Bilinga to Burleigh

We arrived at the unit block at Bilinga as night was falling, and so was rain.  My Airbnb instructions said the key was in the letterbox, guarded by a combination padlock. I tried to set the combination, but couldn't see without my glasses. Jo joined in, and set the numbers but they wouldn't work, no matter how subtly she changed their positions. Jan arrived with the torch from her phone.  I had no phone numbers for the hosts, so messaged them...no immediate response.  Eventually, I took over the combination dials and felt them click into place.  Success!

By now we were all quite wet, and were even wetter by the time we had transferred the contents of the car into the unit.  Fortunately, it was on the ground floor.  We could see the lights from the tall buildings twinkling to the north, and thought the morning would reveal a lovely setting for our home for three nights.  Dinner was Lamb Rogan Josh prepared by moi, and then we all collapsed.

We were right.  Bilinga is lovely. No high-rise because of the airport nearby, views to both Surfers and Coolie, and an ultra-wide beach with barely a soul on it. We tested the water and it was freezing, so those togs we bought would not get used on this trip!  Brekky, a relaxing coffee, and we were off to explore Burleigh, dressed in our G-for outfits.  Jan was gaudy top and grey pants, Jo was gold and I wore green. Today we would be tackling just a select few of the oppies at the southern end of the Goldie. No time to do them all.

Our adventure for the morning was to walk around Burleigh Headland, which was recently scarred by fire.  It made the rockfall area even scarier than usual.  The rain the night before made everything smell fresh and lovely, and there were many water dragons out on the tracks.  Just before we reached beautiful Echo Beach, we were informed the track was closed because a film was being shot there. Curses!  We peered through the trees but couldn't spot any Hemsworths.  This meant that the only way forward was upward.  Jo strode ahead, while Jan and I huffed and puffed our way to the first lookout.  It was worth all the effort.  Unfortunately, the geocache I hoped to find nearby eluded us, and a passer-by, so it was second lookout/car/loo time, all in rapid succession.

Our reward was coffee and cakes at Paddock, a coffee shop I had found thanks to Facebook.  It is lovely, and has all sorts of hidden spots if you want to sit away from the crowd.  I introduced Jan to cruffins.  Jo spotted a familiar face as we were leaving, and, sure enough, someone she knew from Imbil was preparing the take-away coffees. I should also report that the decor inside the toilets definitely qualifies as quirky, right down to the little metal hand behind the door that holds your bag.

It was finally time for the first op shop of the day, and I had chosen Animal Welfare, which was accessible only through back streets and one-way systems.  The local streets have alliterative names names in alphabetical order, from Acanthus Avenue, through Ferny Fairway to Hibiscus Haven.  Our destination was in Elder Entrance.  It is a strange, crowded little shop, where no-one - staff or customers - was wearing a mask.  The clothes were cheap, but we saw a second pair of thong bookends in the window, which were in much worse condition than the pair I bought, at three times the price.  There was one particularly memorable customer with a very loud, irritating, voice.  As the vibe was not good, we didn't stay long.

More backstreet navigation then led us to a paid parking spot in the middle of the bustling Burleigh shops.  We did another hill climb to the Anglican shop, and then a downhill run to a very crowded Vinnies.  Surprisingly, the prices were good.  I acquired a rather nice caftan for the day three theme.  The dressing rooms here are strange, with tiled walls like a bathroom and security-gate doors. 

Back to the car, and the next destination was the Church of Christ shop, just off West Burleigh Road.  Now that's an op shop!  Lovely staff, heaps of stock, cheap prices, and lots of goodies found.  One of the chatty volunteers there was quite happy to take our first group photo.

Meadowbrook to Oxenford

We headed east into the wilds of Logan, ignoring the Sallies at Berrinba and Vinnies at Meadowbrook because of time constraints. My destination was the Authentic Church oppie at Meadowbrook, where we had to negotiate a sea of witches hats; turns out it is a Covid-19 testing centre.

The girls looked less than impressed but I had been here before and knew that appearances can be deceptive.  There are actually three separate sections, all loaded with cheap goodies.  I found a whimsical teapot here, but bravely resisted buying it, because I do not need it and have nowhere to put it.  I have since been chided on Facebook for leaving it there.

We then hit the M1 for the first time, exiting near Dreamworld for the Uniting Church oppie, which was called Living Rivers when Michael and I did the recce.  Another good one packed with stuff, where free bread was on offer. This meant one less thing to buy before nightfall. My excellent pick-up here was the banana earrings, which cost me $2.  

By now, the rain, which had been threatening since we left Grand Plaza, started to fall and we all acquired a rainwater rinse en route back to the car. Oxenford was the next stop, because there are four op shops there.

