everything on hand.
I’ve come over from Beth’s BabyMac blog, I’m looking forward to going through your blog and getting to know you.
Cheers – Joolz xx (South Australia)
Oh, Joolz – Beth, Oh Beth – she is such a legend isn’t she. She is the reason I blog – I got reading her blog last year and couldn’t stop. The woman is a champ. Thanks so much for coming over to Miss Chardy, so glad to have you. Too funny that you pop to the shops for an onion, ha ha ha.
wow it’s just fascinating. I moved from Melbourne to Leipzig, Germany and the biggest adjustment is that the kitchens are tiny and the fridges and freezers tiny. I came from teaching workshops in preserving and reducing food waste by batch cooking! It is normal here to shop every day or two and the quantities are small, they don’t do bulk even for staples. The biggest packet of sugar or flour is 1 kilo for example. All shops and businesses besides bakeries are closed on sundays. Stores rarely take cards (it was formerly GDR here so people are really paranoid about privacy) and you must pack you bags at the supermarket super quick rather than have the shop person pack them. There’s no chat and god forbid if you don’t have change (shops buy coins by weight).
How amazing – wow!!! I am fascinated by what you are doing over there in Germany. Wow!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for a fabulous read. I will never whinge about ducking down to the supermarket again! And I am with you on running out of toilet paper – my biggest fear! Cheers to you
Oh Lisa, it seems we are all the same when it comes to running out of loo paper, ha ha ha!! I think when you live so close to shops it is very easy to run out of things (and often a lot more annoying…) where as we always have a pretty good supply of everything. We have been out of bacon for about 3 weeks, but hello – first world problems, ha ha ha! Lucky I don’t live near shops because I may be ten tonne tessie living on triple cream brie!!!
Thanks for sharing! Although I live in town (unfortunately) I’ve been lucky enough to be able to “shop” at a station store a few times . I definitely think some people take it for granted! Although I think I’ll stick with my bottled fresh milk haha definitely not a fan of powered or long life!
As a pre-service, I’d love to see your classroom. I don’t think many people understand the concept of distance ed and personally I am so passionate about it! 🙂
Wow – this is super fascinating for me, the city dweller. Really had no idea that you’d keep such large stocks. Thanks for sharing!
Isn’t it funny Heike, for some reason I must have just thought that everyone would know this stuff…. I really need to think about this and share more. How is your tripping around going? Are you still on the move?
Whoops – sorry – just saw your reply. The trip went well, but has just recently come to an end. We’ve settled in Brisbane, near family, to have our first baby. It’s a hard life adjustment to make, but at least we have something great to look forward to 🙂
How exciting Heike. Congratulations.
Oh Miss Chardy, how I miss the local grocery store of station life! I hate grocery shopping in town, especially with a nearly 2 year old! Love this post. Xoxo
I miss you too Sal… you need to put that 2 year old into Day Care when you do the shop up…seriously!!! Because I have never really had to do it I find it so overwhelming taking the children to the supermarket, does my head in.
SO interesting! Thanks for sharing. I’m going to show my husband who thinks I’m a nut for buying tinned tomatoes 3 slabs at a time. I do like stocking up even though my supermarket is a 3 minute drive away from my home. Must get your address so I know to head that way in case of zombie apocalypse 😉
Ha ha ha ha, too funny! I think that even if I lived in town I would prefer to stock up, makes life so much easier having things in bulk and not having to go to the shops every 2 seconds. I say go the bulk buy – did you get your tomatoes from Costco? ha ha ha.
Your mundane is so fascinating. Im 2 minutes from a supermarket and so consequently go all the time because I am so disorganised. Ps Ive been trying to do the washing all done and dusted by 2pm but its gone a bit off the rails because of showery weather. Might have had a day this week where it was on the line for a couple of days !
Ha ha ha, oh well, at least the washing was very well aired after hanging for a couple of days. This getting the washing done and dusted early has been a real game changer for me. So glad you are having a bit of a win too, apart from showery (bad washing) weather! Yes, if you have the supermarket right there is is much easier to be disorganised because you know you can just pop in and get it. I would be the same if I lived in town I think.
Good on you mate! A great insight in to the world of outback shopping!
Thanks George!!!
Great to read your story. I live 15 minutes from town, but my brain is a relic from childhood, where mum shopped every 2 weeks, so I have big freezers and fridges, but not quite as big as yours… Because you have the room, try putting the stuff that gets weevil infested into your freezer rooms. MIL does that, and has no trouble. Fridge also works, but freezer is best. Cheers.
