The Reckoning

This was the first time that John had been our judge. Jan won the original Quirky Book competition and I won the first Quirky Object one.  This year, we had both categories.  The books were judged first, and this time, our judge ventured inside the covers as well as outside.  He rejected my Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for its lack of pictures, and didn't really inspect Why You Can Go Out Dressed Like That due to his lack of interest in fashion. He has no idea what he missed.  My daughter-in-law has already borrowed it.

The eventual winner was Jo's Creepiosity, which is truly wonderful and includes such things in its list of things that are creepy as  "Lucille Ball in colour".  I can't argue with that.  The clincher for John was "Guys who look like Santa Claus but aren't the actual Santa Claus" because the photo looked like my MIchael.  How could I argue with his logic?  So that was a win to Jo, her very first. 

The three entries in the Quirky Object category were my toilet paper,  Jan's metal dinosaur, and Jo's Prince Charming.  I'm in with a good chance here, I thought.  But wait!  John rejected my loo wipes because they were made in China!  Surely it must be the VERY quirky dinosaur, But no, he went for Prince Charming; a surprising choice.    So Jo won the double.  What will we do next year? 

I stayed at Carters Ridge that night and drove sedately south in the morning.  As I still hadn't found that egg beater, I drove via Nambour and dropped in briefly to the big Neighbour's Aid there.  No beater, but I found two treasures: a classic Viewmaster and a collectors edition of America's Cup placemats and coasters. Did I mention that i was looking for placemats?  Op shops used to be full of them, but now they are a rare breed.

My final haul: 8 tops, 4 skirts, 2 shorts, 3 jeans/long pants, 5 pairs earrings, a bra, reading glasses, watch (non-functioning accessory), underpants, 2 hats, 2 Santa hats, shower cap, 8 cakes soap, hand beater, a bamboo bathroom stuff holder that sticks to the wall with suction cups, small paua shell frame, a glass, Halloween spider webbing, packet of envelopes, travel Monopoly, 3 jigsaws, 2 postcards, 4 books, an egg cup, super hero toilet paper, 1 dozen eggs, and 2 bottles of honey. For my granddaughter: 5 wooden puzzles, a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, a bag of bath toys, and 3 books. Total outlay: $131.  This does not include Dave the Dung Beetle, the children's book written by a Biloela woman, that I bought new in the cafe in Gayndah; nor the goodies from Nambour, because by then the trip was over.  I think my favourite pickup was the $2 reading glasses from Vinnies at Maryborough.

Accommodation, fuel and some of the food cost us each $232.

What did I learn this year?  Jo always maintains that every op shop has knitting needles and I can't argue with that. Now I believe they each have at least one whisk.  I also learnt that no matter how many bras you bring or buy, if you have a rib injury, they are all uncomfortable.  And accommodation with we top bunks is now out of the question forever.

Jan's favourite buy was a black and white cow egg timer, from she-can't-remember-where. And here endeth Op Shop Road Trip Number Seven. 

The Last Day

Our first stop for the day was to be Monto but I wanted to find a geocache first.  The first one I chose turned out to be on the wrong road, but there was a likely candidate near a rest area in Coominglah State Forest.  I left the girls at the car and went bush.  The cache turned out to be near the highway cutting nearby.  I had just found it when I spotted a reason for us not to rush back onto the road to drive down the range.  Meanwhile the girls were panicking because they had lost sight of me.  By the time we found each other enough time had passed for the roller to get a bit ahead of us.

Vinnies at Monto and the coffee shop nearby were both familiar territory from a previous trip, but there were a lot more people about.  We finally spotted the town's free camp through the shrubbery and it was full of vans.  Since we were there last, the silos at Three Moons just south of town had been painted beautifully.  Sadly, the Mulgildie pub was closed and for sale.

Mundubbera was next, where once we were entertained by the cheerful ladies at the Anglican oppy, but were unable to visit the Uniting Church one, as it doesn't open every day. Jo had timed the trip so that this time it was open, and it is a beauty. The handbag collection has been turned into decor, strung up across the room.  Once Jan had revealed that she works at the Cooroy Lifeline, she and one of the women talked shop for quite a while.  Example: For how many years do you hold stock? Jan: Six weeks!  We found various goodies and were surprised to find that they sell eggs.  Jan and and I bought the last two dozen and discovered that each one contained one green egg. I had never seen one before.  I was relieved to discover that they are not green on the inside.  When we were back home, I ate mine with ham, of course.  Jan's new best friend was happy to take our daily photo, the day's theme being Skirting the Issue.

