Never thought I’d say this, but I am actually a little bit excited about a fast food chain… We have just done a whirlwind round trip to Byron Bay from our home in the middle of nowhere. I’m talking about a return trip of over 2500kms in 3 days. Yep, we’re a little bit crazy, but with good cause (other then the mandatory dose of ocean, salt, sand and all things lovely and hippy at Byron) as we were collecting my beloved husband’s latest toy – a gyrocopter (another story, another time :-)). But I digress… So why am I excited? Well, dear reader, I have FINALLY (yes it deserves capitals!) found the answer to eating real food on the hop when travelling on the road.
Now it may not be such breaking news to you all, but because we live in the middle of nowhere, we have just discovered the magic that is Oliver’s Real Food. Straight up I have to say I am not being paid or bribed to mention this franchise chain. I just happened to discover them on our road trip at just the right time i.e.: when I was at the end of my tether with society’s take on ‘service centres’.
Ok let’s back track a little to set the scene…
Knowing full well we were in for a hell trip, I did some serious preparations and packed an esky full of nibbles, breakfasts, treats and all things sure to help tide us over for the drive time. But of course there are always delays and unexpected events that turn a trip into something far more than originally planned and as a consequence, we were hunting for lunch and dinner on our trip home with little success other than the prolific viral fast food chains with toxic plastic food. Harsh I know, but when you’ve continually found nothing remotely resembling real food for almost an entire day, things start to get a little heated and the werewolf within me does emerge (though not from additives, just plain hunger for some crunchy whole fresh food).
After countless rants brought on by hunger and frustration about the degradation of society and it’s service centres on highways, my beloved discovered a shining beacon to save the day – let’s call it hunting and gathering at it’s finest… Hunted – or by pure chance ‘spotted’ – by my husband, I was sent off to ‘gather’ some dinner supplies at Oliver’s Real Food outlet at a service centre on the highway north of Sydney. Oh what a glorious discovery!
Needless to say, our day (and sanity) was saved. No need to deal with the kids detoxing from additives and crap food for weeks, no need to fruitlessly search for something other than yoghurt, cheese, old fruit and questionable health food bars in the service station checkout line. Instead, we had delicious real food. Organic, gluten free, fresh food with clean simple flavours. Hoorah!
The best bit? Their fabulous pearl of marketing wisdom ‘add on’ “Do you want beans with that?” I had found my crunchy, fresh whole food hit in the form of fresh steamed green beans with a sprinkle of himalayan pink salt. Ahhhh… the world is right again and all things are balanced and calm. *cue big sigh of relief!* Amidst groans of food pleasure from the car inhabitants, the kids – little and big ones – were fed and more importantly, somewhat nourished! 🙂
I can safely say there are too many nice foods at Oliver’s to mention. I did check labels and online ingredients listings to be sure there were no preservatives or other nasty additives and they truly do serve what they say! Yay!! There’s variety and something for all meals of the day. Check out their menu here and try not to drool… and this is just the brekky menu! (Click on their menu tab at the top of their page for more meals).
Here’s hoping this fantastic reemergence of real food made easy and accessible continues to grow and become the natural antibiotic for the fast food pandemic that is sweeping our highways service centres. Bring it on I say!
So dear reader, if you find yourself searching for something to fill hungry tummies when road tripping next time, keep an eye out for this new chain of fast food options at service centres. It will save you a few weeks of ‘after trip’ werewolf-like behaviours! Here’s a link to find an Oliver’s when you’re next travelling. Now if only I’d thought of that awesome idea before Oliver… 🙂
Happy travels!
Loren x