I think it is far easier to be well stocked, don’t have to go to the shops every 2 seconds. Thanks for the weevil tip Noni. We have got them in the freezer, but I do have some in the dry store that I have forgotten to put in, must do that – they are just so bloody heavy. Thanks for reading Noni.
I love that you have a 7.5kg tub of gravy!!! Do you have to do stock control to make sure nothing goes out of date? And how do you stop rodents chewing through everything? I’d love to know more about all the different jobs people have, Ive had a taste of farm life growing up, but it was only a hobby farm and dad pretty much did everything himself. I’ve got a soft spot for country living but it’s a bit of a ‘maybe when we’ve retired in 50 years’ dream. I do love hearing about your life, thanks for sharing! xx MrsT
We usually get through things before they go out of date Mrs T. I do a stocktake every month or two. We have been pretty lucky with rodents, don’t seem to have them, we did have a bit of a rat plague a few years ago and had rat traps set up everywhere which seemed to work, and if they could chew through bags etc we would put them in the cold rooms. Haven’t hand many problems though, touch wood! They did, however, chew through all the wiring in our car! argghhh. That is a great idea, to tell people about the various jobs people do – thanks for the tip! Great idea Mrs T.
I have to say that I love hearing your stories, i grow up on the land and i didn’t know how much i missed it till i started reading your blog. i now live in Mount Isa and i love it but any chance i get I’m off out in the bush some where, the other day after work my partner and I drove out of town to a creek and just sat in the cool water. Just beautiful. So keep your stories coming, wonderful o read them.
Thanks so much Liza, glad you are enjoying the read. Makes it all worthwhile. Your trip out to the creek just to sit sounds perfect!!!
I loved this read MIss Chardy brightened up my day with my 7 year old home from school with chicken pox. What a wonderful and full life you have. I was wondering if you could share a post on all your Chardy…is that why your name is Miss Chardy how much wine do you have stored and what about Mr Chardy does he stored loads of beers? Keep sharing it is great reading. Natalie
Oh now, your poor little 7 year old, that would be no fun at all. I sure will share about the Chardy…..basically I just love Chardonnay, ha ha ha!!!
Hi Miss Chardy, I’ve been reading your blog over the last couple of months but this is my first comment. I love hearing how you live and you are a very funny writer as well! I lived in Darwin when I was a kid but never on a station. I’m in Perth now & I have 3 boys too so I’m also living in a high level of testosterone. I’d love to know how many people live on your station – how many buildings there are – I’m guessing you and your family aren’t the only ones there since you have a station kitchen etc. And how do your kids do school – does it take all day like here or just a few hours each day? So many questions ha ha! Anyway, love your blog 🙂
Hi Jacquie, I am so pleased you have stopped by Comment Central to say hello! Makes my day. Oh, 3 boys – yep, so many nuts it isn’t funny! God help us. We have quite a few buildings on the station, headstockmans house, a few little cabin type buildings, girls quarters, jackaroo’s quarters, kitchen, workshop, sheds etc etc. We usually have about 14 people on the station (well 17 including my children). My boys do their schooling through Mt Isa School of the Air and we have a Governess who teaches them in a separate school room. Thanks for your questions, might to a bit of an update blog about who I am, where we live and who lives here….thanks for the tip.
Just came across your blog and always find outback living fascinating. I used to work as a Governess many years ago on a sheep station but it was only around 50km from town, so I would go home on the weekends. But I learnt a lot especially in cooking. Would love to see some meals that you prepare and how you keep a garden in the middle of nowhere!
I used to be a Governess too Treann, that is how I ended up here in the middle of nowhere. I also used to Governess on a Sheep Station about 80km from Bourke in NSW. As for the garden, well I am definitely not much of a gardener, we have sprinklers going 24/7 to water the grass, which is pumped from a bore. Thanks for saying hi.