We skipped the Salvos, saving it for later if we had time, and started at the Anglican.  This is quite good, if a little expensive, and is well-hidden in the middle of Oxenford Square, a complex whose best days are behind it.  

I can't remember which shop it was, but I had a golden moment when Jo said "Can you keep a lookout for any books by John Bourne?" to which I replied "Like this one", because there was one right in front of my nose. It was the only John Bourne book found all trip.

The Community Op Shop is on the outside of the same centre, and it was the most disorganised shop of the whole outing.  Stuff piled everywhere, and clothing so tightly packed on the rack, it is hard to look at anything..  Some of the books are quite expensive, but the $10 rack of designer clothes was half price and Jo picked up two treasures there.  She found a pink-and-white Carla Zampatti top and a silvery grey Sandra Soulos top, both of which should have excellent resale potential.

By now, the sky was black and the thunder was rumbling ominously.  The proprietor of the shop took pity on us, and showed us an awning in front of a shop which had closed up for the day, where I could park the car in case of hail.  I went for a walk in the rain and did just that.  When no hail eventuated, we drove to the nearby Lifeline, and I parked next to a gutter with some water in it.  This shouldn't be a problem, I thought

This Lifeline was wonderful.  It's a bit of a TARDIS, because it looks really little from outside, but isn't.  I found a jug/vase as soon as we walked in, and tried to talk myself out of buying it.  I didn't need it, but just loved it.  I looked it up online, and it was from a Danish range called Just by Rikki Tikki, so I figured it was my Danish blood that was telling me to buy it.  Then I spotted a truly quirky pair of silvery bookends featuring thongs (in the Australian context) and had to have these too.  I just beat Jan to them.

I bought an orange top that I didn't particularly like, but thought I might need for O-themed Wednesday. It was cheap enough.  The other thing that was truly amazing about this shop was the arrangement of books laid out on table, all sorted by the colour of their spines. This is NOT the way to sell novels. Alphabetical order by author is the go, otherwise I will not even bother to look. 

Back to the car we went with our booty, all well supplied with G- themed clothing, only to find that the gutter next to the driving-side door was now a raging torrent. Wet leggings and cold feet followed. It was fine on the other side of the car!  There was a Woolies nearby, so we provisioned ourselves and headed back to the M1. The rain poured and the traffic crawled, all the way to the Smith Street exit. We have not had to drive in conditions like this on any previous road trips, and I was the lucky one behind the wheel.

Browns Please-exPlains

Op Shop Road Trip No 8 began on Monday, 18th October 2021, at 8.30am. Jan and Jo had arrived the night before, after I had dug out the superhero toilet paper I bought at Tannum Sands last year. Whenever else would it be appropriate to use it? We managed to finish my Where's Wally? jigsaw just before we left.

Our first stop was the Salvos at Browns Plains. I had recced the route with Michael, so knew where to exit various large roads to get there. At the door was every op-shoppers motto, "No one goes to an op shop because they need something; you go to an op shop and it tells you what you need", which was a good omen.

I actually did have a list of things I was hunting: a pair of small acrylic wine glasses for our picnic set, balls of wool (at least 70% wool) for my friend Suzette, a mini-bundt cake tray for daughter Heather, a small Vision saucepan for me, because the spout had snapped off mine, a binder diary and fish-tank pump for my daughter-in-law Tash, and a watering can for Michael. 

I also need to find clothes for the next day. Because we were spending three nights on the Gold Coast this year - the first time we have stayed in one place for more than one night - the theme for 2021 was G-O-L-D. Tomorrow, we would all need to be wearing something starting with G.  We also had our annual challenge of each finding a Quirky Object and a Quirky Book, to be judged by Michael at the end of the journey.

The Salvos was good, nearby Lifeline not good for me, but good for the others, and I had high hopes for the OneWorld shop just up the road. Alas! It doesn't open on Mondays. How had I missed that? We hopped in the car, and in a matter of minutes were in Hillcrest, where we parked at Link Vision.

Jan said we all needed swimming togs because we were staying at the beach. I hadn't thought of that, but found a pair here. And then I spotted my first candidate for Quirky Object 2021, a bizarre game where you have to attempt various vocal challenges while wearing a mouthguard. $3 well spent!

This was a strange little shop, but good. Behind the counter was a large stuffed snake and mongoose statue.  The snake was a cobra, but mislabelled as a rattlesnake.  Just up the road was Vinnies, by comparison more organised and spacious, which can often mean sterile and disappointing. Not so, because here I found the acrylic wine glasses. That night, they went straight into the picnic back pack, and the big ones they replaced were immediately nabbed by Jan.  We already had quite a haul by now, so headed over to Grand Plaza shopping centre for lunch.  After that, it was time to leave Browns Plains...