Australian Hobby Shops.

[Peterm]

I went to Austral Modelcraft and was impressed not only with the range and variety of their stock, but also their willingness to chat and give some insight into their own experiences.

Which is why you often can't get in the door for all the old men lounging around the checkout counter

Yep, and I was probably one of them. Ray and Eileen are always ready to pass the time of day and do have a good amount of stock for us expats.

[AustralisRico]

A 'new' hobby shop I found recently is Australian Modeller, it's specifically trains and supplies only Australian stuff (which can be harder to find at other places).

https://www.australianmodeller.com.au/

I just bough 4 ESU lokpilot decoders from them for $35 each, seemed to be the only place that had much stock even hattons didn't have this.

There is also Alco world and Casula hobbies. I wouldn't go near Bergs hobbies as his prices are usually more expensive than even Hobbyco in the city.

[Jaydee]

Hi I am just starting my 1st layout and have found similar problems getting gear down here in Mornington the closest shop to me is in Frankston, Sade's hobbies and they have a lot of out of stock items, I thought they may be clearing the shelves for stock take at this time of the year. The train shop in Brighton has a lot of items but no online store yet they say they are working on it. I have found an online store in Tasmania, The Little Train Shop it is called, I have had a couple of orders from them with no hassles, very quick 4 day delivery and they deliver AU wide. They notify you if a out of stock item arrives and have a good range of everything.