It might be ho hum to you but I find it really interesting. Coming from a commercial cooking background I can totally appreciate your stores. One fabulous tip re weevils is to put your dry stores(flour, oats, rice etc) into the freezer for 24 hours once you receive them and then store in lidded bins. Depending on space you might be able to keep your dry stores in the freezer until you need to open them? But would have to be up off the floor but perhaps sitting on a pallet? Would love to hear about your station more is it for beef industry? Do you export? Did you get caught up in that export ordeal? Would love to here about station cooking, workers, lifestyle etc And if it were me I would be getting the station cook to do my meals as well? Do they bake for smokos as well? Nearly took a job as a camp cook for a season quite a few years back…..ahhh would have loved it just for the experience and uniqueness alone! Laughed at the carton of eggs…now why would I think that you would have your own chickens on a farm? A guess the mundane to you is the escapism we seek in reading blogs like yours x
Ha ha ha, funny about the eggs Chrissy – I have been asking Mr Chardy for a chicken pen for years…still don’t have one, hence the bought eggs. One would think that we would produce our own eggs, ha ha ha. Thanks for the tip with the flour, I do have it in the freezer, but should put it in a drum with a lid…onto it. Yes, we are beef producers, we don’t export, a lot of our beef ends up in Woolworths. Have a great weekend!
Omg I thought my pantry was chockers! !
We always joke about being flooded in for 2 months and we would be right for food (as would the neighbours IF they could get here haha) and we don’t have a shed.. though I could probably fit the local woolies in my pantry 😉
we don’t feed the workers though!
I like the sound of your pantry Courtney! Nothing beats being well stocked! Makes life much easier.
I’ve popped over after seeing you on the BWP alumni page- HI!
This is amazing to me! Your Woolies looks like the local cash & carry! I’m blown away.
What I’d love to know is how you meal plan, how do you do a shopping list, what meals get cooked the most? Jesus, that’s a lot of questions-sorry! I’m such a sticky beak. Especially when it comes to peoples food.
Oh, don’t worry, I am a sticky beak too, and I am usually the one asking thousands of questions about peoples lives – other peoples lives are just so fascinating to me! I don’t really meal plan, we always have everything on hand, I generally do a stocktake and huge store order every month or 2 and in between I just do top up orders if I have missed something. I have a little list of things to get in town that I just add to, these are items I can’t source through the wholesaler and need to get from Woolies – special things. We just have basic meals – steak & veg, sausages, rissoles, roast beef, corned beef, steak steak and more steak…..a whole lot of beef. I do love a good curry too, curried chicken, curried beef, curried prawns…yum. Oh and with the shopping list – my stocktake sheet is a big spreadsheet, I go over to the store with a clip board and see what we need. Then I come back and do my order on the computer, usually takes a good couple of hours. Right – I think I need to write a blog post about this because quite a few people have asked me the same questions about lists and meal plans. Thanks!!!
That’s amazing, it sure puts a quick dash into the supermarket in perspective! I look forward to reading more from your blog now that I have discovered it!!
Ha ha ha, I do do a quick dash, but it is just over to the cold room and shed store, ha ha ha….no need to get in the car and pop on the lippy.
That was an absolutely fascinating insight life on an outback station – thank you! I’m incredibly envious how you shop – no whacking on the lippie, just go as you are, no parking grief, no queues and NO money required. Lovely! You mentioned you have 14 people at the station – are you responsible for cooking for all those people every day, or do you have a station cook to look after the meals? Do they all eat together, separately? Do you and your family get your own family time at meal time?
Hi Lesley, it is a great life. We have a Station Cook who cooks for all of our staff, breakfast, smoko, lunch, dinner etc. I cook for my family and we eat at our house. The staff all eat over in the station kitchen. When we don’t have a cook I am it, and I do also cook each Saturday. Family dinner time is still not what I dream of in my whacky little head – because Mr Chardy is normally not home until late, so the kids and I eat and then he eats when he comes in…. after sorting out what is happening the following day with staff, or riding his horse, or just generally working and not back home here at the station until late.
Oh you’ve just got to get that chook pen up and running! I’m sure Mr Chards could knock one up for you in no time, or perhaps you can pick one up when you ‘duck in’ to Mt Isa for your next hair cut??!! Having fresh eggs on hand is wonderful and expands the menu options so much – quiches, cakes, savoury muffins, curried egg sandwiches, etc. Love the post as always. We are so spoilt here in town.
Nothing beats fresh home grown eggs Jo, I agree. I think Mr Chardy is more concerned that I might not be able to keep the chooks alive…but I figure now that I have managed to keep 3 children alive and I have managed to “get sorted” I should be all over it… let me see if I can keep my flowers alive that I have planted and if I can do that, then to hell with it – I will buy a bloody chicken pen!!!
Can’t believe I’ve only just discovered your blog – it’s awesome. So where do you store the grog and how much do you have stored? I presume the closest pub/bottleshop is quite a few clicks away?
