Mutant Pigs

...is what I must assume produced this bacon. Either that or they just have REALLY big pigs. Or maybe they just put the whole pig on the slicer.. Who knows? Good bacon though!!


Grocery shopping here is horrendously expensive. About £2.50 for a basic loaf of bread, £4.50 for a punnet of blueberries, £4/5 for 500g ham... £2.50 for small wetabix, £3 for honey, £5 for 250g (cheap) ground coffee.. Yes, I know I should stop thinking of it in pounds, but it's hard as our income is a quarter of what it was at home and food is probably twice as expensive. I would say that the quality is almost certainly better, and the choice of fresh food is great - but boy is it a shock when you do just a basket shop at the supermarket and it's over $100! Have decided that the problem is the exchange rate - The Aussie dollar is obviously supposed to be three to the pound like it used to be, not two like it is now. Then everything would be just right. I have enquired as to whether they would change it for us, but apparently not. Something to do with a strong global currency position or other such nonsense.

Anyway, when we did our very first grocery shop for the new house, it was a biggie as we literally had nothing at all. Had to buy not just that week's fresh food, but also all the ingredients you take for granted as being in the cupboard like flour, sugar, stock cubes, pasta, rice,sauces, herbs and spices, tins.. and freezer stuff, and cleaning and laundry stuff.... so needless to say when we got to the till with two trolleys the total was rather hefty!!! I won't tell you how much, but this is a picture of the receipt. The guy who served us reckoned it was the biggest total he had seen in four years of working there! It was obviously a big event for him as he remembered us a couple of weeks later. I don't think he gets out much.

So here are the shopping Woo hoos and Yah boos so far

Woo hoo

1. Fresh fruit, veg and meat - range and quality fantastic. And all fruit and veg is really big! Just like the bacon...
2. Shake and Make pancake mix - big bottle like a plastic milk bottle, pancake mix inside, just add water and shake... and pour batter direct into the pan. Awesome.
3. Tetley Teabags British Blend. Need I say more?
4. Fresh squeezed juice - every variety under the sun. Kids particularly keen on Apple and Strawberry at the mo.
5. Grazia - just released in Australia last week. Apparently they knew I was coming.
6. Cadbury's chocolate with Macadamia nuts - like Whole Nut, only better.

Yah boo

1. Huggies nappies - or rather no Pampers. Have never been a fan of Huggies and have rediscovered why I hate them so much - they don't keep the wee and the poo in, which seems to me to be one of the fundamental roles of a good nappy. They still do boys and girls nappies here too - pink for girls, blue for boys of course, and I have even tried the boys ones to see if perhaps Phoebe is anatomically unusual, but in fact she leaks out of those too. What I wouldn't give for Pampers Active Fit....
2. Mayonnaise. Third ingredient in all mayo here is sugar - and it is sweet. And slightly transparent. Like nasty diet mayo, without actually being diet.
3. The price of decent shampoo and conditioner - £7-8 a bottle for anything not Pantene/Fructis type). Ironically, the one shampoo I really like at home and haven't found here is the Aussie Mega stuff!!

So on balance not too bad. Certainly nothing insurmountable.

And the one thing which is definitely cheaper than home here is eating out. So we will just have to do that more often. Shame...