Road Trip episode 2

On to Kingaroy, where the first stop was the Kingaroy Community Store. What a find! An eccentric shop run by an eccentric woman.  They had an amazing array of 80s glam evening dresses. It was at this point that we officially decided that one night of our trip would be formal night.  Miriam Vale, we thought.  However, none of us could quite bring ourselves to buy the satin and spangles on offer.

It was here that I was to find my travel outfit for day 2 - a pair of grey shorts and a sleeveless black top. Total outlay $5. The second-hand shop next door was an over-priced disappointment.

There were two more op shops further up the D'Aguilar Highway in town - the Lifeline Superstore and Red Cross - both of them huge.  Despite their size, I found nothing in either.  Jan and Jo fared better.  Lots of sugar bowls were spotted throughout the day, but none with two handles and a lid, although there were some some glass ones.

We quizzed the locals and discovered there were actually another two op shops in town in less obvious locations, so we earmarked them for the morrow, as it was now late in the day.

I have always been interested in how op shops handle clothes for larger women.  Most separate them into 'Size 16 and Over' racks; one we found chose '18 and Over' instead; the Lifeline in Kingaroy excelled itself with an entire section of the shop devoted to 'Plus Size'.  It was like the op shop version of David Jones!

It was now time to find our lodgings for the evening: the Carrollee Hotel.  At $25 per head, it was a bargain, and in sight of the iconic peanut silos that I remember so well from my youth.  Our parents took us on a tour through them in 1961, and I held out my open blazer pockets under a chute to catch little red peanut kernels that lasted me for days.

Our room, which we christened 'The Dorm' was a closed in end of the front verandah, being blasted by afternoon sunlight, and at that point the hottest room in the pub.  The photo above right shows Jo in The Dorm checking our her retro dress from Murgon. We dumped our bags and headed for the bar, where we took the first group shot.

Toasting to another successful day of  shopping tomorrow.