The Great Op Shop Road Trip 2 - Smokin!

This year it was my turn to plan the road trip, and as last year Jo had headed mostly north, I decided this time to head mostly south. But first, westward ho!
Jan and Jo had to come down from the Sunshine Coast first and were held up in an unexpected traffic bog north of Carseldine; so after a restorative cuppa we eventually left Wavell Heights at about 10.30, bound for the Lockyer Valley.
The Legacy Way Tunnel (worked on by Jan's son Tim), improved our time somewhat, and we made it to Gatton in good time, noticing bushfires both to the north and south-east of Toowoomba

There are supposedly four op shops in the main street of Gatton, but the ADRA one had obviously gone to Op Shop Heaven before we arrived.
Vinnies was first up, and a nice bright shop it was.  I found three items of clothing there, one the shoes I was looking for, for my costume for the 4WD club Christmas party.
Two shops up, the Red Cross had an interesting mirror, but nothing for me.  I would encounter another identical mirror a few towns further on. We asked where was the best place for lunch and Cafe Thirty-Three was recommended. I didn't think it was possible to put as much chicken on a chicken sandwich as they did!  

Then over the road past a nice young busker having fun with 'Ring of Fire' to the Salvos, where most of the clothes were priced at $3.80. Inspired by Daiso, I wondered? But no. There had been a move to increase prices from $3 to $4 but some thought this would frighten off the customers, so a compromise was reached.  Now the shop has a dire shortage of 20 cent pieces. The perils of pricing by committee.

Our next stop was Backyard Basement at Withcott which I discovered on my last trip to Toowoomba.  It lurks behind another business on your left as you head west and is easy to miss.

There was nothing in the clothes department for me, but I found the Best Wedding Dress of the entire trip there.  The hat was the pièce de résistance.

I was intrigued that they hang their pants and shorts sideways, with the hanger holding the side seam; not sure why this is any better than the traditional way.

One of my main aims on this trip was to complete my Colleen McCullough Masters of Rome book series. So far I had only managed to find books two and three (at Endeavour Capalaba).  Here I found book one for $3. I was also looking for Val McDermid's Tony Hill books that I hadn't read, but no luck yet.

We were concerned that time was passing, so headed up the range to Toowoomba, abandoned our original route and made a beeline for the Lifeline Emporium in the middle of town (next to The Spotted Cow).  What a great store (a sign on the door says it has been nominated as 'Australia's Best Op Shop').  Not only did I find clothes, but upstairs is the best book section I have ever encountered in any op shop. It is like a library.  All the books are divided into carefully marked sections and all are in alphabetical order.  My purchases there came to $25.50, including two more Colleen McCulloughs and the three Val McDermids I wanted.
There is also a vary large vintage section, if that is your thing. Jan found a hat that could have been made for her personally.  I think she was tempted to sleep in it. 

We still had the long drive to Warwick ahead of us, so decided that all the other op shops in Toowoomba would have to wait for another year.  We went for a stroll through the flowers in Queens Park, which were still looking beautiful two weeks after the Carnival of Flowers. As we drove south, the smoke became thicker and thicker, and we heard on the news that a watch-and-act alert had been issued for the fire to the west of us.  The atmosphere was quite eerie.  We had a quick sticky-beak at Allora and arrived, tired but satisfied, in Warwick, where the next adventure awaited...