Home on the Range

Toowoomba can be cool in October, but we awoke to fog, and it was actually warmer than the previous evening, which was lucky, because I hadn't thought to buy any warm clothes. 

My plan for the morning was a surprise trip to historic Harlaxton House, to show the the girls where lamingtons were actually invented, while Governor Lamington was up on the range avoiding the heat of Brisbane.  However, somehow in the excitement. I completely forgot about it.  

Our first stop was to be the Red Cross, which is in an old petrol station, but we decided to give that one the flick, since the other Red Cross shops we had visited so far hadn't been kind to us.  We had been to the big Lifeline Vintage shop twice before, so skipped that as well.

Jo decided she wanted to walk into town, while Jan and I would find a park and meet her at Save the Children.  The plan was going well until we spotted Bunnings en route to the city centre and decided to make a brief stop.  Jan then misdirected me to an exit that sent us the wrong way with nowhere to turn around, so we had an unscheduled scenic tour of inner north-west Toowoomba.  Eventually, we found a paid parking lot, and headed north. Unfortunately, Save the Children was south of us.

When we all found each other again, we liked this shop, which is large, neat, and cheerful.  Our D photo was taken there, with us all wearing denim on the bottom half, plus dragonflies for me, dots for Jan, and a very brave Jo wearing a T-shirt featuring a dog throwing snowballs.  

The next on the list was the ADRA shop, but it is only open from Monday to Thursday, the strangest opening hours we have ever encountered for an oppy. This was Friday.  We peered in the window at their display, clearly themed for a Carnival of Flowers competition, and were intrigued by a patchwork jacket that had been made from pieces of knitted fabric. We had never seen anything quite like it before, but, of course, couldn't check it out further.

Last time we were in Toowoomba there were two shops close together in Russell Street, but one had gone, leaving only Orphans and Widows, which we had liked last time.  It is a long, thin shop with an almost hidden doorway right up the back which leads to an almost identical space next door, where everything other than clothing lurks.  Jo found a top to change into, because the dog shirt was uncomfortable, and Jan found a replacement lid for her Tupperware container because the original had cracked earlier in the trip.  I was intrigued by some of the signage. "Not for Sale" would have been much less interesting.

We needed food and the loo, so made a beeline for Grand Central Shopping Centre, where I learnt that if you press the LOCK button on the disabled toilet door before it has closed, someone can pay you a visit at an inconvenient time (I was using the disabled one because I had brought my folding shopping trolley with me).  By this time we had noted that Toowoomba looks a bit sad at present, with quite a lot of apparently homeless people out and about. There was one sleeping on a seat near our coffee shop.  It seemed so incongruous among Toowoomba's beautiful buildings.

Our last shop down town was Good Samaritan, which we thought was a sad little store.  I have since learned the rent they are paying for this out-of-the-way location, and now I understand why they look a little desperate. I didn't find anything to buy here.   I tried to find the Collectables Boutique Op Shop, but apparently I was looking in the wrong street.

Time was now an issue, because we had to get back to Brisbane in time for Michael to judge the quirky things, and for the girls to get home to the northern Sunshine Coast before nightfall, so we decided to revisit one more shop that we knew was a good one, Vinnies Madonna House.  It is two-storey shop with bric-a-brac and big things downstairs.  Here I found a cute tulle skirt for my granddaughter, my last purchase of the trip.  Heather had wanted me to look out for a mini bundt pan, so she could cook little pumpkin-shaped cakes for Halloween.  I thought I had struck gold, send her a photo, but was informed it was in fact a donut pan, so that was that. 

Down Darren Lockyer Way we headed, with the obligatory stop at Schulte's Meat Tavern at Plainland.  We had had our usual fantastic time.

Out came all the quirky objects, once we had dragged about thirty bags out of my car. Jo had high hopes for her 1950s novelty salt and pepper shakers, and Jan had found a definitely quirky Chinese hand puppet. My thong bookends were in there with a chance too.  What would Michael choose?