Why hello there Rebecca, I love that you are asking the important questions here….. such a good one too… I feel a blog post coming on about our “Rec Club” – we are talking a whole pallet of XXXX Gold Cans – I call it the Golden Tower! I order my wine by the cartons online. We get our beer in for the rec club (where all the staff can have a beer each afternoon) from the Pub in Camooweal, so a ute or a truck has to go in (3 hours) and get a pallet or 2 of beer.
Yes, I am new here so Hi! And wow – you must be super organised! I have to admit that I live 2 minutes from several supermarkets and I still do most of my shopping online with a big shop once a week and top ups in between for more bread, milk and fruit. I have no idea how you manage it so well done!
Hi Melinda, so great to have you. I have never thought of myself as super organised, but I feel I am getting there this year. I always feel like I am chasing my tail with the store ordering, just when you think you are all over it and have ordered ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING someone will tell you we are out of something….never ending story, oh well.
hehehe – loved this post Miss Chardy! When we visited Lawn Hill last year we bought the Cloncurry Bakery Bread – so, so, so good! We’re lucky that although we live on a farm – we’re only 10 minutes out of town with two grocery stores – having said that though – I think I would prefer to have our groceries delivered in bulk lots so I never had to go to the shops – not a fan at all!!!
I was seriously wondering about how you organised the shopping aspect of living so far away so thanks for this post! It was really interesting. I have four supermarkets about 5 minutes away and because I never know beforehand what I feel like cooking i generally shop every day. I’m an Australian living in Dubai so I get annoyed when I can’t find Crunchie bars or Marathon Dim Sims or Allen’s lollies! That is my only hardship!! When I was growing up my Mum would only shop every two weeks so we had the huge freezer etc. (Not because we lived remotely, just because that was payday). If you ran out of stuff before the two weeks was up it was tough luck. I didn’t see the chocolate/snack store? What happens when you are just craving a bar of turkish delight or hokey pokey ice cream? See, there would be my downfall….if I had a stash of all the treats they would all be gone in a week.
Hello Janine, I find it fascinating that you live in Dubai….do you have a blog? I love reading EVERYTHING Middle East!! As for my cravings, well when they get serious I just have to make something to satisfy them. It is for the best that I don’t have all of those treats lying around, i just can’t have them in the house because I have NO SELF CONTROL. One wet season when we were stuck here for ages I did make some chocolate eclairs, I just had to have one so just made them. I have also been known to make donuts from scratch – bloody hell.
I love your woolies! Very interesting a a bit different to how we did it on the place I was on. This is a much better set up, a much bigger one. Tip that might help for the weavils, chuck those bags of flour in the freezer for a bit before storing in the shed. It is supposed to kill the eggs in the flour. I’m not sure how it would work for the other stuff. My Mum bulk buys and the flour is stored in containers and sits there for months and she doesn’t get weavils now that she does the freezer trick. I currently live in a city with shops not far around the corner and what a luxury I know that is.
Hi Anne, thanks for the tip about the weevils. Have a great weekend.
I love hearing about your life on a remote station……so different from suburban Melbourne.
Thanks Jenni 🙂
wow! I must be under a rock or something never have i seen a ranch station. Loved reading this~ Awesome as love your cool room and yes i seem to order most things online. I take way too much for granted i think.
Hi Dannie – where are you from? Thanks so much and I am glad you enjoyed the read. 🙂
Hi I am in Melbourne in the boring loud suburbs lol
I am sure it is far from boring Dannie!!!
I love your storage set up. We are about 40 minutes from our nearest town for grocery shopping (though there is a tiny town closer where I work – good for milk and bread). We grocery shop monthly and would do it less often if we had better storage. We do grow all our vegetables, meat, and most of our fruit which helps.
Yes, storage helps doesn’t it. I would love a veg garden this year. Nothing beats home grown meat!
A great read! I too live 5 hours from the super market (Alice Springs). It’s great to read about your similar experience in a different part! No fresh fruit and veg comes to us on the plane though unfortunately, although we grow a lot of fruit and veg we get some very interesting looks when clearing the town of tomatoes etc with a number of trollies on the go! I’m doing the drive to town tomorrow and tonight I’ve been handed an extremely long shopping list filled with all different chocolate for what seems to be a chocolate deprived stock camp! And a trip to town wouldn’t be complete without a trip to smimack to pick up the bulk items!
Hi Anna – thanks so much for reading! We are so lucky to have the plane each week that brings us fruit and Veg, makes life so much easier. The good old lists from everyone….sometimes you would prefer to just sneak off and not tell anyone would’t you, ha ha ha. So mean!!! Enjoy your night in town!!! At least Alice has some lovely hotels (we are a bit strapped in Mt Isa) or do you have a town house?
