Life's fleeting on the edge of a busy road - especially at Christmas time.
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Opportunistic parrots swooping on spilt grain, kangaroos grazing at night and a sun-baking snake survive on split-second decisions.
The Christmas rush is dangerous for motorists, too, and yet these are boom times for hawkers.
Freshly picked cherries, oysters pulled from the river and eggs not yet a day old are laid out for Canberra motorists.
Fruit sellers Paul and Kerrie Neilson had to move quickly from their roadside shop and orchard at Cowra when Mrs Neilson's skin began absorbing grain dust from the wheat harvest.
''They ran headers along a fence in front of the shop and the westerly winds would carry dust straight in on us,'' Mr Neilson said, in between serving Canberrans.
''She was absorbing dust into the pores of her skin and eventually her body rejected her own skin, she was on anti-rejection, heavy-duty drugs, the same as if she had a heart or kidney transplant.'' The Neilsons moved to the coast. He went fencing, but was drawn back to the edge of the road, selling cherries.
''We found when Queenslanders came down past our shop they couldn't believe it, cherries were $28 a kilo or whatever where they came from and all of a sudden we had them for $6.
''If I took cherries north we couldn't fail but go well. Often I had a coolroom chock-a-block full of cherries.''
They have sold their orchard's produce, mixed with fruit from the Sydney markets, at the Tamworth country music festival, Parkes, Port Macquarie, Kempsey, Coffs Harbour and Bermagui.
Mr Neilson said cherries were king of the roadside stalls, followed by mangoes. Being served 30 seconds after stopping was better than queuing in a supermarket.
But he has a cautionary tale, of a young driver on a freshly gravelled strip at Cowra taking his eye off the road and rolling his car 11 times.
When NSW rules for selling along
highways tightened, the Neilsons moved their permanent home to Canberra, taking out a hawker licence.
Canberrans support hawkers selling fruit, flowers, firewood, eggs, manure, oysters and ornaments.
Second-generation oyster farmer Rod Terry said shoppers liked a hands-on approach, which had led to the proliferation of farmers' markets, while producers could cut out the supermarket operators.
His son Col is in Canberra most days with oysters taken the day before from five leases which cover five hectares on the Clyde River near Batemans Bay.
Intent on educating people to buy oysters unopened, and experience the taste of a Sydney rock oyster, the Terrys are confident their produce is better than bigger Pacific oysters.
Nick Weber and his partner Anne McGrath rely on people's honesty when they leave up to 20 dozen eggs from their free-range chooks in a basket on Majura Road.
''I think we have a loyal and devoted following,'' Mr Weber said. ''People bring back the empty cartons and I get little notes left in the cash box.
''The eggs are $6 [a dozen]. So people don't always have change. They say 'I only had a $10 note, I'm only going to pay $2 next week.'''
Christmas cakes and pavlovas raise demand for eggs, putting farmers and birds under pressure.
Chook poo in 30-litre bags is another sure-fire seller for the enterprising farmers, who sell on their land, and don't need a hawkers' licence.