Eli Richards was down to his last roll of toilet paper Sunday morning so he arrived at his local Coles in Taylors Hill, Melbourne, at 5.50am, ten minutes before it opened.
He was shocked to find he wasn't alone.
"There were a good 150 people there. The queue up was quite extreme," Mr Richards told news.com.au.
Mr Richards said that around 100 people were in front of him in the queue, which meant they would have arrived around at 5am to get the prime spots.
"I couldn't believe it when I got there," Richards said.
5.55 in the morning at Taylors Hill, Melbourne. Photo / Twitter
Queues at Aldi this morning for toilet paper. Photo / Twitter
"It was insane."
All week, Australians have been panic buying toilet paper of all things, despite experts warning them that it is an "ill conceived" way to protect themselves from the coronavirus.
Today, Coles announced new limitations on toilet paper purchases, which Richards experienced first hand.
"When the doors at six on the dot opened they (staff) made it quite clear: only one pack per customer," he said.
"The only reason I went is because toilet paper is an essential item. For days and days and days we haven't been able to get it.
"There's a difference between needing it and stockpiling it. I didn't go to stockpile it. I just really needed it. Otherwise I don't know what we would have done."
Mr Richards dubbed his early morning shopping a "reconnaissance mission to get toilet paper".
"All this hysteria has really gotten out of control," he added.
Fiona Leung and Cyrus San stock up on Toilet paper. Photo / News Corp Australia