Several people have asked me about whether there are any differences in shops (supermarkets etc) between Australia and “home” – whatever “home” means in this case: Netherlands, or UK. I’ve just done my weekly shop this morning, and this time I didn’t forget my phone (I forgot it last week, so couldn’t take any photos then), so here is an impression.

Supermarket

There are several supermarkets in Australia. Most well known probably are Coles and Woolworths… the latter being the supermarket I tend to go to. It is colloquially known as “Woolies”. That reminds me of a funny habit the Australian have… adding something like “y” or “o” at the end of a word… or so my Australian colleague tells me. The shop where (bottles of) wine, beer and spirits can be purchased, is known as a “bottle-o”; a “servo” is a service station or garage; a “barbie” is not a kind of doll, but a barbecue. And back to the supermarket: “lollies” are more than the sticky sugar lumps on a stick – basically all sweets are called by that name. Oh, and the colder variety: “ice blocks”… they are basically our ice lollies.

I must say that the supermarkets are generally rather international. There is even a section with Dutch food in the Woolies close to where I live:

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Ok, it is not all Dutch, it is kind of a combination of all sorts of European foods – Dutch, but also German and English. However, I don’t think I would be able to find any of these in a supermarket in the UK…

And then the fruit and vegetable section – this is how it looks like in the supermarket:

It is huge! And the variety…! But I tend to go to a different shop for my fruit and veggies… Also – there is a bakery…!

Fruit, Vegetables and Bread

How about this variety of fruit and vegetables… I don’t cook here, but if I did, there would be plenty to choose from:

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What an explosion of colourful health! Loving it… And how about this for a little bakery?

Their bread is lovely. And very nice treats as well… cakes, including some sort of “krentenbrood” (would really like to try that one day – looks very yummy).

Right – that’s it for now: if I stop now, that’s two posts on one day… So: an impression of where I do my food shopping in Sydney. And you know what – if I really have to choose one single thing to take back to the UK with me, that would be that great fruit & veg shop!