We headed for the Anglican next but couldn't find it.  I discovered later than it had moved up one block and onto the other side of the road, but by then it was too late. Gayndah was the last oppy stop and we revisted the same two that were there seven years ago, Lifeline and Gunther Village.  The woman in the latter shop explained to me in great detail that she would never allow elephants in any shape or form in the shop with their trunks down, as they are back luck. Trunks up, or not at all!

In the Lifeline, Jo found a treasure.  It is a Brownie Downing wall plaque and these are very collectible kitsch.  It may not look like much, but I found a similar one on sale online for rather a lot.  "How much do you want for this?" says Jo. "Oh...$1".  "I'll give you $2".

We had lunch at the coffee shop that used to be the ANZ Bank, and mine was the best frittata I had ever tasted.  Then it was time to head for home.  Once we reached the turnoff north of Ban Ban Springs, I had travelled the entire length of the Burnett Highway during the space of eleven days, following MIchael's and my trip to Mount Perry on the long weekend.

My last river crossing was the Mary (for the fourth time) on the Wide Bay Highway.  The total river count was fifteen: Pine, Caboolture, Maroochy, Mary (4), Burrum, Cherwell, Isis, Elliott, Burnett (3), Kolan, Calliope, Fitzroy (2), Dee (3) and the Don.

We reached Jan's home at Carters Ridge at 5pm, and it was time for her husband John to judge our quirky items.

The Last Pub

The Biloela Hotel has been recently refurbished (nice paint job) and some work is still going on downstairs.  Our host showed us the upstairs common area and said they had decided against putting in a kitchen.  A bad decision in my opinion.  In the last seven years, we have stayed in a number of country pubs and some of them have great kitchen areas, one even providing cereal.  

The common area here has a lounge, a TV (the remote control didn't work), an electric jug, coffee, tea, wooden stirrers and UHT milk, two mugs, a few cups, and that's it.  So how do you fill the jug?  The sink in your room?  Jo's room didn't have a sink (but it had a chair).  My room had a sink 

and a mirror (but no chair); Jan's room had all three.  But the jug won't fit under the tap in the sink.  Off to the Ladies' then.  Jo's room was a long way from the Ladies'.  Or you could fill up the water glass in your room and bring it to the jug; except there were no water glasses in the rooms. With only two mugs available - presumably the others were in people's rooms - I was glad I brought the camping set.  So you make the coffee and leave a ring on the bench. You can't wipe it up because there is no water or Chux available (as there would be, in a kitchen).

Each room did have a fridge, but despite our rooms having been booked in advance, these were not turned on.  I turned mine to a cold setting, as the milk and other coldies had been in the cooler compartment of the picnic backpack all day.  Jo asked if we could have an iron and ironing board, and a brand new one of each appeared quickly.  Maybe no-one had asked for them before, but Jo remains convinced that they raced out and bought them.  We then went down to dinner and forgot about such mundane things as fridges and irons.  The meal came quickly and was quite yummy.

I slept well and it was time for breakfast. My milk, banana and yoghurt were all frozen.  I blamed myself, but Jan's food was all frozen as well, and she had simply turned on her fridge. Maybe the room's previous occupant had had the same idea as me.  I decided I would have a shower while they thawed.  The individual shower was not operational, just the one over the bath.  The bath had permanent stain marks in it, but I can live with that. The toilet, however was gross.  I realise that bore water or dam water can turn the water black, but this loo needed a really decent clean.

As we ate our breakfast we made a decision: it was time to ditch the country pub stay on future op shop road trips.  This was actually the most expensive night of our stay (I realise Billo is a mining town), and the facilities were by far the worst.  We are too old for this nonsense now; no more shared bathrooms.

We entertained ourselves for a while watching the elderly gents from the local services club load up all the empties that were redeemable for cash (their truck had parked us in) and then we were off on the last leg of the journey.

