I absolutely adore this produce store. It really is like a little bit of the country in the city. Set on a massive area of land, the exterior of the buildings are constructed to reflect an old country town. Inside the produce store there is everything you could possibly need, from animal feed to chook pens. Outside is an absolute delight as there's a mini farmyard nursery. Mother hens and their chicks wander around the parking lot between cars, and penned away are chooks, sheep, goats and other animals. It's a truly amazing place.

I buy my point of lay hens at Capalaba Produce and all have been in perfect health. You need to ring ahead to see what point of lays they have in stock as this varies from time to time. Depending on the day you can buy white Leghorns, black Australorps and Rhode Island red crosses. The Australorps are large hens which are wonderful layers and the Rhode Island red crosses are beautiful.

I recently bought a Janome Overlocker from Janome Everton Park and was exceptionally pleased with their service. As I live on Russell Island it is difficult and often very expensive to have goods transported to your door. After shopping around for the best value, I ordered my overlocker on-line from Janome Everton Park and had it delivered to my door the very next day. The postage cost of $19.00 was very reasonable and saved me a return ferry trip and long drive to their store. I can't recommend Janome Everton Park highly enough.

Approximate cost: $320.00

Macleay Island Pharmacy is conveniently located next to one of the island's two supermarkets and a short walk from both the doctor's surgery and the ferry. The store is surprisingly large for an island being twice the size or more of Russell Island Pharmacy. The staff are friendly and efficient and together with traditional pharmacy items, there is also a good range of gifts. If it was not for the pharmacy, island residents would need to take a ferry trip to have their scripts filled.

I'm a very happy customer of Face Value Dental's Macleay Island surgery. Being a resident of Russell Island, the availability of a dentist's surgery only a 10 minute ferry ride away is fantastic. As a Medicare funded patient who has needed, and continues to need, a great deal of dental treatment, the service provided by the Macleay Island clinic is exceptional. My dentist, Dr Kristine Bettle, is incredibly professional and understanding of my needs. I have had teeth extracted in the past, however without a doubt Kristine's extraction of one of my teeth recently was the quickest and most painless of all. A comprehensive dental plan was drawn up after my first visit, the first time a dentist has ever done one for me. With the closing of the Chronic Diseases Dental Health Scheme on 1 December 2012, the team at Face Value are doing their utmost to ensure that my dental plan is complete by then. I couldn't recommend Face Value Dental more highly.

One thing that all of us need from time to time are the services of a chemist shop. This is even more important when you live on an island and would otherwise need to travel by ferry to the mainland to have a prescription filled. Russell Island Pharmacy is an integral part of our island community and well serves the needs of residents. Although the shop is only very small, and could well do with being at least doubled in size, it manages to provide most of the products you need. If your medication is not generic or unusual it may not be stocked, however the Pharmacist, Don, can order it for the following day. Once you are aware of this, and are able to pre-plan your script requirements, this isn't a problem. Although you often need to wait for your scripts, the staff are always friendly an attentive to your needs. The Pharmacy also acts as a sub-agency for the Bendigo Bank, which is very useful for a community without a bank.

One of the delights of living on an island, accessible only by ferry, is the complete absence of fast food chains such as McDonalds, KFC etc. The constant cries of children wanting take-away are a thing of the past, as is the expanding waistline! Notwithstanding, there are often occasions when you just want a special treat, or need lunch on the run. It's here that Russell Island Bakery fills a very important gap.

Russell Island Bakery boasts a wonderful variety of pies. One of my children loves the curry pies, whilst the other the cheese and bacon. I opt for the simple fair of a sausage roll. They also offer a good range of cakes and pastries, and after 4 p.m. metamorphose into a pizzeria. Whilst the pizza menu isn't huge, the food is well made and tasty. The kids always enjoy the very occasional reprieve from my cooking when they have a take-away pizza treat :)

Pure Profile is undoubtedly the best paid on-line survey site in Australia. To undertake the most surveys it is important to log in on a daily basis as they rarely send survey invitations. The fact that you are paid 10c or 20c even if you are screened out really provides an incentive to participate. Payment for surveys completed is very fair and far superior to sites such as Toluna which pay a pittance. With regular daily visits you'll find that you reach the $25.00 redemption level in no time. That the money's paid directly into your bank account is an added bonus. Although gift cards to large chain stores, as provided by other survey sites, are a good incentive, they just don't compare to cash.

From time to time you can be offered the opportunity to test a new product. As a smoker of roll your own cigarettes, I was once provided a 25 g sample pack of tobacco for $1.00 and subsequently paid $8.00 to review it.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the only downside to Pure Profile is that you can only redeem $50.00 every 60 days. I always find myself exceeding this limit. Notwithstanding, $300.00 per year from this site is a nice little side earner for very little work and the opportunity to participate in product development and testing.

Once you visit Patton's Big Gun Butchery you'll never bother buying your meat from the major supermarkets again. Prices are exceptionally good, as is the quality of the meat. You can subscribe to a weekly email which outlines the specials available that week. It's not unusual to find pasture feed rump, sold in bulk form, for as little as $5.99 per kg. Unlike bulk rump often sold in supermarkets, the rump at Patton's is very lean and you're not faced with wasting several kgs of fat that needs to be cut away. Together with sides of lamb and veal, Patton's also has an extensive range of chicken products. The chicken schnitzels are divine. On a couple of occasions I've picked up a 12kg box of chicken marylands for $25.00. It feed our family for weeks!

Patton's also has a good supply of cheese and other dairy products. Ski yogurt tubs are often available for $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00. 250 g packs of shredded pizza cheese start from as low as $2.00, and 500 g block cheese from $4.00.

Also available are large bags of dog bones for $2.00 each and 3 loaves of Buttercup bread for $3.50 - an absolute bargain!

You will not be disappointed by Patton's Big Gun Butchery.

Approximate cost: $30.00

Trads liquidation is a treasure trove for every sewist. Whilst you won't find the range of fabrics and sewing accessories available at Spotlight or Lindcraft, the bargains are phenomenal. There's always a great selection of fabric for $2.50, $3.00, $3.50 and $4.00 per metre. They have an extensive range of thread at unbeatable prices. 1000 metre spools of Beutron thread sell for $1.00 each in a multiplicity of colours. Beutron overlooker spools, again in innumerable colours, start from as low as $2.00 for 5000 metres. You can't match this value anywhere, even if you buy from overseas via eBay. Also sold are other essential sewing items such as zippers at the bargain price of $0.75c for a 35cm one.

So good is the shop that I regularly travel from Russell Island to Trads, by-passing both a Spotlight and a Lindcraft store. Trads is a small local business that you won't be disappointed by.

Canaipa Nursery is integral business on Russell Island. Not only are standard nursery products stocked such as trees, shrubs, herbs and vegetables, but also feed for poultry and guinea pigs. I purchase a 20 kg bag of Darling Downs Layer for my chooks on a fortnightly basis which saves carting it over from the mainland. Butch even puts it into the boot of my car! There are always a wide variety of silky chickens and guinea pigs for sale, together with all the fencing requirements needed for pen construction. I've even found that the cost of some items, such as star pickets, are cheaper than Bunnings on the mainland. You can't ask for better service than that!