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.