Great to read about someone else that lives 5hrs from a town (mine is Alice Springs). You’re so lucky to get fresh fruit and veg weekly! Any fresh stuff that we don’t grow ourselves is picked up in bulk whenever someone’s in town and is made to last until the next time someone’s there! Certainly get some funny looks when you’re pushing a few trollies through woolies at a time to pick up just a bit of fruit and veg! The rest is all bought in bulk like yours. I’m doing the drive to town and last night I was given an extremely extensive list of chocolates etc from what to seem to be a sweets deprived stock camp! Although, I can’t say that I (the govie) haven’t added lots of chocolate and wine to that list! Yet another trip home in a car full to the roof.
LOVE this post 🙂 We live about 420km from Geraldton, inland in a town of less than 300 people. At least our town has a small deli with fresh bread 5 days a week and F & V on a Tuesday, dairy on a Wednesday. All meat is frozen. Our pantry is a mini version of your woolies; loo paper, juice, cordial, coffeebeans and cheese all in bulk 🙂
Oh wow! Thanks so much for stopping by. Glad to see you have all the essentials covered in your bulk items… ha ha ha 🙂
Wow, didn’t this post generate a great response from your readers. I think what l’ve learnt from the internet is that your life will be interesting to someone out there! Something so normal and routine to us, looks wildly exotic to someone else.
I’ll be thinking you as a troll through my local Woolworths this afternoon, which is only 10km away 🙂
I am gobsmacked Chrisy with the response to this post…..who’d have thought my boring little life would generate so much interest….:) Off to have a look at your blog now. Happy shopping at good ol Woolies…
Fabulous post Miss Chardy. I understood every bit of it! I always thought groceries on pallets fork lifted onto the truck was normal, it wasn’t until I moved into town and I discovered that you had to push a trolley and get your own! Hence I despise grocery shopping and LOVE Coles Online. Even though I have 7 supermarkets in a 5klm radius. I do a Coles Online shop about every 6-8 weeks, fruit & veg at the markets fortnightly, butcher/fish shop/bread weekly. I still have to occasionally do a mercy dash to the closest Woolies (2klm away) but if it runs out, it goes on the list for the next shop.
Growing up we had our own chooks (children were in charge of keeping them alive and collecting eggs, worked well mostly), goats (for fresh milk), a vegetable garden and of course an endless supply of meat. I also despise corn beef. Survival food. I have never cooked it away from the station.
Hi Judy, so funny that you thought groceries on pallets “fork lifted” were the norm, ha ha ha ha, so true! You have it all sorted with your shopping, great way to do it I think. I love a good hot corned beef dinner. You would be disgusted to know that when we went to Maggie Island for holidays Mr Chardy & Mr Savvy B bought some corned beef to cook, it was the first thing that went on when we arrived at the holiday house…isn’t that just ridiculous – I was gobsmacked….ha ha ha.
What a fascinating read. And here I was thinking I lived a rural lifestyle because my closest large supermarket is half an hour away and we have a small IGA that is only 10 minutes from home. So really I’m not living rural at all comparatively. It does seem like you’d have to be super organised for this kind of lifestyle. I love these posts – reading about the minutiae of daily life. Love it.
Thanks Deb, so glad you enjoy it. And it is all relative really – down there a small IGA 10 minutes away is probably a big deal….all relative my friend. 🙂
SUCH a great blog post!! I actually LIVE in our supermarket. We own the IGA X-Press in Goomalling, WA and our house is adjoining by a door. This is very dangerous – I have 24/7 access to my favourite chocolate and Diet Coke!
Oh no, I wouldn’t cope at all well Rachael…..I would be forever sneaking in for chips, dip, cheese, chocolate…..I just wouldn’t be able to help myself!!!! Oh and what about the ice cream!!! You must have will power.
We who live in suburbia take for granted all the very things you talk about as being normal. My grandparents had a far at Wannamal WA, moors was the nearest town or Bindoon. But neither was a large town and they used to shop in Midland and cart it all home to unpack every month. I have lived in tambellup, lake Grace, manjimup, Denmark, Mullewa, travelling and learning about some really nice towns when I was much younger. It was eye opener and I do remember locals making their own fun, especially when we were young ones, gravel pit parties, ok drinking and bomb fires, guess the fire part is out these days. And fair enough too, but we had fun at the local creeks, which normally were quite a drive away, shopping for clothes was usually done in Albany. I applaud you and others who live this way, must admit the putting together of a shopping list would drive me crazy, but not having to enter a car park, shopping mall, and excited and screaming kids at shops sounds like heaven.
