A Fiery Start

I headed off on Op Shop Road Trip No 3 by leaving home on Sunday afternoon and heading for Jan's home at Carters Ridge (look it up).  Of the three routes I could have taken, it turned out I picked the only road that wasn't blocked.  At Jan's the sky was buzzing with helicopters, because a controlled burn on their neighbour's property was no longer under control.    One chopper landed at the top of their hill, where the fire had burned up to the boundary fence.  We heard later that one of the fire trucks was lost when it rolled down a hill, presumably because the handbrake was off.

Anyway, all was clear the next morning when we loaded up the car.  On the first trip, we took Jo's sedan; on the second trip my Forester station wagon, and now Jan's Ford Ranger. Will we need a truck next year? 

We collected Jo at Imbil and headed to Gympie.  First stop was the excellent Vinnies at Gympie (where I bought my first items of clothing for the trip), then Endeavour, followed by the Little Shop of Hope, which we immediately renamed the Little Shop of Horrors.  The woman in charge of this very crowded, disorganised little charity shop walked out as we walked in, leaving it in the hands of a man who didn't have a clue.  When Jan wanted to buy something, he panicked, ran next door, where they were unable to leave to help him, then roamed down the street calling 'Chris! Chris!'  

Eventually Jan left him an amount of money that she assured him was correct and then we fled.  It was time for morning tea, so we patronised the wonderful Farmer and Sun coffee shop/produce market at Southside, which I definitely recommend.