My local store is in Tamworth, NSW. Roughly 10 hours from the NSW snowfields.

I didn’t get up early and I wasn’t there before store opening.

I headed in around 9am with my parents. I was feeling nervous and scared as I imagined pushy store goers determined to get their gear.

We found a park easily (the disability sticker may have helped) and took the lift down and went into Aldi. Divided and conquer as Mum and I headed straight for the middle section while Dad got a trolley.

It was crowded but not as bad as I’d imagined. Shoppers were polite and there was space to move about and access gear.

There seemed to be a lot more stock than previous years and it was spread out over a larger area.

I was after kids ski socks. I managed to find all four girls socks as advertised in different patterns and at a bargain price of $6.99 a pair.

I helped Mum find a jacket ($119.99) and convinced her to get an insulated jacket with a removable insert. She also bought a pack of thermals ($29.99), pink gloves ($14.99) and ski socks ($8.99).

Dad found and tried on some boots, a bright beanie ($4.99), set of thermals ($29.99) and some socks ($8.99).

We had what we wanted and were second in line at the checkout.

We were out just after 10am.