A Bang and a Beer in Billo

I was sad to leave Mount Morgan but Biloela and its new op shop beckoned.  The last time we were there, on the very first trip in 2014, we were astounded that a town of that size had only one op shop, and that was tucked away in a back street, requiring local knowledge. Now there are two, the newie being Loved to Reloved and it only opens on Thursdays and Saturdays.  Jo drove like a champion, past distant fires and open cut mines, and we made it at 2.40.  Next to the Lutheran Church, it, too, is buried in a back street.  We only got lost once.  "Does that sign say it closes at 4?" asked our driver.  It turns out they had extended the opening hours a couple of weeks before. Why weren't we told?!

It had quite a lot of stuff crammed into a small space and cheerful staff.  I found a rather nice dress featuring dragonflies, and needed to try it on. One of the women guided me to a back room with access to the outside, so it was kind of her to lock the door.  It was an interesting multi-purpose room with nowhere to hang clothes except the doorknob and the fridge.  The dress was a success though, and I later wore it to dinner at the pub.

Vinnies had relocated to much larger
premises right on the main road, with seriously impressive signage, and we now had plenty of time to browse.  Jo parked out the front, and later, when she and I were waiting for Jan to finish chatting to the staff, a van parked quite close to the front of our vehicle.  I wasn't surprised, therefore, that Jo backed up quite a way to get out of the parking spot. The sound of her hitting the car behind was more unexpected.  The funny thing was that she had told us earlier in the trip that every prang she had ever had in any of her cars had occurred while she was backing.  I think she needs a reversing camera for Christmas.  Fortunately, there was no damage to the vehicle behind us.

It was time to find the Biloela Hotel, following our tradition of always staying one night in an old-fashioned pub.  We discovered that it backed onto an one-way alleyway, so once we found the right end to enter, we were soon parked next to the bottlo.  Once inside the beer garden, we were greeted by the publican but he was a bit busy, so we dumped our stuff and had a drink.  The decor consists of vertical gardens made from old wooden pallettes, which is both attractive and creative.

While the girls were having a beer, I attempted to recreated the photo of the two of them out the back of the Theebine pub on the last evening of our first trip.

Mount Morgan

Just south of Rocky, we turned onto the very northern end of the Burnett Highway.  What was the first thing we saw? Another train. And the last we would see, but it was a long one.

The next stop was for fuel at Bouldercombe, but not before we noticed that the town sign had a nice strip of gabion wall across the bottom.  As we climbed the range north of Mount Morgan, we could see all the serious road repairs that had been made since the road was cut by rockslides after the heavy rains of 2011.  And yes, there were lovely gabion walls aplenty.

Partway up the range is Stopford Lookout where we stopped for a look out.  We could see Gracemere in the distance.  James Stopford was a miner and engine driver at the local mine who was dismissed by the company for his union activity.  He later became a branch executive for the Labor Party.  I discovered that there was a geocache at the lookout, but even with three of us looking, it proved elusive.

We descended into Mount Morgan and the town sign there matched the one at Bouldercombe, with its very own collection of riprap at the bottom.  I had researched the cafes as we wanted sandwiches for lunch, not greasy stuff, and the lucky winner was Mumma Kath's Kitchen. It is opposite the seriously impressive technical college building.  We had glimpsed the beautiful railway station en route but didn't have time to check it out this time.

The cheery ladies at Mumma Kath's made our sandwiches to order, and while we waited, we discovered that the cafe had a wonderful little reading nook.  We also discovered that Mount Morgan has flies.  This was the only place where we encountered a fly problem.

After we had eaten, we persuaded Mumma Kath to take our daily group photo.  Thursday's clothing theme was A Touch of Country.  This was probably our least successful attempt, but we had fun trying.

There was only a Vinnies in town and things there were dirt cheap. I bought a pair of shell earrings for a dollar. While the others were being entertained by the woman in Vinnies, I popped across the road to check out the newly refurbished streetscape.  There is bougainvillea arbour, a statue of a young man running the cutter, and a ginormous bell. 

Running the cutter is a local tradition whereby local miners would drink beer in buckets ("cutters") at the end of their shifts, and would pay a lad one penny to take these billies to the pub to be refilled for sixpence.  The tradition has been revived at the Annual Golden Mount Festival, where relay teams run the cutter from and to the statue, with each team's anchor being required to down a cutter of beer at the end.

The 1962 plaque at the Mafeking Bell says it was cast in 1900 from pennies donated by local school children to commemorate the Relief of Mafeking during the Boer War.  The troops were led by Lord Baden Powell who later founded the Boy Scout movement.  Another interesting tale for me to tell the girls.  I researched this one back in Brissie as well.  The bell was certainly cast locally in 1900, but the bit about the pennies is apparently a furphy.  Don't believe everything you read on plaques, lesson two.

