The Beaches Market, Warriewood

Over the past few months I’ve had a number of friends mention to me how good The Beaches Market is at Warriewood.  I thought it was time I discovered it for myself.

A great meeting place

A popular meeting place

The market is open every Friday from 8am until 1pm and is held in the grounds of Pittwater Rugby Park, sometimes known as ‘Rat Park’, (not because there are live rats running around but because that’s the unfortunate name of the rugby team!)

Pony rides

Pony rides

I think you can never be too early to arrive at a market.  Everything always looks best first thing in the morning.  However, beyond my control I arrived at the market at about 10.30am.  The car park was by then full and I had to squeeze my people-mover into such a tight space I had to suck my tummy in and walk sideways between my car and the one next to me.  Clearly, this is a very popular market.

Petting zoo

Petting zoo

And then I realised I’d forgotten my shopping trolley.  That’s my other market rule – the first is to arrive early and the second is ‘bring a trolley’.  Never mind.  As I walked towards the market I noticed there is a lot on offer to entertain children.  There are pony rides and face painting and a jumping castle and a petting zoo.  The place was crowded with children and it seemed every pregnant person pushing a double stroller was there as well.

Face-painting and a jumping castle

Face-painting and a jumping castle

Stepping into the market, there’s a lot to offer adults as well.  There are tables and chairs set up where you can sit and sip your organic coffee while listening to live music.  It seems this is a market that’s a popular meeting place where friends gather together and roll out picnic rugs and make a day of it.

Socialising while sipping coffee and listening to music

Socialising while sipping coffee and listening to music

The market is quite vast.  There are three very long aisles with every imaginable organic item on offer including soaps and oils and pot plants and meat and eggs and fruit and bread and vegetables and wine and juices and pasta and bagels and cheese and sauces, pickles, jams and honey.  And there’s homewares and fashion also.  And then there are the vendors selling ready-to-eat food like crepes and pies and sausage rolls and bacon & egg rolls and soups and pastries and cakes.

One of the three aisles

One of the three aisles

It was hard to know where to start.  Because I arrived late, a lot of the fruits and vegetables looked ‘picked over’ and some were being affected by direct sunlight however, with three trips back and forth to the car (won’t forget my trolley ever again), I managed to come home with a great variety of produce.

I thought the prices were quite reasonable

I thought the prices were quite reasonable

 

Brooklyn Boy Bagels

Brooklyn Boy Bagels

 

Everything is so fresh

Everything is so fresh

 

Free-range meat

Free-range meat

There are many reasons why I love to shop at markets.  It’s a relaxed and casual way to shop with friendly store-owners proudly informing you of their produce.  It’s a great opportunity to support small businesses instead of large multi-national corporations.  What’s available is seasonal and always terribly fresh and usually the person who’s grown it or made it is also the person selling it to you.  And as much as possible, we’re trying to walk the organic path.

Busy, busy

Busy, busy

 

So many products come from coconut!

So many products come from coconut!

 

Fresh produce but this store was not organic

Fresh produce but this store was not organic

 

Raw honey

Raw honey

The Beaches Market in Warriewood isn’t local to me but it’s not too far out of my way.  Because there is so much on offer, I’ll be back.  But next time, I’ll arrive early and I’ll be pushing my trolley.

 

My purchases

My purchases

The Beaches Market:  Pittwater Rugby Park (Rat Park), 1472 Pittwater Road, Warriewood NSW

Open:  Every Friday, 8am – 1pm

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Comments

  1. Charlie, this looks like a wonderful, family-friendly market!

  2. i love markets too. I take my backpack and if I’m going to be there for a while, a chilli-bag in the car to keep things cool. We have a local one, that I tend to arrive at just before it’s finished, after the crowds have gone.

  3. Yip can see why you needed 3 trips back to the car lol. Market looks awesome, where I live in Rotorua, we have the markets but no stalls are organic, miss that – next time I have to move to a better town.

  4. What a lovely market! I miss good, fresh produce of summer… Hehe, I would have needed 3 trips, too! At least! 😉 xo

  5. Looks good, must have been 4 trips back to the car. Don’t you hate it when you forget the trolley!

  6. Lovely market and am jealous of you having such warm weather… How did you carry home all of your market finds? I always stash a couple of foldable bags in my purse for these kinds of grocery emergencies. Great looking market. Have a super weekend and enjoy the mild weather.

