As the Crow Flies

We chose The Nest coffee shop closest to the New Creation op shop, which was supposed to open at 9am, but didn't.  It is also a mini art gallery, and Jo decided she was going to buy a painting.  The car was already chockers, so this presented a bit of a challenge.  We squeezed it in nervously.

Next door to The Nest is Crows Nest Soft Drinks, one of the reasons I put this lovely little town on our agenda. I believe they make the best creaming soda in the world, and it was time to get me some! I also decided to try some of their mandarin flavour and it was rather yummy too.

The op shop was now open so in we went.  There were bargains galore but my best find was a pair of Italian lace-up patent and leopard skin shoes.  They were divine, but were too narrow for me.  I showed them to Jo, and bam! they were sold, with Jo's daughter Anna the lucky recipient.  I think they cost $3. This little shop doesn't have EFTPOS, so it was off to the IGA for cash. They had no local honey.

I asked the woman back at the oppy where I could buy local honey and she pointed me in the direction of the hardware shop at the other end of the main block. I tramped up there to discover that yes, they do sell local honey, but only in bulk so I would need my own bottles.  Where would I find some?  They pointed me in the direction of the op shop I had just left.  So back I went, found two Moccona bottles for sale, back to the hardware shop, and finally I had some honey.

We then decided to explore the lovely little town square, where the wisteria vines were either just starting to flower or just finishing.  There you can see the real Crow's nest, a hollow tree in which an aboriginal man known as Jimmy Crow used to live.

Then guess what we found? A beautiful digger war memorial.  Near my home, at Westfield, is the Corporal John French VC memorial bridge.  Why it is at Chermside, I have no idea, as Jack French was a Crows Nest boy, and the first from that town to enlist in the Second World War.  He was killed at Milne Bay.  Anyway, this is his local war memorial so I was rather chuffed to have found him.

Our final stop was the  butcher to buy some local smallgoods which smelled delicious.  As we drove off, we spotted the town's elusive second (Nazarene) op shop which appears to be tiny.  We didn't have the energy to drive around the block and find another park so we kept going.  As we drove out of Crows Nest, we passed the caravan park which previously had been run by our lovely hosts at the Nobby pub, before they took over earlier this year.