Baga!

The road north from Emu Park led us through the beachside locations of Kinka, Causeway Lake, Mulambin, Kemp Beach, Rosslyn Bay, Lammermoor, Cooee Bay and finally Yeppoon, all much larger than when I was last there, but still full of happy memories. Like the time I stood on a buried anchor tag on Great Keppel and couldn't walk for a week. 

A highlight was the "house" at Kinka Beach in the shape of a whale.  I thought it must have escaped from Hervey Bay (see "A Whale of a Day" blog post from 2016) but looked it up on the Australia's Big Things list and discovered it is all that remains of Coral Life Marine Park.  It is now used for storage by the house next door, and is described as "possibly the only big thing smaller than the original".  I wasn't the only person photographing it.

The beautiful beaches were beckoning, but we had work to do.  The Salvos op shop location in Yeppoon turned out to be the office, and the second shop on our list had disappeared. We finally struck gold at Vinnies, which is huge and wonderful, even if some things are overpriced, like the beautiful Namco triple saucepan set for which they wanted $50.  I would have bought them for $20.  They are still haunting my dreams weeks later.  I photographed the girls being photobombed by a yellow bin, and then we asked directions to the Salvos.

It turned out to be the shop we liked least on the trip.  The dressing rooms were shut, but the clothes were all $2 to compensate.  They had a staff member at the door assigned to spray your hands and give you COVID instructions, and the inside was rather gloomy.  It just had a bad vibe.  I don't think anyone bought anything.

Jo was being very strict about our timing for the day, because she wanted to visit a new oppy in Biloela that closes at 3pm, so now it was back to Rocky.  On the way, we passed one of those distinctive Capricornia volcanic plugs, Which was so memorable that I couldn't remember its name.  I looked it up: Baga.  That name meant nothing to me, as I was sure I knew it as something else.  The reason for the name change became clear: it used to be Mt Jim Crow!

In Rocky the traffic was heavy and Jan wanted another couple of photos of 31 North Street, so we decided to skip the other oppies there and keep moving.  We managed to get a second look at the new "high road" south of the city, this time from the low side. It must have cost a bomb.  My research tells me they are planning a ring road around Rocky. That will probably cost an even bigger bomb.

 

The King is Dead

The Fitzroy was river number 13 and the drive to Emu Park was emu-free.  When we arrived, the wind was blowing a gale and the Singing Ship was doing just that.  A quick trip to the pub and the supermarket and we were right for the night.  Our temporary home this time was a cabin at Fisherman's Beach Holiday Park, which appeared to be full.  Everyone seems to be out and about doing their bit for Queensland tourism.  The cabin had the world's smallest shower cubicle; when I tried to wash my foot, it pushed the door open.  I also discovered that it is a good idea to pull down the blind if you are using the shower with the connecting door to the bedroom open.  The other thing the cabin had in the second bedroom was bunks.  With our injured ribs, shoulders and knee, none of us could cope with a top bunk, so we stripped it of its bedding and made up the fold-down lounge for Jo to sleep on.

Jan modelled the beautiful brown skirt that she had bought that day, and then did her domestic duties re the dinner roster. The rissoles were delicious.  Another early night meant that I was up at sunrise raring to go.  Unfortunately my walking buddies were still snoring.  I slipped out and headed for the beach.  The birdsong in the thick foliage behind the dunes was probably the best dawn chorus I have ever heard.  I wandered along the wide, empty beach then back through the streets of the town, with the Singing Ship clearly audible, suddenly realising this was my first chance to do a spot of geocaching.

The cache was hidden behind a monument to the colourful Australian politician King O'Malley, next to the town's museum. I found it quickly then wondered what O'Malley had to do with Emu Park. 

The plaque told of his arrival at Port Alma in 1888, suffering from tuberculosis, and his subsequent trip north with two fishermen to a point just south of Emu Park.  He took shelter in a cave and was found by a local aborigine called Coowonga, who fed him and nursed him back to health.  The pair walked to Rockhampton, and then separated. O'Malley then walked all the way to Adelaide, a journey of more than 1400km.  Impressive.  The old railway signs from local stations were mounted on the wall of the museum, and I noted that one of them was named Coowonga.