  7. Those are very reasonable prices! I’d love a tray of zucchini flowers with a bonus recipe sheet too…that is a vegetable that always intimidates me. It looks like a lovely market and a really nice way to spend a weekend morning.

  8. What a fabulous market, so much for everyone to do and despite not having a trolley, you’ve managed to bring back a fabulous store of food. GG

  9. How fun! I love trips to the farmer’s market…it absolutely makes my day to go!

  10. I can’t wait for farmer’s market season again! It can’t come soon enough. 🙂

  11. I love the look of those coconut products…and others. Nice market and lots of funsies for kids as well. I love all that Oz has to offer at every level.

  12. Wow, that’s such a lovely market. You should have amused our American and Canadian friends by telling everyone how much that haul cost. Since the value of our money is so close, folks would be surprised. 🙂

  13. Looks like its grown since I was last there. I must get back to give it a try. Thanks for the inspiration.
    Carolyn

  14. They look like fun! Love any event with pony rides! 🙂

  15. It looks like a fabulous market Charlie and you couldn’t have picked a better day for it either. Our intentions are to get to the market early too, but somehow it never happens! The sign about Brooklyn Boy Bagels reminded me of an encounter in NYC a few years ago. We were staying at a Kimpton in Chelsea which was somehow attached to a hairdressing salon from the lobby. We were just waiting in the lobby for someone when this woman comes in from the street carrying a brown paper bag filled with bagels. She sees us and says, “Come with me, you are going to taste the BEST bagels in the city” and then she asks “Have you ever had a Brooklyn Bagel?” So we went with her because we had never had a Brooklyn Bagel and we stood munching on her bagels chatting about NYC until it was time to open her shop. She recommended a great Peruvian Restaurant which we tried later for lunch. JT came away from that Bagel encounter scratching our heads wondering if it really happened, it was just so out of the ordinary! I didn’t reveal that I thought Montreal Bagels were superior, but they are!

  16. That’s a pretty fun looking market!

  17. I love a good market, especially enjoying seeing those massive, fresh grapes 😀
    Delicious!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

  18. G’day! What a fun filled family day indeed Charlie!
    I LOVE experiencing local markets as there is always something of children of all ages to see, experience or do!
    Cheers! Joanne

  19. I, too, love markets for all the same reasons. This one reminds me of our market in Boulder but the prices at your market look much better! Our markets are so expensive!
    So, I don’t know the exchange rate of Aussie $ and US $, but are those bagels expensive?? They seem expensive even for Aussie dollars! I’m going to have to go look for an exchange calculator!
    You got some great stuff even without a trolley! And btw, what tummy were you sucking in?? You are so thin you should’ve been able to glide through the cars without any problem!

  20. What a brilliant market Charlie!
    Have an awesome week ahead.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  21. What a cool special market! All of the produce at the amrket stalls look really cool, good & ooh so fresj & good quality too, I see!
    Great to have children areas where they can get entertained! 🙂

  22. What a great looking market! The prices do look quite reasonable and it looks like a lovely setting especially on a summer’s day 🙂

  23. This looks like a great market, Charlie. I know I’d be a regular customer, no doubt. Seeing this post has made me even more anxious for Spring to get here. Our markets won’t open until the last weekend of April or first weekend of May. Seems like a long time away …

  24. Just a couple more months up here before it’s high season for farmer’s markets. I can’t wait! This sounds like a particularly good one — thanks.

  25. I love a market like this one, Charlie. We have several close to home, but one, in particular, reminds me of this one. My only problem is that I sometimes get so carried away with all that beautiful produce and I end up purchasing more than we can really eat. As you well know, the organic items need to be eaten quickly! I loved seeing summer seasonals. We aren’t there with corn and zucchini yet! I’m getting eager. 🙂

  26. I love markets too Charlie, and it looks like you found a great new place to shop, I love my ‘granny trolley’ but BigJ refuses to help pull it as its waay embarrasing for him!

  27. I miss markets… got nothing like that here :(. I was always told to avoid going to food markets first thing in the morning. Apparently it’s always best to go a bit later since they’ll put the older produce out front so it sells first. If you rock up 2 hours later then all the front rows of stuff should have been picked clean by people who don’t know any better :D. Not sure if it’s the case everywhere, but it was certainly a good tip for France.

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