Hi Toni, so very interesting to hear about you. Thanks for sharing. Oh and I may have been involved in a few “Gravel pit parties” when I was a young Govie!!!! Nothing better 🙂
Town is an hour away. We shop in bulk at Aldi & Costco every fortnight. We also have a food shed though much smaller!
Miss Chardy I can’t even begin to imagine how much thinking ahead you have to do!! We have a set of shops at the end of our street (about 800m away), IGA, good butcher, deli with good fruit and veg and yummy nibbles. The shops are open til like 7pm most nights, except Sundays, so an after-work visit is a-ok. I’m ashamed to say, but going to admit, we drive to the shops 99% of the time!! The shame. We have NO food in our house. Lies. We have a squillion crackers, always some cherry tomatoes on the go and I feel about english breakfast tea the way you feel about toilet paper – cannot handle the thought of running out! I was an excellent housewife and defrosted the freezer last weekend, it’s a bit different to yours though, we’ve just got sorbet, a few frozen pita breads and gigantic man-sized ice cubes.
Love your stories Chards, keep em comin! x
Ha ha ha ha. you crack me up…. Sounds like you live in a perfect spot with those shops at the end of your street.
Very interesting – we live on 1000acres 20 mins from a large town (Central West NSW) and everybody says how far it is, I’m gob smacked and will never complain again.
3+ years ago I was 5 mins drive to Aldi’s and 7mins to Coles or WW in semi suburbia Outer west Sydney.
It is all relative Trish…. 20 mins down there is much different to 20 mins up here. It is what you get used to isn’t it. If someone told me 20 years ago I would be living 5 hours from town I wouldn’t have believed anyone could possibly live that far….but now it is just my normal.
Late starter – but I absolutley love this insight into a completely different lifestyle! So amazing! Thank you Miss Chardy! And sincerest apologies to read of the loss of Mick, I am sure he will be grinning down on you and your whole crew… x
Thanks so much, I am sure he will have a big grin on watching us all fuss over him. Thanks for your kind thoughts.
Loved reading your blog and enjoyed seeing the Devondale Milk in your pantry, we are Dairy Farmers in Alberton, Vic MG Devondale Suppliers. Must admit our Woolworths is only 10kms away, and we have a friendly local store in Alberton a five minute walk away where we collect our mail from.
I do love my 2L Devondale UHT milk, so handy. My boys drink a lot of milk so the 2l bottles are great. Thanks for reading Alison, lovely to hear from you.
Chards, your life fascinates me so much and I love this post but tell me…where do you keep the wine?!
Safely stored in my wine rack or fridge! ha ha ha.
Gosh – pretty sure that shed is stocked BETTER than our local grocery store! Amazing… we are only 40 mins from town (suburbs as Dad would say)… we do have a cold room but I constantly forget stuff in there. How many fridges do you have in the house??
We only have 2 fridges in our house. We just stock up from the cold rooms. 40 mins is a fair way from town, esp if you forget something, or don’t have something on hand.
I am so glad I discovered your blog! I love reading about Aussie outback life! I look forward to looking through the rest of your site.
I have added you to my list of Australian Homeschool Blogs. You can see it here: http://frangipani.bloomfields.net.au/classroom/australian-homeschool-blogs/
Let me know if you think I am missing any!
I am in suburbia in Canberra and we have 4 supermarkets within a 15 min drive. I think the convenience just gives me an excuse to be alot less organized than I should be.
Hi There… so lovely to hear from you. Looking forward to checking out your blog!!!
Wow … my mind just boggles! Thanks for this fascinating glimpse into life in the outback. And so glad I got to meet you at Problogger a couple of weeks ago!
Hi Janet, was so great to sit in the Tipi’s with you at ProBlogger!!
What an absolutely fantastic post! I am new to your blog, and am instantly hooked. I found this post absolutely fascinating, and the more I read about your life and where you live, the more fascinated and mind blown I am! I live in Canberra, and only 5 minutes from my local Woolies, and like you I fear of always running out of toilet paper! Looking forward to reading many more posts of yours 🙂
Hi Jemma, sorry bit slow to reply… things have been crazy. Welcome to the blog, so great to have you and thanks for saying hello. 5 minutes or 5 hours, it is all relative isn’t it. If I only lived 5 mins from a shop I would be running out of things all the time.