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...