You know what's funny about Gerringong? I was just telling Siobhan the other day about this rugby thing from years back. My 10A's coach, Mr Jockel, somehow knew Mick Cronin who was playing for Parramatta at the time. Proper rugby league, not our amateur school stuff. Anyway, Jockel convinced Mick to come down to Gerringong with us for a day and teach us how to tackle. Like, really tackle. Not the half-hearted shoulder bumps we'd been doing.

The whole team piled into a bus and headed down through the Royal National Park, past Stanwell Tops, through Wollongong and eventually rolled into Gerringong. Mick had us on the grass near the beach for hours. Shoulder position, footwork, driving through contact. By the end of it we were absolutely knackered but something clicked. That team didn't lose a single game that year. Other Sydney schools were actually scared of playing us the following season too.

But Gerringong itself, that's what stuck with me. That headland, Werri Beach stretching north, the way the town just sits there between Kiama and Berry, unpretentious. These days when someone rings up wanting flowers delivered to Gerringong, that whole day comes back. Weird how memory works.

Getting Flowers to Gerringong Without the Drama

Here' is something you should know about our Gerringong flower deliveries. We don't have a warehouse down there, nope, we don't have a van doing loops around the South Coast. Back when we had the shop in Kingscliff in 2006, we'd get these calls constantly. "Can you get flowers to Gerringong?" "What about Gerroa?" "Do you deliver to Werri Beach?"

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For ages we just said no, sorry, can't help, somehwhat perplexed as to why someone in Kingscliff would want to send flowers to someone in Gerringong. Then one quiet afternoon, after turning away the twentieth call that week for somewhere outside our area, we thought, hang on. What if we found a proper florist down that way who could help us out? Not some corporate arrangement with contracts and lawyers, just a simple deal. We send them the orders, they make beautiful flowers, everyone's happy.

We started with a florist in Kiama actually, then found others around the area. The model was simple and it still is. Order comes in before 2PM on a weekday, goes straight to our partner florist nearest to Gerringong, they make it fresh that day with whatever's best in their shop, then deliver it themselves or use their trusted courier. It's not rocket science but it works.

The South Coast thing makes sense when you think about it. Half of Sydney seems to have a weekender down that way. Every Friday arvo the Princes Highway turns into a car park heading south. People want to send flowers to their mates' beach houses, or their mum who's retired down there, or for birthdays when they can't make the drive themselves.

What People Actually Say

Anna's been our bookkeeper for years now, ex-florist herself, started with us 15 years ago back in the Pottsville home office days. She keeps reminding me about the Gerringong orders when I'm doing the books - they're steady, always have been. The team in Armidale takes those calls now, mostly from Sydney people who can't make the drive down.

The Feefo reviews tell the story better than I can - over 22,000 of them now. We can't fake them, can't delete the ordinary ones. Sometimes people mention the flowers were pinker than expected, or the delivery driver couldn't find the house first go. Fair enough.

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That's the reality of flowers. What I see as burgundy, you might call purple. What the florist has fresh on Tuesday might be different from Thursday. We got this Trusted Service Award from Feefo this year, which basically means enough real customers thought we did alright despite the odd hiccup. In the flower game where everyone sees something different in the same bouquet, we'll take it.

The calls for Gerringong are usually pretty straightforward. Birthday flowers to someone's beach house, get well flowers, anniversary roses to one of those retirement villages up on the headland. Our partner florists down that way know the drill. They've been doing this for years, they know every street, every landmark.

The Reality of Running This Thing

Look, we're not perfect. Sometimes the florist in Gerringong might be flat out and the order goes to Berry or Kiama instead. They still deliver to Gerringong, just means it comes from a different shop. Mother's Day is absolute chaos, Valentine's Day too. Every florist from Nowra to Wollongong is running around like headless chooks.

The business decisions for all this happen at our dinner table, literally. Siobhan might be sorting out marketing stuff while driving Asha to netball. I'm probably answering emails while waiting for Ivy at school pickup. We don't have board meetings or strategic planning sessions. Yesterday we decided to add new bouquets to the website while having coffee at Salt Mill in Casuarina.

That's the difference between us and the big corporate flower companies. When something goes wrong, it's me or Siobhan on the phone sorting it out, not some call centre in Manila. When the partner florist in Gerringong says they're struggling with rose supply, we work it out together, maybe suggest gerberas instead.

Actually Getting Your Flowers to Gerringong

Right, the practical stuff. Same day delivery if you order before 2PM Monday to Friday. Saturdays we can usually do but give us a call on 1300 360 469 to check. Flowers start from $54.95 and go up from there depending on what you're after. Want to add chocolates or a teddy? No worries, the florist can sort that.

The website's pretty straightforward but if you'd rather talk to a person, call us. Rebecca might answer, or one of the team in Armidale. They're all Australian, all know their flowers, and they'll tell you straight if something won't work.

One thing about Gerringong deliveries, if it's for one of those houses up on the headland with the insane ocean views, make sure you give us proper directions. "The blue house near the cemetery" doesn't really cut it when the delivery driver's trying to find the place. Though I'll admit, that cemetery has probably the best view of any cemetery in Australia. Weird thing to notice but there you go.

Give us a bell if you need flowers to Gerringong. Whether it's for someone in the main street, down near Werri Beach, or up on Belinda Street with those million dollar views, we'll get them there. Been doing this for 17 years now, started in that little shop in Kingscliff, and somehow ended up delivering flowers all over Australia. Still feels a bit surreal when I think about it, but here we are.