After I was back in Brissie, I decided to do some further research on Mr O'Malley.  He managed to get himself elected to parliament in both South Australia and Tasmania, before commencing his long stint in Federal politics.  He was famously the last survivor of Edmund Barton's 1901 government, and oversaw the design competition for the city of Canberra.  He is commemorated ironically there by King O'Malley's Irish Pub, the man who had alcohol banned in the ACT!  However, the Emu Park story seems to be completely made up, as a cover for the true reason he left America, namely because he was wanted there for embezzlement.  There are reliable reports of his being in both Sydney and Melbourne in 1888, and the man was well known for being a bullshit artist.  Don't believe everything you read on plaques, folks.

When I returned to the cabin, the girls were awake, so it was breakfast, pack and head for the local oppy, where we arrived on the stroke of 9.00.  It was a well patronised Vinnies. I even managed to find a couple of things to buy.  

We didn't see any real emus in Emu Park (as MIchael and I had done many years ago) before we left, but the town is full of metal ones, all bearing information signs about local history. 
Cute.

Day of the Trains

Gladstone was not a good hunting ground for me on our first trip seven years ago, and the same applied in 2020.  I needed to find a top to complete my outfit for the following day's theme: A Touch of Country.  We tried the Anglican first, as it had closed before we arrived last time.  Very expensive and no joy there.  Next was the big Salvos next door, which is a great shop, but no egg beater for Lesley.  

Jo found a print that she was quite taken with.  The image wasn't anything special as far as i was concerned but it was beautifully framed, right down to matte glass.  The frame alone was probably worth at least $150. The price was $6.  She ummed and ahhed but eventually had to buy it.  This then completely dominated how we could pack the car as the safety of the frame and glass became all-important. 

Vinnies was next but no eggbeater.  I remember buying the handbeater that lives in out camper there last time from their kitchen section, which since then had disappeared. There were a few saucepans out the back, but not much else.  Jan then had a deep and meaningful discussion outside with a young man about the intricacies of laying concrete.

We crossed the road to the shopping centre and bought lunch, but we weren't allowed to sit on the seats to eat it, because of COVID, so ate while we walked.  Jo had promised us a Lifeline on the north side of town but took a wrong turning.   By the time we found our way back to the correct road, we had either missed it, or it had ceased to exist.  The Gladstone-Mount Larcom Road was an eye-opener to me, as I found even more giant industrial complexes out there than the ones I already had seen south of the city.  Looking at my camera and phone reveals not a single photo taken in Gladstone this time.

But then there were the trains.  Seeing trains passing when we are travelling is always very exciting for me, because it is a rarity in the south-east.  We saw a train in the distance after we left Gin Gin and I was very excited.  Now, however, we were in coal country.  We saw so many trains that I lost count.  They were hard to photograph from a moving car, but I did my best.  There was even a track repair vehicle!  No, I am not a train nerd, just an excited observer.

Our next excitement was driving over the new elevated road over the flood plain south of Rocky. None of us had seen this before and it was certainly impressive.  Must have cost a bomb.  Next came the traditional welcome from Rockhampton's bulls. One was entire; the other wasn't.  We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn for the first time on our travels and stopped at South Rocky's giant Vinnies.

Talk about impressive! It even has a bridal section, which I have only ever seen in one oppy before, at Ipswich.  I found the missing top to complete my outfit, the second time I had done that at the last shop of the day, plus a nice hand beater (still not what I was looking for, but too nice to leave behind) and my first entry in the Quirky Book competition.  It was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, with an appropriately gruesome cover.

I then decided I needed to photograph this mightiest of oppies, and over the highway seemed the best spot to stand.  I pressed the button, crossed to the garden bed halfway across, and decided it was perfect for photography. I took my pic and looked for the button to press to take me back from whence I came, but no dice.  They weren't expecting people to stop in the middle.  I guess it is what I am used to in Brissie.  I had to watch the light sequence and the traffic and take my chances. 

Finally we were all opped out and headed for Jan's old home on North Street to see how it was looking.  It was looking mighty fine.  She and John had modified it extensively when they lived in Rocky and pretty much everything was the same except for the front fence and a hedge.  Even John's finial was still on the roof. If the owners were home, they must have been wondering who these mad women were, running up and down the lane photographing their home.

We headed back through the city centre towards the old bridge over the Fitzroy
and what did we encounter? A train!